Although the farm animals are mostly gone now, wildlife still have an important place at Limepark. The returning swallows are welcomed each spring and pipistrelle bats put on dramatic dusk shows on warm summer evenings. Sheep and Shetland ponies do their best to control the weeds and the ivy clad walls hum with busy insects and the bees produce lovely local honey.
The front lawn is wooded with 300 -year-old yew trees, a safe home on stormy nights for all the native birds and create shade for a soft bed of shamrock. The old farm buildings at Limepark now incorporate six self catering cottages accommodating up to 20 guests, offering a variety of unique spaces from a romantic getaway cottage to a wee cottage ideal for a single person – perfect for peace to write. Families on holiday, guests with disabilities, corporate groups and wedding parties are all catered for. They are also pet friendly.
We visited Limepark twice last year, staying in two of the cottages – Poet’s Corner and Ned’s Loft, both times bringing our dogs Turf and Peat with us, and we are already planning a few more trips there this year. Ned’s Loft is a lovely romantic one bedroomed cottage. The bedroom and large bathroom (with a double ended cast iron roll top bath and separate shower) are separated by a minstrels gallery with a dining area which overlooks the panelled living area with its ecclesiastic window and kitchen downstairs.
Poet’s Corner is the perfect spacious base to explore the North Coast or even just take some time off to relax. It’s 10 minutes from the sea and around 30 minutes to any of the most famous tourist attractions including the Giant’s Causeway, Dark Hedges and Bushmills Distillery, to name but a few. The beautifully renovated stone barn gives you a cosy space to recharge and enjoy some down time.
Other properties on the farmstead include the one bedroom Little Pig’s House, one bedroom Blacksmith’s Cottage, two bedroom Long Barn, three bedroom Dark Horse House, one bedroom The Cupboard and one bedroom (but sleeps six) Smuggler’s Loft. Limepark has fast become our favourite hideaway, and booking the Airbnb app is super easy. Just a few clicks and you’re good to go.
The hosts Melanie, Laura and Jordan are all very welcoming and helpful and make staying at Limepark a real pleasure. Anything you need, they are only a quick text, email or phonecall away. While Limepark is close to many of the North Coast’s popular tourist attractions, it is also an attraction in its own right – guests can discover something new in each season.
Meander past historic stone walls and courtyards, through old creaky gates to private gardens and explore the grounds. A carpet of snowdrops start off the year, bluebells follow, daffodils next, while the elusive four leafed clover can be found by the grass tennis court. Roseraie d’la Hay hedges in stone walls line the gardens and fill the air with a sweet perfume in June and guests are welcome to infuse their own rose petal syrup. Delicious!
The gardens are home to a variety of herbs and raspberries – they grow everywhere! September brings on a hive of activity. Victoria plums hang on the trees like grapes, merryweather damsons too, but they are sweeter after the first frost. The apples are too many to count! If you do decide to venture to some of the popular tourist attractions, one I would thoroughly recommend is the Bushmills Distillery (a taxi is most definitely required if you plan on sampling the wares).
Situated on the rugged and beautiful north coast in the village of Bushmills, Ireland’s oldest licensed distillery opened its doors over 400 years ago (in 1608). They have a famous saying – ‘we’re not necessarily the best because we’re the oldest, just that we’re the oldest because we’re the best’.
The River Bush, which runs from the Antrim Hills through the same type of basalt rock that makes up the Giant’s Causeway, passes through Bushmills before reaching the sea at Portballintrae on the north Antrim coast. The Old Bushmills Distillery is a ‘grain to glass’ distillery – the whiskey is handcrafted in small batches on one site, rather than in different locations. Distilled in copper pot stills – Bushmills was one of the first distilleries in the world to make both single malts and blended whiskeys. We joined one of the guided tours (they take place every 30 minutes) which takes you through the entire whiskey making process, from grain to bottle.
The tour takes you through all the critical stages of production – malt distilling, maturing, blending and bottling. The Old Bushmills Distillery is one of the few grain to glass distilleries in Ireland. Maturing occurs in the American bourbon barrels, Spanish sherry casks, Madeira casks or Port barrels – all sourced from selected cooperages, bodegas and distilleries with which Bushmills has partnered for generations.
The Distillery also offers private tasting experiences. Indeed, we booked one of these in advance of our visit. After our distillery tour we were taken to the private tasting room – an oak panelled bar with open fires and plush seating. Here our whiskey tasting specialist talked us through the specifics of each bottle of whiskey Bushmills sell – from the standard blended Bushmills Whiskey to the Black Bush, new Red Bush and through the aged whiskeys from the 10 year to the 25 year.
We sampled each whiskey, tasting the specific notes in each. My husband Alan favoured the 16-year with its light notes of vanilla and almonds while I preferred the 25-year with it’s richer notes of caramel and dark chocolate.
After the tour and private tasting session we had consumed a fair bit of whiskey… one after the guided tour and about a handful of measures during the tasting, so of course we ended up making a quick stop at the gift shop on the way out to pick up a bottle of 16-year for ourselves (it was a gift for the husband’s birthday) and a couple of t-shirts.
We also got talking about the merits of the 10-year versus the 16-year with a lovely American chap who then chose to have a taster of the 16-year before making a purchase of a bottle for himself. I’m pretty sure that a slightly tipsy Irish couple would be a handy selling tactic for the Distillery, and if they ever decide to employ the method, we’d be the first volunteers!
You can get up to £34 off your first booking with Airbnb using the writer’s link – airbnb.co.uk/c/kirstyj700
