Lead The Way Tour - Carrickfergus

Name: Lead The Way Tour - Carrickfergus
Address: Carrickfergus, BT387BG, GB
Telephone: +447916780474
Price range: £
Rating: 5

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Lead The Way Tour - Carrickfergus

This Guided Walking Tour uncovers the role that the town of Carrickfergus played during the Second W Get in touch to start the discussion.
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The Tour is on a circular route, starting and finishing at Carrickfergus Castle. I use contemporary photographs, artifacts and stories to help show how the town, and the people who lived, worked or were stationed here, adapted to wartime conditions. The standard route for public tours is around 1.5 miles long and takes around 2 hours to complete. The route can be extended, on request, to 2.5 miles

and 2.5 hours if your legs are up to it! Pricing: Adults £10, Children (under 16) £5

Scheduled public Tours are advertised and bookable through Discover Northern Ireland: https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/lead-the-way-tour-experience-p791921

Private tours are available - contact me to arrange a suitable day and time. If a Guided Walk doesn't suit, I deliver Talks and Presentations for Groups. If you want to support me in my mission to share the story of events in Carrickfergus during the Second World War, you can donate here: https://ko-fi.com/leadthewaytour

19/11/2024

If you have been on my Guided Walking tour, or attended one of my talks, you may remember the photos I use about the 1st Battalion US Rangers. The majority of the photos were taken by Phil Stern. Here's a link to the Phil Stern Pavillion, which you may find very interesting.

Phil Stern Pavilion. Luogo espositivo creato da Fondazione Oelle a Catania. Espone le fotografie di Phil Stern durante la Seconda guerra mondiale in Sicilia e in Nord Africa. A cura di Ezio Costanzo. Museo Storico. Sicilia 1943

18/11/2024

Terrific to see these young people taking time to remember the US Rangers.

Carrickfergus set to welcome American college band!

The Boston Merrimack College Band will be taking to the streets of Carrickfergus to play a medley of musical hits when they rock into the Borough this November!

The 90-strong American college band will be visiting on Wednesday 27 November.

They will be in Northern Ireland as part of the ‘Friendship Four’ ice hockey tournament and will step out in the County Antrim town for their first official engagement.

During their visit to Carrickfergus they will be parading at Sunnylands to the US Rangers Memorial and will host an indoor performance at the Amphitheatre on Prince William Way later that afternoon.

The band will parade past the US Rangers Memorial at Sunnylands at approximately 1pm - 1.15pm and there will be a short tribute to the Fallen.

At 2.30pm there will be an indoor concert by the band at the Amphitheatre in Carrickfergus which is set to be a fantastic hour of music.

The band are promising rock and pop as well as their more traditional music and they have a rock group section to add to the varied musical offering.

Members of the public are welcome to attend this free concert.

Tickets can be booked from November 20 at https://orlo.uk/D0NSm

Merrimack College

17/11/2024

A group of my fellow Carrick Rangers fans were across the water to take in the Stockport v Wrexham football match. While in the town, they came across an Air Raid Shelter tour! Amazing.

I would love to see access re-opened to the public air raid shelter in Carrickfergus, and find a location to display Morrison and Anderson shelters, and a recreation of a cubby hole under the stairs. Maybe if I win the lottery!

Carved into the natural sandstone cliffs, the intriguing network of underground tunnels offers visit

15/11/2024

Part-time (20 hours per week), Friday, Saturday & Monday.

More details in the shared post.

An accredited museum in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter telling the story of Northern Ireland's role in WW2, the Belfast Blitz in 1941 and the American…

13/11/2024

I did a short Irish History course, led by Dr. Eamon, pre-Covid. He re-ignited my interest in local history. Great to see his legacy continue with this Foundation.

Today we proudly launched the Foundation's website and archives - and unveiled our mission for the future.
Dr Martin Mansergh and Alice Phoenix spoke of Éamon's enduring legacy and how we aim to promote reconciliation in Ireland by properly understanding history.
Many thanks to the scores of people who turned up at the Public Record Office (PRONI) in Belfast to support our launch.
You can find our official press release here:
https://shorturl.at/ny9Kl
Caption: Éamon's family are photographed with Dr Martin Mansergh

09/11/2024

Never forget.

The small town of Irvinestown in County Fermanagh is the final resting place for 82 young airmen.

05/11/2024

05/11/2024

Surveying Northern Irelands Wartime Landscape: Launch of the Defence Heritage Record of Northern of Ireland
📅Date: Wednesday, November 13th 🕚 Time 11am - 1pm GMT
🏢Location: Public Record Office of Northern I️reland, 2 Titanic Boulevard Titanic Quarter Belfast BT3 9HQ

Join HERoNI archaeologists and Dr James O’Neill for the launch of the Defence Heritage Record (DHR) of Northern Ireland. This recent survey has identified 4500 wartime sites, many of which are still visible within the Northern Ireland landscape. There will also be a demonstration of WWII and Cold War items on the day.
The Defence Heritage Record records information on Northern Ireland’s 20th-century defensive structures, this includes the World Wars, the Cold War and Troubles period. These sites are still very much visible in our countryside and coast and include training trenches, gun and searchlight emplacements, pillboxes, observation posts, airfields, harbours, naval and flying boat bases, air raid shelters, and many other related structures.
Booking is essential at Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/mt7jw8xu
Image: Ballaghbeg WW11 Pill Box

01/11/2024

01/11/2024

30/10/2024

If you have been following me for while, come on a tour or attended a presentation, you may be familiar with US Ranger Franklin 'Zip' Koons and the Dieppe Raid of August 1942.

Here's a new short video on that story.

US Army Rangers, learning their trade alongside British commandos in a daring raid on N**i occupied Europe. Today's is an incredible story and one that deser...

30/10/2024

**NERD ALERT**

I came across this book through a recommendation in a Second World War Home Front Facebook Group I'm in.

As anyone who has been on my tour, or attended a talk, will know, I focus on the impact the war had on ordinary people on the Home Front. This book complements that.

Rather than just click the "buy now" button on a well-known online retailer's website, I thought I'd give my local independent bookshop a shout.

Once again, The Secret Bookshelf secured a copy which I picked up this morning. Dealing with Jo & Chris makes book buying much more than a transaction. Feels like asking good friends for help.

Anyway, a very niche topic, I know, but im looking forward to trawling through this.

Summary blurb from the publisher:

An Independent Book of the Month

What was the mood of the British people during the middle and later years of the Second World War? How did they react to the major military and domestic events of the period? What issues were uppermost in their minds? What incidents caused particular public interest and controversy? These are some of the insights provided by this remarkable collection of contemporary wartime documents.

During the Second World War, Home Intelligence, a unit of the Ministry of Information, closely monitored British public attitudes on the home front and compiled secret reports on the state of popular morale which were circulated around Whitehall. In this volume, leading historian of the period, Jeremy Crang, brings together selected Home Intelligence reports from June 1941 to December 1944 to offer us a fascinating 'real time' glimpse into the mindset of the British people during these long years of struggle.

The reports provide a unique window into public responses to the shifting military fortunes of the war, including the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the British and Commonwealth victory at El Alamein, the strategic bombing of Germany, the defeat of Italy, and the Allied landings in Normandy. They also include much valuable information on the continuing stresses and strains of wartime life such as the blackout, rationing, fuel economy and strikes – as well as the V-weapon attacks of 1944 which brought back all the horrors of the Blitz. Alongside this, hopes and fears about the post-war world come to feature strongly and Home Intelligence carefully documented attitudes to the Beveridge report, as well as other aspects of reconstruction.

Introduced by the editor, and incorporating an extensive glossary, this collection is an exceptional record of popular opinion on the British home front as the tide of war gradually turned from defeat to victory. It is indispensable in understanding both the unity and diversity of wartime Britain, as well as the many-sided experience of living through 'Our People's War'.

24/10/2024

22/10/2024

A few places still left on the Halloween Tours (not run by me) at Carrickfergus Castle.

Book now to avoid missing out.

Discover Northern Ireland Shaped by Sea and Stone Mid & East Antrim Agewell Partnership Dobbins Inn

16/10/2024

The original Great British Bake Off....

It's and we are sharing some stories about rationing and baking from our Oral History Collection. 🥣

Due to wartime rationing, home bakers were greatly limited in what their coupons could buy, with shortages common and many bakers forced to adapt their recipes. Rhena Montgomery (W&M1) recalled that ‘baking changed a wee bit because they wouldn’t have been as lavish with some of the stuff you’d have put in, had to use different things like powered eggs, but you made it as tempting as you could’. 🥚

Many home bakers who had a garden took the opportunity to grow fruit and vegetables to ease the severity of rationing. Robert Thomson (BBP6) remembered that his family started to grow vegetables as well as fruit such as ‘berries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries… rhubarb, we grew lots of rhubarb… there was jam made out of it. My mother baked, she put all that into the baking, apple and rhubarb tarts, she made it all, so she did.’ 🍏🥧

If you would like to try your hand at some wartime baking, check out some of the ration recipes on our website: https://www.niwarmemorial.org/learning/resources . You could make a chocolate sponge pudding with potatoes 🥔 or a mock banana sandwich with parsnips. 🍌

15/10/2024

New US Army Rangers commemorative murals unveiled only a few hundred yards from where the 1st Battalion was activated in June 1942.

For more about this remarkable Battalion, visit the museum at Boneybefore, Carrickfergus.

Or, of course, come on one of my tours or book me to deliver a talk!

Tour Guides NI Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mid & East Antrim Agewell Partnership Shaped by Sea and Stone Wartime Northern Ireland Wartime Living History Association

02/10/2024

I attended 2 fascinating tours today.
The first was about World War 2 led by the lovely Adrian from Lead the way Tour.
The other was a tour of the Andrew Jackson museum by the very friendly George.
Please give Adrian's page a like, and pay George a visit.

Much love 🖤

01/10/2024

Some great guest speakers at the Tourism NI Experience Portfolio Celebration.

New Experiences like Gorta in Swatragh, The Emigrant's Walk and McConnell's Distillery.

Excellent tourism insights from Pól Ó Conghaile too, for good measure!

Address

Carrickfergus
BT387BG

Telephone

+447916780474

Website

https://leadthewaytour.com/

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Videos

Today's special guest was Nils from Vienna, Austria. He was really impressed with the Churchill Tank. I always try to bring stories to life on my Tour, but maybe this was a step too far.

When I took early retirement from the Civil Service, after an interesting and rewarding career, I never imagined that I would end up in the tourism sector. Yet, here I am, operating my own guided walking tour, working on WW2-related projects, and delivering presentations. The skills I picked up along the way gave me the opportunity to be a Guide at The Gobbins. Tourism in Northern Ireland had rebounded exceptionally well from the pandemic. If you want to find out more about being part of this exciting sector, help is at hand (see the contact details at the end of this short video. If I can be of any assistance myself, please just ask. Always here to help! Tour Guides NI Discover Northern Ireland Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mid & East Antrim Agewell Partnership Shaped by Sea and Stone

Last year I made the trip to Dieppe for the unveiling of a new monument. This was to commemorate the US Rangers' participation in the Dieppe Raid in 1942, the first time US troops had been used on European soil in the Second World War. 50 Rangers, who had only been activated as a Battalion in Carrickfergus two months earlier, joined Commando units in this raid. The visit to France for this ceremony was one of the most memorable events in my life, and I made some new friends too! Remembering Americans In Europe

Watching Wartime Living History Association set up at the US Rangers Museum for the Family Day 12-3pm.

Today's the 80th anniversary of the activation of the 1st Battalion US Rangers in Carrickfergus. On my way to the Family Day ay the US Rangers Museum, but first I'm paying my respects at the Memorial Stone at Sunnylands.....

As promised earlier, short but comprehensive summary of North Irish Horse's assault on the Hitler Line in 1944, commemorated earlier today in Carrickfergus can be downloaded at this link: https://northirishhorse.com/history/Battle%20Reports/hitler%20line.docx The video shows Combat Recce - The Scottish & North Irish Yeomanry parading down Carrickfergus High Street, on their way to a service in St. Nicholas Church. Wartime Northern Ireland Northern Ireland War Memorial War Years Remembered Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Shaped by Sea and Stone Dobbins Inn

This morning, Combat Recce - The Scottish & North Irish Yeomanry gathered to commemorate the North Irish Horse's assault on the Hitler Line (Italy) on 23 May 1944. The parade passed by Carrickfergus Castle on their way to the Parade Ground at the Harbour Car Park. I'll post a few photos later, and a link to give a brief background on the events at the Hitler Line. In the meantime, enjoy the video. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Wartime Northern Ireland Northern Ireland War Memorial War Years Remembered Shaped by Sea and Stone

I was at the "It'll never happen here" show at W5 Belfast this evening. I was jammy in that I won 2 tickets through a Belfast Telegraph competition. Anyway, it was a terrific combination of Iive action, photographs, video, contemporary eye-witness accounts, and audio telling the story of the 1941 Belfast Blitz. This short video is of the performance area and some of the photo panels which have had animation added - very clever. The shows are on for another week, I think, and well worth going to, if you get the chance. The sounds of the aircraft looming, bombs falling, explosions and the aftermath of an air raid were haunting. Only 1% of what it must have felt like in real life, but still hits you quite hard.

Tourism & Hospitality needs your help.

As the hospitality & tourism sectors begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel, a few things to consider.........

COMPETITION TIME

COMPETITION details on how to win a copy of "Snapdragon", the best book on the early WW2 US Rangers. Video Music: Mechanolith by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100879 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Delighted that I have been awarded a grant to help recover from the impact of COVID, prepare for tours to re-start and ensure that I can work within whatever future restrictions may be required. This short video provides some more detail. Huge thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Department for Communities. Follow my page for updates on tour content, new exhibits and COVID countermeasures. So looking forward to meeting new Guests and sharing the Second World War history associated with my home town of Carrickfergus. National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland Shaped by Sea and Stone

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