The Gobbins

The Gobbins was the brainchild of a pioneering Irish railway engineer called Berkeley Deane Wise. Originally from New Ross, Wise served his apprenticeship working on the railway line between Dublin and Wexford.[22] At the age of just 22, he developed tunnels and bridges for one of the most challenging sections in the country, along the coast at Bray Head.[23] This and other experiences helped give Wise the skills he needed to conceive his ultimate achievement – The Gobbins – just over 25 years later.

In 1888, Wise became the Chief Engineer of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company. The company already had a keen interest in tourism, thanks to the work of another pioneer, Railway Manager, Edward John Cotton – one of the youngest ever Railway Managers in Britain and Ireland. Cotton arranged 'excursion trains' for every occasion[24] and made 3rd class tickets available from all stations[24] – opening up the possibility of travel and day trips for thousands of ordinary people.

Blackhead Lighthouse – Berkeley Deane Wise built bridges and a tunnel to make a path here before he created The Gobbins.

Berkeley Deane Wise took this tourism endeavour to the next level, creating innovative new paid-for attractions that would encourage visitors to use the railway company's services. Within a year of starting at the 'Northern Counties', he had opened a series of paths and bridges at beautiful Glenariff Glen – later adding a tearoom and shelters with coloured glass to view the waterfalls there.[25] Just south of The Gobbins, Wise helped transform the tiny hamlet of Whitehead into a premier holiday resort.[26] He designed and built a bandstand, ladies and gents bathing boxes, a 'children's corner', a slipway and a pavilion with 500 seats.[27]

Wise also built a new path along the coast from Whitehead to the lighthouse at Blackhead, overlooking the town, in 1892. To reach the lighthouse he added several bridges and a tunnel. Wise soon had ambitious plans for a much more elaborate path built on sheer cliffs a few miles to the north:[28] The Gobbins was about to be born.

Postcard of The Tubular Bridge - believed to show the creator of The Gobbins, Berkley Deane Wise and his wife, Leah, in about 1902.

Berkeley Deane Wise drew up a map of his planned path in 1902, showing a 3+1⁄4-mile-long (5.2 km) route. It would start near the village of Ballystrudder (a small laneway just off the 'Gobbins Road' is still called the 'Gobbins Path' as a consequence). The path would then run for a mile or more along an undulating section of cost, skirting farmers' fields before reaching the spectacular 'cliff section' where visitors would enjoy bridges, tunnels and caves. It is this last section which became so famous and which is accessible today (by guided tour, leaving from The Gobbins visitor centre). Wise's map listed a series of new names for features along the cliffs, which he planned for visitors to explore – like Sandy Cave, the Man O'War stack and Otter Cave.[29]

The first stretch of The Gobbins opened to the public in August 1902. First to explore its 'strange, fantastic forms' were members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.[30] In June 1904, Wise hosted the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland[31] (of which he was an esteemed member). Their Journal records some of the few surviving technical details of the bridges and other constructions on the original path:

"...the cliff section has necessitated a large number of bridges, varying from ten to thirty feet span… About mid way an isolated sea-stack occurs known as 'The Man-o'War', separated from the mainland by a chasm 65 feet wide…To span this a special bridge was designed by Mr Wise. The steel framework is 70 feet in length and is composed of longitudinal angles and bars with 12 elliptical stiffeners"[32]

The original Tubular Bridge at The Gobbins

The 'special bridge' the engineers were describing was the famous Tubular Bridge – which quickly became a symbol of The Gobbins.

When it first opened, the path stopped short of the 'Seven Sisters' caves.[30] But Wise's map shows he planned to continue building to Heddles' port and create an exit onto the 'county' road.[29] in 1905 he was granted money to extend The Gobbins by the railway company[33] – which had become part of the larger Midland Railway Company (MR).

Plaque to B.D. Wise at Whitehead

In June 1906 Wise fell ill, and his job was taken over by the company's Locomotive Engineer Bowman Malcolm. Further work was undertaken including blasting a tunnel at the rear of 'Trump Cave', and building the supports for a suspended walkway inside another cave.[7] Additional steps were cut, bridges built and ironwork for handrails installed at different points along the cliffs.[34]

An extension was duly opened in 1908, but disaster struck in the last week of May that year: a major landslip broke one of the bridges and blocked the path.[35][36] The company gave orders that the path was to be maintained 'as far as it went', but that no further work was to be undertaken.[37] There would be no new bridges built at The Gobbins for over 100 years. Berkeley Deane Wise died in May 1909. He would have been disappointed to know that his plans were never fully completed,[38] but nonetheless, The Gobbins was recognised as his crowning achievement.[14]

View of a bridge from inside a cave at The Gobbins

The Gobbins became a must-see for tourists and locals alike – including many visitors from Britain who came via the steamer service to Larne and stayed there or in Whitehead.[11] Tourists could book trips to The Gobbins through their hotel, with each having certain days of the week for visiting with their own guide.[39] Posters advertising The Gobbins were placed in Belfast tram carriages and at railway stations.[10] Day-trippers were encouraged to travel to Ballycarry railway station for The Gobbins.[40] From there they could walk or hire a local 'Irish jaunting car' to get to the path itself.[41]

The entrance to The Gobbins – then as now – was nicknamed Wise's Eye after the path's creator. An oval-shaped hole bored in the rock, it was manned by a railway company 'toll collector' from 10 am to 5 pm daily (including Sundays).[42] Close to the entrance of the path two tearooms provided refreshments including strong tea, fried slices of ham, eggs, tomatoes, potato and soda bread, all of which were 'much appreciated' by visitors.[43]

On summer days The Gobbins was 'busier than the footpath of Royal Avenue'[44] – with visitors pushing to get past one another. Reviewers described an incredible experience:

"In many places the rocks rise to a height of two hundred feet, sometimes quite abruptly...every few steps a different view of cliff is disclosed. Surely there is something in the influence of the Irish climate which acts upon the rocks...The tints are softer and deeper...the very air is laden with a poetry…" "The Gobbins Cliff Path", The Sketch,17 December 1902

'There is, in short, nothing like The Gobbins anywhere else in the world…' Fennell W.J. (1902), "The Gobbins Cliff Path - Visit of the British Association to Belfast"

The Gobbins required constant maintenance to cope with the impact of waves and storms.[6] Following the Great Depression and the steady rise of competition from road transport, the railway company got into financial difficulties – by 1938 the Northern Counties Committee was losing £19,000 a year.[12] 

Wise's Eye at The Gobbins

The Gobbins was closed for a time in 1936,[13] then during the Second World War there was an even more acute shortage of manpower and finance. As a result, no upkeep was carried out, apart from painting the railings black to avoid them acting as a landmark for German air-raids heading into Belfast.[45]

After the war, The Gobbins was briefly reopened by the new Ulster Transport Authority, but closed in 1954.[14] Several attempts were made by government and individuals to restore the path.[15] Writer and filmmaker, John H. Lennon from Co Down was a particular champion.[16][17] However lack of finance and scepticism about tourist numbers in the face of the conflict in Northern Ireland frustrated these attempts. The first Tubular Bridge finally collapsed into the sea in May 1981.[7]

The remains of the path continued to be explored by climbers and walkers. However the cliffs were dangerous, and several people got into difficulties and had to be rescued during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.[46][47][48]