Traditions and travel

[Irish Rambler]

Our route through England and our route to Carrickfergus.

The photo's are to help to orientate you.

1,Route from France over the English channel to England and then up through England and Wales to the ferry port of Holyhead.

2, Our route up through France from Narbonne to Dieppe and return route via the Irish Ferries boat WB.Yeats to Cherbourg port and thence by road back to Narbonne.

3, Carrickfergus castle built in the 16th century, our hotel is just behind the photographer.

 

[Irish Rambler]

From here on in I'm going to have to tread carefully.
There are more wars fought in this world over religion, water and now oil, the first applies to Ireland.
During the 16th century Ireland was loosely grouped as those under control of Rome, Catholicism, or those opposed to its ruling, non Catholics, be they Baptists, 7th day Adventists, Church of Ireland or Presbyterian they are all grouped together under the generic term as Protestants.
Great Britain wasn't happy with an island on its doorstep where its Judaeo Christian beliefs were under pressure from Rome so they appealed to the Dutch Royal family who agreed to send over King William of the Dutch Royal house of Orange to quell the unrest.
He's known colloquially as King Billy.
King William of Orange landed with his troops near Carrickfergus castle and began a series of battles against the Catholic King James, he defeated James at the Battle of the Boyne (a river crossing) on the 12th of July and ever since the Protestants have celebrated his victory with marching bands and parades all over Northern Ireland on the 12th of July.
Over centuries things continued to foment and the Catholics in the Southern part of Ireland rebelled against British rule in 1916.
The 32 counties in Ireland were then partitioned, 26 forming the Republic of Ireland, Eire.
The other 6 counties who are loyal to Great Britain are known as Northern Ireland.
The recent 'troubles' in Northern Ireland were caused by a terrorist republican group called the IRA who tried militarily to oust Great Britain out of Northern Ireland, despite many horrific bombings killing hundreds of innocent civilians they failed, defeated they turned to political means.
To counteract the terrorist threat the protestant community raised its own defence force called the Ulster Volunteer Force who are determined to remain British.
Confused ?
I give you this explanation so that it will help you to understand the photo of a wall mural.

Photos,
1, Carrickfergus castle. Just behind those boats is a ramp down which I launched my first repaired plywood dinghy in the early 70's,. I'd no money for a paddle I used a garden spade much to the amusement of bystanders.

2, Effigy of a soldier on the castle ramparts which is now a major tourist attraction. During my visit to collect these photo's I spoke to Americans and Danish tourists.

3, The Dutch King William of Orange.

4,5, Self explanatory plaques of his landing.

6, Carrickfergus was a trading port, its only recently been closed. Many ships laden with coal unloaded here for a local merchant but the new marina residents next door kicked up such a fuss over the coal dust on their nice shiny new sailboats that eventually they succeeded in closing the port to commerce.

7,8, During WW1 Northern Ireland raised the 36th Ulster division which suffered terrible losses and raised many other famous battalions during the 2nd WW as well as contributing many men and women to the Royal Navy, the Royal air Force. Merchant seaman played their part by braving the convoys around the world in support of the armed forces.

9,Wall Mural depicting the pro British Ulster Freedom Fighters, the flag on the left is known as the 'Red Hand of Ulster' legend has it that when the fighting O'Neill's were arriving by boat from Scotland to conquer Ireland that its leader cut off his hand and threw it ashore to claim the land in his name.

10, During the IRA terrorist campaign a running battle was being fought between the IRA and British soldiers, many soldiers were shot as were some terrorists.
When the IRA were defeated the British government agreed to the 'Good Friday Agreement' and convicted IRA killers were pardoned by the prime minister at that time, Mr Tony Blair and set free.
Now some 40 years later the families of terrorists are trying to prosecute the soldiers for shooting the terrorists (and claim compensation).
One of these soldiers is identified as soldier 'F' of the parachute regiment and these flags are flying everywhere as a sign of disgust with the government for allowing a soldier following orders to be prosecuted, and showing solidarity and support for soldier 'F'.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Whilst in Northern Ireland as a bit of light relief after catching up on business admin and family visits all tidied up we wanted some light relief and went to see some old steam engines on show at Shanes castle in Antrim.
All of these beauties were lavished with love and pride and ranged from mammoths to little tichy ones. The last photo is an old fairground organ converted to run on electric and owned by Lord O'Neill the castle owner who donates his ground for the steam festival.

 

[Irish Rambler]

I know there are some of you from a farming background and these pics are for you.

 

[Irish Rambler]

I haven't left out any old nostalgic truckers among you either. Many of these makers you won't be familiar with so I'll help you.

Photo's,
1, This is an Atkinson Borderer with a Cummins 190 engine, Fuller gearbox.

2, Bedford straight 6 turbo diesel, these were the last production series of trucks with a non tilting cab.

3, 4, These were built by Shelvoke and Drury who specialized in municipal trucks, usually fitted with Perkins engines, the first one a tanker and the 2nd a truck with a crew cab built for collecting household bins, there was usually a team of 3, driver and two helpers who brought the bins from the kerbside and loaded them into the rear using a hydraulic arm. These are in the colours of Belfast City Council.

5,This is a Scottish built truck called Albion Riever (Scottish for warrior), the first has a mid mounted underfloor engine.

6, Is an Albion Clydesdale, they had their own in house engine and the marque was later absorbed into British Leyland.

7, A British Motor Corporation Angle cab, this had an in house engine and was also absorbed into British Leyland.

8, An early ERF (the name was the founders initial Edwin Robert Foden). The engine is the ubiquitous Gardner 150

9, MK1 Landrover.

10, A mini Landrover for the kids.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Oh did I forget cars and horizontals, there were far too many to cover in this post so here's a few.

Photo's.
1,2,3,
An early Locomobile car imported from America.

4, Jaguar,

5, 2 little Mini's.

6, Makers plate.

7,An old Ruston horizontal diesel.

8, Your familiar with these.

9, Make yourself familiar with this as its the oldest licenced whiskey distillery in the world and we need the exports.
It's know locally as the Protestant whiskey as its made in the largely Protestant town of Bushmills in Northern Ireland.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Here's some for the old soldiers among you.

These are infantry vehicles currently in service with the British Forces are on display as part of a recruitment drive at the Vintage Steam Rally at Shanes Castle.

Photo,
1, An old BSA despatch riders bike.

2, This is a mark 2 WMK and largely used in Afghanistan, Iraq.

3, It doesn't pay to make these guys angry.

4, This is known as 'Pinkie' Land Rover in desert pink, much favoured by the SAS and anyone operating in desert warfare conditions.

5, Land Rover based ambulance, you don't want to be inside this as a patient if you can avoid it.

6, This is a forward control Land Rover, great load carrier with high ground clearance.

7,This is a 'Liberated' Dutch built DAF truck.

8,Rapier missile system.

9, Eyes like a hawk but in fact its a long eared European owl.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Final look around Shanes Castle just outside Antrim town.

Apologies for the turned photo's I can't get the hang of this darned camera phone.

Photo's.
1,2,
This is the old fairground organ owned by Shanes Castle.

3,4,
Not everyone was always made welcome here.

5,
Happy families enjoying the fresh air on a day out at the Vintage Steam Rally.

6,
This structure was used for research and test firing torpedoes during WW2.

7,
This is Lough Neagh beside Shanes Castle and is the largest fresh water lake in the British Isles at 26 square miles.
Its also host to a rare fish called the Lough Neagh Pollan which is a fresh water herring (trapped here since the ice age) very much prized in Switzerland as a delicacy.
The season is limited and there's a fisheries protection warden to protect them, however some fishermen evolved a V bottom boat which when driven WOT by a single 6 cylinder ford engine could touch 25 knots to help them evade the warden on a dark night.
Lough Neagh is also famous for its eels which are caught and exported to Holland (locals don't eat them). Baby eels called elvers leave here and in a marvellous feat of navigation swim to the Sargasso sea returning here with unerring accuracy 7 years later to spawn in Lough Neagh in the exact place they were spawned. Sometimes passing up small tributaries and even crossing water meadows to reach their own birth place.
Lough Neagh boasts one of the largest deposits of fine sand which is much prized by builders, vacuum dredgers harvest it and then unload it ashore.

8,
The perfect pint.

9, Irish Ferries WB Yeats which will carry us from Dublin port to Cherbourg in France for the long drive home.


Thank you for coming with us on tradition and travel, we hope you enjoyed a different look around.

What next ?

Majorca !

 

[Irish Rambler]

One of the more recent traditions in the UK and Ireland has been the advent of 'The package holiday'.
Families starved of the sun could hop on a plane and get 2 weeks of rest and relaxation for a good price if you lived on the mainland but the travel companies always stuck the arm in on flights from Ireland.
With the advent of the internet and low cost airlines like Ryanair those old travel agents who made a tidy sum have now had their horns pulled in and not before time.
For example, we live on our boat in the South of France, we booked the holiday through Groupon.fr (a French site), through a Dutch company using an Irish airline all online for a cheap price.
When my children were small I had to bite the bullet and cough up as I wanted to educate the children in other cultures and more importantly get them away from the terrorist bombs and shootings in Northern Ireland at that time so they could enjoy their holiday in peaceful happy surroundings.
The Spanish mainland was a favourite with the Irish as were the Balearic islands of Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza, Ibiza over the last few years has turned into a place where the young go on hen and stag parties and with cheap drink their behaviour leaves a lot to be desired.
One of our favourites was Majorca and it was to this island we came again to chill out.

Photo's.
1, Orientation.

2,Our route.

3,Always on the lookout for marina's.

4, Majorca was always known as the island of windmills, before the advent of piped water each farm had a windmill to irrigate crops, these were practical because as the land heated up during the day, the hot air rose and the denser cooler air came in from the sea

5,Sorry, darn phone photo's sometimes come out upside down. If you can see it its the view of surrounding mountains.

6,7,8, Seafront, everything is kept spotlessly clean.


9, We used the local bus (in fact a luxury coach) for the airport transfers

 

[Irish Rambler]

Like most islands Majorca has a mountain range called the Tramontana down its centre, (the Tramontana is also the name given to the North West wind) just like everywhere the roads have evolved over time and the coach drivers are really very skilled at getting their vehicles around the hairpin bends.
Imagine trying to get a horse and cart full of fruit over them !
Palma the main town and port was the centre of exports of the islands fruit, in particular lemons and oranges.
On the opposite side of the island to Palma and over the other side of the mountain range there lies a valley called Soller.
There was a small port in Soller which transported the fruit and the producers had a choice, to transport their goods by boat which took half a day or by horse and cart which took a day.
A man called Jeronimo (yes that's his Christian name) Estades proposed in 1902 to build a narrow gauge (3 foot)railway from Soller to Palma to transport the fruit. It was completed in 1912 and has 13 tunnels and journey that once took a day could now be done in 40 minutes.
The motive power is electric and these carriages are the originals, much overhauled over the years and now it's a popular tourist attraction as it winds its way through backyards and fields.
A tram runs from the port a distance of 4 miles to the station, it too passes through narrow alleys, roads and backyards.
Here are some photo's.

1, Peach trees.

2, View from the Tramontana mountains with the sea beyond.

3,There are only 2 reservoirs on the island, the rest of the water comes from a desalination plants. These goats have made it their home.

4,Reservoir.

5,6,7, The Soller tram, when it arrives at each destination the tractive unit changes ends.

8,9, The twisting mountain road which took a horse(s) and cart a full day to cover 40 miles.

 

[klee wyck]

IR,
What informative and entertaining threads you create!
Bravo.

 

[Irish Rambler]

One of the problems on visits like this is getting photo's as the conductors try to chivvy you along.

 

[Irish Rambler]

One of the problems on visits like this is getting photo's as the conductors try to chivvy you along to keep on time.
Of course after all the rushing we sat in the carriages for 10 minutes before moving off.

Photo's,
1,2, Soller port, if anyone copies Richards feat on Dauntless the Med is the place to go with lots of friendly ports like this one in Majorca.
Note the double enders a virtual copy of the Maltese Luzzo boats we saw in an earlier post.
Admiral Nelson said of the neighbouring island Minorca boasted the finest sheltered port in the world.

3, The admiral on one of the railway coaches used for bookings in the port.

4, Packed with tourists.

5,6, Maintainence rolling stock.

7,We started our journey down beside the cathedral.

8,Oranges and Lemons the raison d'etre of the train.

Apologies for the double post, I'll blame the IT gremlins.
Over the last while I've been experimenting with a Samsung Galaxy phone camera, because its light, easier to carry and recharge than the big camera and when I get the hang of it I'll get the photo's right way up.
I'm a spanners man meself and with all this new phone technology I'm like a farmer riding a race horse

 

[Irish Rambler]

If you're a fan of classical music you may be interested to know that Frederic Chopin spent 3 months in a rented room in a monastery in Majorca and had a piano sent here from Paris and he wrote many of his concerto's here.
The piano is still in the room and if your a classical music enthusiast you can visit the very room where its preserved.
Apparently he suffered pulmonary problems, he was jilted by his Polish girlfriend and took it very badly, he was then introduced by Franz List to a lady called Amantine Lucile Dupin who apparently smoked cigars and wore trousers, in fact Chopin wondered as to the sexuality of this person.
She was a poet and philosophist who wrote under the pen name of George Sands and he seemingly discovered what made her tick because they had an affair lasting for 9 years.
They were not popular with the locals because they didn't attend church and her behaviour was 'unladylike' and Chopin's cough was mistaken for tuberculosis.
After they separated Chopin went downhill to his demise two and a half years later, he's buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris and it's said that never a day goes by without fresh flowers being laid on his grave.

 

[Irish Rambler]

The largest volume of tourists come here from Germany.
Germany has a very small coastline in the North West and sun lovers come here, the Germans have a very irritating habit of getting up a 6 am and going down to the hotel pool and placing a towel on the best placed sun beds to reserve it leaving everyone else to scratch around looking for a place to tan.
The second largest tourist contingent are the Brits after Brexit they may well choose to go elsewhere which would hit the Spanish economy very hard.
In the resort of Santa Ponsa there's an Irish quarter with several genuine Irish bars and a few fake ones with all the begorrahs and bejaysus coming out with a Spanish accent !

Photo's.
1,2,3,4, All the tourist fun of the fair.

5,6, Despite there being no rivers and only 2 reservoirs up in the mountains there are a surprising number of ducks around. These have tourist baiting down to a fine art picking up any scraps of food the tourists give to them.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Trust me to find something cheeky.
There are two words that sounds the same, hookers !

Photo 1, brothels are legal in Spain and here inside the door with the red light above it you can find the hookers.

2, Here in the shop window are the hookahs, as you will know this form of smoking comes from the Arab world.

I hope you enjoyed your visit with us to Majorca as much as we did.
Our next foray is to Andorra followed by Pineda de Mar in Spain, I won't post on those visits as we've already covered them in previous posts.

What next then ?

In August we'll be going to the Edinburgh Tattoo, a ride on Harry Potters train, a visit to the Isle of Skye, to see her majesty Queen Elizabeth at the Highland games in Braemar.
Then in November a trip to China and you'll be very welcome to come with us as we look for traditions on our travels.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Someone asked for a quick look at Andorra so here goes.
Andorra is a tiny principality which sits in the Pyrenean mountains between Spain and France. Historically part of the Cathars empire (go to some of the Dan Brown Da Vinci type books for more info).
it was before the advent of the EU a great place for offshore banking but since the inception of the EU its run by its own council of elders but its (alternate 6 months) administered by Spain and France so as such ignore it for offshore purposes.
Its sells duty free goods which along with Ski-ing in winter and hill walking in summer are its prime means of income.
Due to its tax free history (you need to be a resident to qualify) there are many wealthy people there who like to play so they built a luxurious spa fed by thermal springs at 35 degrees Celsius and that attracts tourists which is where we come into the picture.
We stayed in a five star foxhole for a long weekend for a bit of TLC.
Its one of the few places in the world where, if you live aboard a boat in this part of the South of France where you can drive up to in the morning, go ski-ing and then drive back down and sun bathe on the beach.
For anyone interested in the history of logistics it was a transit site for produce from/to Spain by rail, different gauges of Spanish and French trains complicated things meant goods had to be transhipped and then customs cleared in Andorra before the advent of motorways.
The only 2 routes for motorways which came later are at the top and bottom of the Iberian(see the map)isthmus
Being an independent little country meant they had their own individual lifestyle and traditions.

Photo's,
1, Where is it ?

2,This is May were in and there's still snow on the mountains, the river are in full spate due to snow melt.

3,This old WW2 British army 4x4 RL Bedford winch truck has now reached retirement age, we also spotted a WW2 ex American Army Diamond T converted to a snow blower.

4, Its called variously Mountain dew, Eau du Vie or we call it Poteen in Ireland and it comes from one of these stills.

5,Being in the centre of the Pyrenean mountain range everywhere but everywhere is hilly and buck eejits in spandex shorts on push bikes can be seen practising/training on the mountain roads.

6,Air dried ham is a delicacy in Spain, France and the best of all (I'm told) comes from the wild boar that roam this region. In Italy its call prosciutto.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Now for the train buffs.

Photo's.
1, This is the main station where 3 different train gauges meet, once a thriving commercial transhipment and customs post between 3 countries now relies on tourism.

2,This is the modern version narrow gauge 'Train Juane'

3,The train Jaune, on a different gauge track a Spanish train waits in the background.

4,5.6 Descriptions.

7, Ham ham and yet more air dried ham.

8, Old fashioned hand driven meat slicer for the ham.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Because of the mountainous district all animals are fitted with different pitch bell around there neck and it can be quite musical to sit and watch them moving around and feeding.

Photo's.
1, The old tourist train Jaune with its open carriages on its way to Andorra.

2, Want a garden ornament ?

3, This one shows all the cuts of meat used locally.


More to follow as I have to downsize photo's to fit.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Hopefully the last few photo's will upload for you.

 

[hfoster]

Hey Mate.

Hope all is well with you and your lady. Love the photos and the info. Keep it up Mate.

Cheers

H

 

[Irish Rambler]

Hi Henry, everything's grand here and the good lady's in fine form, we hope your family is in the best of health and spirits.
Glad you enjoy the posts, I keep asking the tourist board for a cut of the profits but trying to get money out of those guys is like trying to shovel rocking horse manure .
I see on TF someone wants to ship a boat back but there's such a variety of things here I find that a bit strange but personal circumstances may be prevailing.
One of the reason's for my posts is to encourage and enlighten others to come and experience the European/ Mediterranean cruising region.
Stay Lucky Henry.

 

[Irish Rambler]

As you know by now we cruised the canals in Europe to arrive Southern France, from our base in Narbonne on the canal du Robine we can either go down the canal to the Med and cruise to various destinations along its coastline. Its to these destinations we wish to draw your attention to should you ever wish to 'cross the pond' and cruise around the Mediterranean sea.
We try to visit things that any visiting cruising couple could either cruise to, or hire a car and drive to rather than just visiting marina's and in that way you can experience the travel and different traditions.

Most of us take a wee drink, if only a sundowner.

Photo 1,
A still like this was often found in America during prohibition to make Mountain Dew', many smaller ones were to be found in Ireland(if you knew where) to make Iska Beatha (water of life') more commonly called poteen.
Other countries of course had their own versions and you can even buy a 'mini' still to fit on your boat !

2,Now this stuff is lethal at 96% and would blow your head off !
Most poteen would be around 60%, if you've a flu and wish to be rid of it you make a 'hot toddy' and sip it before bedtime.
A good measure of poteen, a teaspoon of honey/sugar, a twist of lemon and 4 cloves, top up with boiling water, mix thoroughly and sip slowly, put an extra blanket on the bed and you'll sweat like the devil but be free of the flu in the morning.

3, Alternatively, you could try any 1 of these whiskies, one of which is a 15 year old Japanese and costs $280 a litre !

 

[Irish Rambler]

There are various Spanish Costa's (coastlines) and the Costa Brava is nearest to us.
Depending on various outside factors we either cruise along the French coast, around the end of the Pyrenees (Cap Be'ar) a 14 hour cruise, and on down the Spanish coast, or, if time is short hop in the car and be there in 2 hours.
On this occasion we'd just returned from Majorca and the Mediterranean sea forecast was as uncertain as a baby's bum so we went by car to the Costa Brava..

Photo's.
1, To help orientate you as to the Northern Mediterranean coastline.

2,Map of Spain showing the Spanish Costa's.

 

[Irish Rambler]

As you can see from previous posts around the Mediterranean the fishing boat is everywhere in exactly the same style, the wooden double ender, powered by a lateen sail, oars or now of course by motor.
Apologies for the turned photo's.
I can see by my photography skills I'm going to have to go back to the large bulky camera, not so discreet but better photo's.

Photo's
1,2,3 The ubiquitous Mediterranean wooden double ender.


4, The church in Pineda de Mar on the Costa Brava. Religion here is a very serious business.

5,6, Interior and side chapel.

7, Mounted escort awaiting the arrival of the Saint.

8,This decorated carriage dedicated to the Saint Eullalia, patron Saint of the fishermen who is reputed to have been blown ashore in a storm.

9, This tradition dates back to the early years of Christianity and is still observed today, pardon the pun, religiously, the young and old Spanish Catholics people are very devout Christians.

10,Hymms are sung to welcome the carriage to the church and bless all the people gathered, (even the odd protestant here by mistake) accompanied by a Spanish guitar of course.

 

[Capn Craig]

You sir are godfather of dreams as I sit at my pc you are the source and ending of dreams

 

[Irish Rambler]

Thank you sir for your kind words.
As I'm curious of your cruising grounds, I also like to see other countries traditions and lifestyle so I'm happy to show you this region.
Anyone who wishes to cross the pond like Richard on Dauntless would then have some idea of what to see, do and visit.
On the other hand some people are prompted to either hire a boat, or buy one and split their time as many Australians and New Zealanders do.
Hopefully it will whet your appetite and give you the inspiration to follow your dream as I did.

 

[Irish Rambler]

To round of our sojourn on the Costa Brava we took a boat trip along the coast with the idea that the locals know their own waters intimately and maybe I can learn something for my own future reference for if I come cruising this way in my own boat.

Photo's.
1, The beaches on this part of the Costa Brava are very coarse sand bordering on gravel, not particularly comfortable for sunbathing without adequate towels.

2,The ubiquitous Mediterranean Luzzu double ender.

3, Tourist boat service operated like a bus service along the 30 kilometre coast. Quite unusual in that they beach the boat bow first, lower a ladder for tourists to load/unload. With the coarse sand they have a strengthened steel forefoot to prevent damage.

4,Lovely coastline.

5,6,7. Apologies for the upside down photo's, I've been experimenting with a camera phone and it just isn't up to the job so I'll revert back to the other camera for our next trip.
Pork is a great favourite here and gammons are wrapped in muslin and hung on racks outside in the sun to dry and when served finely sliced is a popular delicacy when having an aperitif.
In Spain its called Serrano Jambon, fancy Italian restaurants call it Prosciutto.

 

[Irish Rambler]

A couple of photo's from a small town on the Costa Brava called Tossa de Mar.

Please bear with me on the photo's, I've tried all sorts to correct it but it still comes back as the original photo.
I'm a spanners man so I'll revert to the tried and trusted camera.
Smart phone ? Smart my butt !

Photo's.
1, The old fortified walled town of Tossa de Mar.

2,If you read it, its a speciality Serrano ham shop.

3,Beautiful old house in the town square.

4,Oranges are so prolific here you pick your own.

5,The walled town.

6,Tourist train negotiates the tiny streets of Tossa de Mar.

7,Tiny church is open for everyone to go and check in at 'head office'.

8,Poultry is another favourite food here in Spain, these models just go to show how many varieties there are.

9,When its hot and you just wanna lie down and have a siesta anywhere will do.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Just at the moment here in the South of France were experiencing a 'Canicule', heatwave. So far 3 people have died of shock by jumping in the sea to cool off, temps here are up to 44 degs.
On 'Snow Mouse' our aircon is doing a wonderful job keeping us cool and cold beer is reaching the parts it can't.
Many folk from Northern Europe who've hired a boat have to be told not to sunbathe, keep in the shade and drink plenty of water, because wine is cheap here they tend to go a bit overboard and glug it down like lemonade, with predictable results.

Were lying low for a couple of weeks before our next 'Trajet' journey up North where were going to visit the memorials of two unsung heroes of WW2, they couldn't be given recognition at the time, the reason will become obvious as the story unfolds.
Here's a clue. Arthur Schebuis.

I hope you'll come with us when we head off on in mid August on our journey tae the fair North.
That's enough clues guys.
Have an enjoyable and safe summers cruising.