Game of Thrones has had a great selection of filming locations over the years. One of them are the The Dark Hedges in County Antrim, in Northern Island. They have seen a soar in their popularity over the years since they appeared on Game of Thrones in Season 2, as the King’s Road. There have been talks of closing down the road due to the damage it had been suffering from the increased traffic, and that has now happened. A traffic ban has been enforced on the Dark Hedges. Read on!
Image source: Game Of Thrones Tours
A new report by BBC talks about the traffic ban being finally enforced on the Dark Hedges road, extending from its junction with Ballinlea Road to its junction with Ballykenver Road, with any violators having to pay a fine that could cost up to £1,000. The report says that some vehicles, including agricultural and emergency vehicles, will be exempt from the ban under certain circumstances. Despite the ban, however, some people have been using it normally. A local resident, Sandy Laverty, commented on the same :
“I drove out today to see what would happen now that the ban was in place but I found it was business as usual with cars lining the Bregagh Road. Nothing had been done to close the road, cars were parked on the verge, adding to the damage already done. They were able to place large concrete blocks on the road to stop people driving through it during a recent storm, but they didn’t put any signs etc up before today.”
Bob McCallion, who campaigned to get the ban enforced commented, as well :
“We have been campaigning to have barriers put on the road because its going to be abused and its going to be very hard to police, but it’s a step forward. There needs to be a daily management of the site.”
The location has remained an iconic one for Game of Thrones fans ever since Arya Stark, who was pretending to be a boy, was shown travelling in a cart, along the road. Replanting is also being done to make up for the trees that have already been destroyed, so let’s hope the location goes back to its former glory, soon! What do you think? Talk to us in the comments, down below!
