The Dark Hedges, Stranocum

Beloved and cherished by the folks of Northern Ireland securing a rare preservation order of protection. Other similar avenues of leaning trees have not fared so well with tree specimens removed for safety reasons as they threatened the main route between Ballymena & Coleraine.

However these ones are the real deal with an almost iconic photo of the local Dunlop brothers taking off over one of the yumps, gracing many a public place around Ballymoney.

The location also featured recently in the "Game of Thrones" series - filmed in Belfast - when the tarmac road was re-paved with sods of turf. Today, when we visited, a typical soft Irish rain lent the avenue a mystical quality, washing the colour out of the image too. But for the incessant traffic spoiling the view and intruding upon the imaginings of dreamers...