Ballymoney River Short Walk
DATE: 3rd March 2023
SHORT WALK – 3 miles/1.5 hours.
LEADER: Robert McDowell, Telephone 028 93373084 (land line)
07711 706022 (mobile)
MEETING POINT/TIME: 10.30 am at Ballymoney Railway Station
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
Outward Journey:
Train – Dep Whitehead (terminus) 8.45 am; Dep Carrickfergus 8.54 am; Arr Yorkgate 9.15 am. Disembark and cross bridge to Londonderry line. Dep Yorkgate 9.24 am; Dep Mossley West 9.33 am; Arr Ballymoney 10.27 am.
For those taking the Londonderry line from Belfast, the train leaves Great Victoria Street station at 9.10 am and Lanyon Place station at 9.20 am.
Return Journey:
Train – Dep Ballymoney 1.32 pm; Arr Mossley West 2.26 pm; Arr Yorkgate 2.35 pm. For those returning to Carrickfergus/Whitehead etc, disembark and change to Larne line. Dep Yorkgate 2.59 pm; Arr C’fergus 3.20 pm; Arr Whitehead 3.31 pm; Arr Larne (town) 3.47 pm. For those returning to Belfast, the train arrives at Lanyon Place at 2.41 pm and terminates at Great Victoria Street at 2.50 pm. (Note that trains leave Ballymoney every hour).
BY CAR:
Ballymoney is c48 miles north of Belfast City Centre. Note that the Larne-Ballymena road (A36) is currently closed.
Take M2 Motorway north, following signs for Ballymena/Ballymoney/Coleraine (M2/A26/M2/A26). Take Antrim/Ballymena turnoff from M2 onto the A26 towards Ballymena and continue towards Ballymoney. Take first turnoff to Ballymoney ( left hand side, sign-posted ‘Ballymoney Town Centre’). At roundabout, go straight on towards town centre. After a few yards turn left into Armour Avenue, then immediately right into Riverside Park (free) car park. The railway station is a 10 minute walk from here. Go straight past the white toilet block building (the toilets are at the back of the building), following the main tarmac path. Bear left at the children’s play area and continue until you reach a steel ramp which leads to the railway station platform – the Belfast-Londonderry train will come in on your near side, so you will not need to cross the railway line.
THE WALK:
Fairly flat and mostly well surfaced, although there may be a few muddy areas. 1.5 miles beside Ballymoney River through woodland and 1.5 miles through suburbs of Ballymoney.
LUNCH
We can have lunch at “The Clock Tower” restaurant in High Street, in Ballymoney town centre. After lunch there is a 10 minute walk to the railway station or a 20 minute walk to Riverside Park car park. There is a loo upstairs in “The Clock Tower” restaurant; there is a loo at the railway station on the Belfast bound platform; there are 3 loos in the Riverside car park.