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Carrick-a-Rede
Rope Bridge is a rope suspension bridge near Ballintoy,
County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The bridge links the mainland to
the tiny Carrick Island. The site is now owned and maintained by
the National Trust. It spans twenty metres (65.6ft) with a thirty
metres (98.4 ft) to the rocks below. Today the bridge is an object
of tourist attention, attracting 247,000 visitors in 2009. Netting
the Tourist Board upwards of £1,235,000 not surprisingly the
bridge is open all year around, weather permitting.
Carrick-a-rede means 'rock in the road'.
It is thought salmon fishermen have been erecting bridges to the
island for over 350 years. It has taken many forms over the years.
In the 1970s it featured only a single handrail and large gaps between
the slats. A version of the bridge, tested up to ten tonnes, was
built with the help of local climbers and abseilers in 2000. A subsequent
design was engineered in 2004 and offers visitors and fishermen
alike a much safer passage to the island. The current wire rope
and Douglas fir bridge was made by a Belfast Construction compant
and erected early in 2008 at a cost of over £16,000
It is no longer used by fishermen during
the salmon season, which used to last from June until September,
as there are now very few salmon left. In the 1960s, almost three
hundred fish were caught per day, but by 2002, only three hundred
were caught over the entire season. The salmon return via the area
to spawn in the River Bann and the River Bush.
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