Carrick-a-Rede

Where it sits. Carrick-a-Rede is a small volcanic island off the north Antrim coast, a mile east of Ballintoy and five miles west of Ballycastle, joined to the mainland by a rope bridge that spans twenty metres and hangs thirty metres above the rocks and green water below. The island's name comes from the Irish for the rock of the casting — a reference to the nets that salmon fishermen once threw from it. The approach is a kilometre of clifftop path from a car park at Larrybane, and it is one of the finest short walks in Ireland: white chalk cliffs below, a black basalt cap above, Rathlin Island filling the horizon and the Scottish coast behind it.

Why anyone built a bridge here. Atlantic salmon returning to the Bann and the Bush swam close inshore around this headland, and for something like 350 years fishermen slung a seasonal bridge across the chasm so they could work a net station on the island. Early versions were alarming — in the 1970s the crossing had a single handrail and wide gaps between the slats. A bridge tested to ten tonnes was installed with the help of local climbers in 2000, another followed in 2004, and the present wire-rope and Douglas fir structure was built by Heyn Construction of Belfast and raised early in 2008 at a cost of more than £16,000. The fishery itself died first: nearly 300 salmon a day were taken in the 1960s, but the whole 2002 season yielded about 250 fish, and the station closed. The bridge now carries visitors instead — 485,736 of them in 2018.

On screen at Larrybane. The car park you start from is a disused chalk quarry called Larrybane, worked for limestone until the 1970s, and it is a Game of Thrones location in its own right. In the second season the production built Renly Baratheon's camp in the Stormlands on the quarry floor, using the white cliff face as a backdrop for the tourney ground. Two sequences from the episode "What Is Dead May Never Die" were shot here:

• Brienne of Tarth defeating Ser Loras Tyrell in the melee and claiming a place in Renly's Kingsguard as her prize.
• Catelyn Stark arriving as her son's envoy and negotiating with Renly and Margaery Tyrell among the tents.

The pale quarry face and the flat cut floor gave the crew a ready-made arena with the sea just out of frame; nothing of the set remains, and the site is now gravel, grass and a National Trust ticket hut. The cove below the quarry, with its chalk stacks, appears in wide shots of the same camp.

Crossing it. Tickets are timed and sold in advance, and in summer walk-ups are frequently turned away — the National Trust caps numbers on the island because it is small, and only a limited number of people are allowed across at once. The bridge sways, but not alarmingly; the honest difficulty is psychological, and every year a few visitors cross happily and then cannot face the return, at which point a boat is arranged. The island beyond is tiny: a fisherman's cottage, a path around the top, gannets and fulmars working the water, and a view down through startlingly clear sea. The bridge closes without notice in high wind, and refunds follow.

The geology. Carrick-a-Rede is the best exposed volcanic plug in Northern Ireland. About sixty million years ago molten rock forced its way up through the chalk here in a violent eruption; the evidence sits in the cliff in the form of tuff, explosion breccia, grey ash and volcanic bombs. Erosion has since sliced the old vent in half. Tough dolerite forms the seaward face, softer pyroclastic material fills the neck behind it, and the sea has picked out the difference to leave the island standing. The whole site is designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest for its geology, plants and birdlife, and there are large caves at sea level below that once sheltered boat builders.

Getting there and timing. The site is on the Causeway Coastal Route, about ten minutes from the Giant's Causeway by car and an hour and a half from Belfast; the summer Causeway Rambler bus stops at the entrance. The clifftop path is firm and mostly level with some steps, so the walk out to the viewpoint above the bridge is manageable for many visitors who will not cross; the steep stairway down to the bridge itself is not. Go early or late in the day for both light and space — the headland faces north-east, so morning gives the cleanest colour on the chalk. April to June and September are the calmest months; midwinter often means closure.