Well if you are reading this and you are under 50 (ish) you might remember that the wife and myself went back for a holiday to the olde sod.  Now her good self is from Dublin.  Four she tells me. (It must be the golfer in her that says that every time I mention Dublin.)  She has never lived in Ulster but like any good woman she knows all about it and like any good wife, she is always right.

We drove down from Co. Antrim through Belfast and into Co. Down where we met my sister in Bangor. She had arrived via Holyhead and Dublin and had driven up to Bangor the night before. This was where I lived my late teen age years and it brought back lots of memories, most of which I cannot share with you here.

The B & B where we were booked into was some 200 metres from where my first girl-friend lived. (what has that got to do with the price of soap you might well ask?).   Like most towns around the world, Bangor has expanded and has discovered that if you put in lots of roundabouts, (in this case cheap roundabouts i.e. painted circles in the middle of the road)  it seems to slow the traffic down quite a bit. Perth discovered this phenomena lately as well. 

The first night was I suppose a typical Ulster night. Strong winds combined with some sort of water which could have been from the waves or the sky. Either way it was wet. Our host at the boarding house suggested various eating houses and for a nostalgic reason I chose to go to Donaghadee, some seven miles down the coast as you can see from the map above. (Did Phil Coulter get it wrong when he wrote the words “It’s six miles from Bangor to Donaghadee”…. Maybe he knew a short cut!)

Well off we set through the town in our big car with the Dublin plates and I was able to negotiate all of the circles in the middle of the road despite the poor visibility. We had travelled some 2 miles out of the town when I noticed a blue light (flashing) in my rear mirror. I looked at the speedometer which of course was in kilometres per hour (Other parts of Ireland use the metric system) and my back seat driver quickly converted to Miles per hour. “You are well under the speed limit” he stated hurriedly.   “What should I do”, I asked slowing down even more and just after a nasty siren noise became audible over the noise of the storm. 

For the first time that I can recall, there was no response from the two backseat drivers who had up to this point virtually driven the car on their own!  “Keep going!” stated the front seat passenger. “There is no place to pull in here!” And with no alternative suggestions, I did just that. After a mile or so I rethought this as the siren was becoming unbearable. I signalled the car behind to pass and slowed down to a walking pace. This seemed to work as we could no longer hear the blasted thing. Nothing seemed to be happening so I gradually accelerated.  Whoa. This had an instant effect. The car behind (OK you guessed it) was a speedy police car and it passed me rapidly if not dangerously and pulled in very smartly in front of me. 

Normally I jump out of the car at this stage as I hate policemen looking down at me but the weather was the deciding factor so I stayed put as the copper jumped out and put on his hat: a sure sign that he was not going to inquire about my health.  At the last minute I pushed the button to slide down the window a fraction to be greeted by a torch peering into the car.

“Any chance you got your licence with you?” he enquired in a clear Co. Down accent.
“Sorry no” I replied in an equally clear Co. Down accent. “I left my wallet at the hotel”.
“And where are you all off to?” he enquired.
Well as we were on the road to Donaghadee, I decided my smart answer was inappropriate. “Donaghadee” I replied laconically.

“Why didn’t you stop when you saw us behind you?” he asked.

“I was trying to” I said, “But I just could not see anywhere to pull in safely”.

“I see” he said. “We stopped you because you seemed to be unsure at all the roundabouts you went around”.

“You are quite correct” I said. “I used to live here some forty years ago and they were not here then and also the weather was making driving difficult!”

“I suppose you are right” he replied. “I don’t smell any drink” (the Ulster equivalent of the breathalyser!)    Well he wouldn’t as we were on our way THERE!

“All right” he said, “Just follow us and I will see you safely into Donaghadee”, whereupon he returned swiftly to his car and promptly did a U-turn. So much for following him!

Different from when I was stopped in the seventies I thought to myself. And so we had a great meal in a pub in Donaghadee despite being the only customers who were eating.  We put it down to either the economic climate or the real climate!

The lighthouse at Donaghadee dates from 1836. The tower is built of cut limestone, fluted, and in its early days was unpainted in natural grey colour. The tower, including the lantern and dome, is now painted white with a black plinth since some time 1869 and 1875.

Conversion to an unwatched electric lighthouse was made in 1934 and this made it the first Irish lighthouse to be converted to electric.

 

 

The next day was equally bad weatherwise (what’s new) so we decided to go and visit the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. This visit was very high on my agenda as I had written about it during the 100^th anniversary of its sinking in April. I was not disappointed as you will be able to see if and when you read my next blog.