Public Colliery Road
Celebration Walk
Wednesday, December 29 @ Noon
Christmas Cheer for supporters of the proposed "Celebration Walk" along the old 'Colliery Road', Ballycastle, on Wednesday, December 29, at Noon.
Danny McGill, one of Ballycastle's historians has been undertaking detailed and thorough research through property deeds along the 'Colliery Road' now known as Carrickmore Road.
As many of you know there are numerous historical maps and photographs of this road continuing unhindered past the 'Old Salt Pans' at a time when the road was known as 'the tram road' for the fact that it was used as such to access the mines and ports along the shore.
Danny told me today that one of the property deeds he examined contained a clause which will be of great interest to all who still travel the road by car or on foot.
The property in question was the Salt Works near the Salt Pans Rocks and the document is dated 1st May 1789 (PRONI reference D.O.D.509/773 carefully copied verbatum by Mrs Jayne McGill many years ago).
The description of the property boundaries includes the following phrase:
"...with all the ground lying between the great road and the sea, lying between the backside wall of the house Davis Boyd now lives in and the road leading from the public colliery road into the east gate of the saltpan yard."
In 1789, the tram road, salt works, coal pits, iron ore mines and shipping ports were all in operation along the shore from the Quay to the foot of Fair Head, so a public accomodation road was in full use by all the inhabitants and continued so until landslips over recent years have covered the road in places making it temporarily impassable for wheeled traffic.
Links to earlier articles
