236 Lisnevenagh Rd, Antrim BT41 2JT
Even before you go into the pub you will have stopped to admire the lovely swinging sign outside, or the flower-filled window boxes or perhaps the row of fine wrought iron lights that illuminate the large carpark at the side of the Inn. It’s right beside the dual carriageway about two miles on the Belfast side of Antrim town, and was at one time Wilson’s Stores and Spirit Grocer’s.
Everything in and around the Ramble Inn centres upon horses, it would seem. Just up the road, for example, is the Antrim Trotters Stadium. The pub was once an old coaching inn and still retains that character, so there are horses and coach on the hanging sign, and horses are just as well represented inside.
The female owners, cousins Terri Ward and Ann Bamber, share a keen interest in horses, with Terri owning her own trotting horse, and Ann a member of the Bamber family, famous for horses throughout the county.
Then all round the walls are horse collars, brasses, harness and pictures, both photographs and paintings. There’s one lovely painting of the interior of a blacksmith’s shop and another is a local one of horses ploughing. Horse racing action shots, a hay rack in the corner of the public bar, and the Dublin Cup, awarded to Terri’s trotting horse, and now sitting proudly on the shelf, complete the pervasive equestrian theme. Even the snugs in the public bar have a stable stall style and with the stone tiled floor, stucco and cobblestone effect wall finish, and open fires, it’s very much the kind of inn you read about in the novels of Henry Fielding for example.
The granite fireplace, wainscotting, straw thatch canopy over one of the bars, and oil lamps round the walls all sustain the feel of an old country inn.
Visit the lovely little loft bar, with its own separate entrance from the road, and at the top of the red-carpeted stairway, you’ll find a discreet, comfortable and very relaxing corner to spend the evening. With the added attractions of meals from noon on, a dance floor and live music some evenings, and Marjorie, the friendliest of manageresses, you’ll understand why it’s not just passing trade that supports the Ramble Inn: they come from far and wide, some of them probably by horse, we should imagine.