Butterflies and Bygone Days

These photos are taken on the walk I made the other day from Ballymacormick Point to Groomsport but before I met the little boy Jay (see post 'Expect the Unexpected' from  7 August).  While still on Ballyholme beach I saw several of these giant Jellyfish.

A Bee on Ragwort.  Any ideas which one?

Small Tortoiseshell

These are 2 Green veined Butterflies that spent quite a bit of time 'together' and even flew off in unison.

Red Admiral

7 Spot Ladybird.

Seed Head

Blue Hydrangea

I finally arrived at Groomsport and having said goodbye to Jay at the swings, I headed off to Cockle Row.

Cockle Row Cottages

They are the last remnants of the typical country Down fisherman’s’ cottages which constituted most of the Groomsport for centuries and they could be as much as 350 years old.

A clue to great age in cottages is evident in the two cottages as they are built at right angles to the sea.  Unlike many today, people in the past did not want a sea view, they wanted shelter from the north wind!

The cottages are reputedly the site of a forge in 1689 when Marshal Schomberg landed on his way to the campaigns in Ireland against King James 11.  He was a leading general in the army of William of Orange and is believed to have landed in Groomsport when the army crossed the Irish Sea.  It is like that the majority of the soldiers landed a few miles to the West of Ballyhome’s sandy beach.  Schomberg was later killed at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The cottages were last inhabited in the 1950’s, the final resident being Miss Matilda ‘Tille’ Barnes.  The cottages were being threatened by demolition but the Bangor Art Club stepped in and leashed it for their studios from the 1960’s until 1997. Then the Council got grant from the RU and they were entirely renovated with power being installed for the first time ever!  Now one of the cottages is used as a small museum and the other one is a tourist information centre.  Now let's step in to the past!

Although it was a lovely day outside, it was lovely to see this open peat fire where in days gone by the whole family would crowd round and a lot of the cooking would take place.

Irish Peat which gave off a wonderful smell.

Does anyone remember these old irons
that had to be heated on the fire first?

We used to have a wash board when I was a child and although we had a washing machine, Mum would use it when a garment was very stained and gave it a good scrubbing first.  Other that that we used to love getting a spoon and make wonderful noises with the ridges on the wash board while all singing along at the top of our voices!!  Have you any memories?

These are wonderful hand made cots that rocked.

This tin bath would have been put in front of the warm fire and the water boiled on the fire and then poured in.  Normally, Saturday was bath day.   Father's bathed first and then in order of age (no changing water then!), the rest of the family, no mater how many children would get in, in turn!

This is a large butter churn.  My Grannie and Granda had a milk business and so we always had lots of milk.  She had a  table top churn and I used to love making the butter.   Butter, nowadays never tastes like my Grannie's butter, quite salty but delicious when spread on home made bread with jam.

 Every home had a dresser.  Do you see the stone hot water bottles on the bottom shelf.  We had a couple of these at home.

Cockle Island, which is just behind the yachts in the photo above was where all the Terns were breeding that I mentioned on the post on 7 August but although there were still adults and young on the island that day, most of them had now departed.  I was able to see them as they had installed a web cam in one of the cottages.  They had ringed 70 Sandwich Tern in June and also 60 Common and 12 Arctic Terns.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope it might have brought some memories to mind.  Please share them with us in your comments.

MANY THANKS TO ALL who left comments on any of my posts yesterday.