Holywood

Had an earlier breakfast once the receptionist has found a waitress for us. Left the hotel before 09.30, and then drove down the Antrim Coast to Holywood. Stopping off at Cushendun and Glenarm for explores.

Arrived at Carols without any problems other than we could not open the gate to their gated community. After a short chat we went off for a walk with Paul visiting the two homes that David had lived in between aged a few months and six years. Back at base, we had a cup of coffee and then I had a siesta. At 5 o’clock the other people arrived for an early supper: they were Muraid and Patrick, Ali and Helen. We discussed life, Ireland and Northern Ireland for three hours over a pleasant supper of champ and chicken With fruit and meringue to follow and an excellent array of cheese. Then more chat with Paul and Carol before an early night.

We had a lovely day with Carol and Paul. After a fairly small breakfast, we set off in late morning to go down the Ards Peninsula towards Portaferry.

We stopped at numerous places along the route, including Donaghadee, where we had an ice cream. Chatted to a lady with a decorated T-shirt who owned a pub called Pier 36. And then proceeded on towards Portaferry. Bought some potatoes for Carol en route. Finally reached Portaferry. We thought we were going to be rewarded with half a bag of chips each, but no chips shops were open. Eventually Carol managed to find a "purveyor " where she purchased two chicken pies which were very welcome. We had already decided that we would go back along the same side of the Lough to Belfast, which was just as well as the ferry was not running today for some unknown reason.

We got back to Hollywood in less than an hour and then David and I went by ourselves to look at Campbell College. There we entered the building, there was nobody stopping us. We walked round the whole school, seeing David‘s name carved on the board of Exhibitions to Oxford. Back at Carols, I had a short siesta and then we had supper at 5:30 in the lovely dining room. We then had some of Paul’s Bushmills whiskey which we had bought for him and sat in the sun lounge chatting until 21.30, by which time Carol was more than ready for bed.

Cushendun has a sheltered harbour and lies at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim. The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland is only about 15 miles away across the North Channel and can be seen easily on clear days. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 138 people.

The village was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis in 1912 at the request of Ronald John McNeill, Baron Cushendun. The picturesque Cornish appearance was deliberate, in an effort to please Maud, the Baron’s Penzance-born wife. After Maud’s death in 1925, Ellis designed a row of quaint, whitewashed cottages in her memory, called Maud’s Cottages.

The National Trust has owned and cared for most of the village and the parkland around Glenmona House since 1954.Cushendun was designated as a conservation area in 1980, due to its architectural history and location within the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.



Cushendun has changed a lot since I was a child. All three hotels have closed. The Bay Hotel where my grandparents stayed has been knocked down and replaced by the large apartment houses that now dominate the village

Tucked away on Northern Ireland's coast, the Antrim Coast Road is one of Ireland's most scenic drives, running along 40 kilometres of phenomenal coast. The road follows the coast with the sea on the side and for the most part towering cliffs on the other.

The 'North Antrim' Coast Road runs between Ballycastle and Larne forming part of the main A2 coast road. It was built by William Bald, a Scottish surveyor and civil engineer between 1832 and 1842 to replace the Old Irish Highway which had fallen into dangerous disrepair. The project was originally called the Grand Military Way and was constructed not only to bring accessibility to the Glens and coastal areas for inhabitants and trade but also to create a quick access route for troops, should that ever be needed.



This impressed the Boys	Ardmore Terrace	Knockagh. High St