New lease of life for Glenarm station

The police station, which closed in 2012, has been renovated to provide accommodation for visitors.

Owners Jennifer and Peter Monroe hope to open the new accommodation in April. A planning application has also been lodged to open a coffee shop at the property.

Jennifer told The Times: “We were looking for a life change as we were living in England and we decided to purchase the old police station.

“We didn’t know Glenarm but we thought it had a lot to offer with the forest, the marina, the Castle and festivals. We thought it would be a nice place to live.”

The couple hope that the new B&B will encourage visitors to Northern Ireland to stay in the East Antrim area, rather than automatically heading to The Giant’s Causeway.

Jennifer continued: “We hope that the Gobbins Coastal Path will have a good effect on local businesses.

“Everyone dashes to the Causeway and it would be nice to for them to stay in this area. If they slow down then maybe they will stop in beautiful Glenarm.

“We have a lot of self-catering options in the village but no other B&Bs. We hope to encourage people to stop and rest here.”

Should the coffee shop planning application be approved, Jennifer says it may yield jobs for local people.

The new B&B will have three rooms and the couple have made sure that its renovation is sympathetic to the style of the former station.

Jennifer continued: “When we bought it it still looked like a station with razor wire and fences. Most of that is taken down now.

“We had to strip the building back to its bare body to do work.

“We rebuilt it inside but tried to keep the original neo-Georgian architectural plantation house style.

“We’re very excited about the possibilities.”