National Trust property tour for Cushendun residents

The trip started bright and early from Cushendun with the first stop being a guided tour of the gardens at Downhill Demesne followed by tea and scones at the atmospheric Hezlett House. A brief trip to the new retail and visitor facilities at Portstewart Strand gave the visitors an overview of the work on the site and the sand dune grazing project. Next was a whistle-stop walk around the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre as building work on the new visitor centre will commence this October. Finally a tasty lunch was served in the newly refurbished tearoom at Carrick-a-Rede, followed by a brisk tour to the rope bridge- which was crossed by the more daring in the group!

North Coast staff including Liam O Neill, warden, Frank Devlin, Maintenance Manager and Sarah Field, acting visitor services manager guided the residents on their trip and provided an insight into the activities and responsibilities of the National Trust on the north coast. This day out was completely free of charge and tours and refreshments were provided very kindly by the teams at Downhill Demesne and Hezlett House, Portstewart Strand and Carrick-a-Rede.