Tory Bush Cottages

04/08/2024

Last Tuesday I participated in a very interesting activity day in Tollymore Forest Park, a nature wellbeing initiative, which I may talk about more if I get the appropriate permissions.

One of the items that came up in discussion was the use of Irish in place names and how they can be clues to former land use or how our ancestors saw the land around them. Tollymore it self means 'Big Hill', - 'more' as can be seen below means big and 'Tolly' is from "tulach", 'hill or mound'.
My own home townland of Aughnacullion means 'field of holly', though there can be alternative interpretations, the Irish for holly is "cuileann" while that for slope is "cuilleann" as in Carcullion near Hilltown.

Tullyree beside Tory Bush means hill of the King (Ri Irish for King) or there is an alternative suggestion of 'fhraoigh' meaning heather, Tulaigh-fhraoigh, heathy hill, although some research suggests the 'King' of the Mournes' had a fort in this area so I lean to the first interpretation.

My source for this information is the Queens University, Place-Names of Northern Ireland project, see the third image in this post, and another source is the link below, from, would you believe it, The Cambridge University Hillwalking Club,

https://cuhwc.org.uk/resources/meanings-of-gaelic-words-commonly-seen-in-hill-names/ #:~:text=For%20size%3B%20we%20have%20m%C3%B2r,%E2%80%9D%2C%20in%20size%20or%20position.

From this clubs list of 'Gaelic' words I have extracted the following,

"For size; we have mòr (mhòr, mhòir, more) to mean great, and beag (bheag, bhig, beg) to mean small.

This is appropriate here in the Mournes as we have two mountains side by side one called Meelmore and the other Meelbeg. Again as above there is some debate as to where the 'Meel' part of the names come from see the second image in this post. Is it mountain of the ants/insects or is it mountains that were bare or bald, i.e. no vegetation??

What the should be no debate about is that Meelmore is the 'bigger' mountain and Meelbeg should be the smaller, remember "mhòr, mhòir, more) to mean great, and beag (bheag, bhig, beg) to mean small", but if you look at the scan of the OSNI map Meelmore is 687 metres above sea level whilst Meelbeg is 708 metres.

I give up!!

01/08/2024

I have been doing a lot of reading on the former Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) that connected Newcastle with Belfast from 1869 to 1950. Just as lots of railways were closed in England following a report by Dr Beeching in 1963, the same had already happened in Northern Ireland, all as a consequence of the growth of road transport and personal vehicle use.

Check out the first image below which compares the rail coverage in Ireland between 1920 and 2020, I used this in a previous post and I think someone commented it was like a meteorite had struck the rail infrastructure in N.I..

Parts of the BCDR are still in use, such as the Bangor Line, what was not retained was tore up and either reused or sold off, we had two former railway sleepers on the farm as part of a cattle pen and they are only now beginning to rot away, some 75 years after being re-purposed. I may salvage what I can in particular the rail spikes which being metal are still relatively intact but a bit rusty. Mentioning rusty metal I came across the gate post in the second photograph somewhere between Downpatrick and Newcastle, it is obviously a piece of former BCDR rail track. A favourable mention to anyone who can give a precise location preferably using what3words.

This leads me on to the recent All-island Rail Review published last month, see the third image which shows the proposed new lines and lines to be improved by either doubling or decarbonisation. Aldergrove for the first time (for non locals our International Airport !!) is going to get a rail connection.

There is a new line linking Belfast and Newry with stations at Hillsborough and Banbridge instead of previously having to go via Portadown. That means people from Rathfriland even over as far as Kilcoo, the area around Tory Bush, could commute to work in Belfast by train following a short car journey to Banbridge train station. By the way, though there is a proposed connection from Portadown to Derry via Dungannon and Omagh, there is no connection to Enniskillen, to me that seems an oversight.

Check out, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy79zz88r2po

For a good overview of the history of train services in NI check out this very good youtube video called ,The 'Big Three' Railways of Belfast', only 8 minutes long and worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K1siXNPpiY

it is by a creator called "Trains, Cranes and Trivial Tales" and he has other videos worth checking out including the BCDR station in Newcastle I featured a few posts ago.

30/07/2024

This is a photo of a mushroom I took today in Tollymore Forest Park, it is called Russula rosea, Rosy Brittlegill, for more information check out,

https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/russula-rosea.php

The name is interesting in that it is a double emphasis, in that Russula, the generic name, means red or reddish and the species name rosea means rosy red.
Not all Russula are not red and can occur in a variety of colours, one that is red is Russula emetica commonly known as - The Sickener and as both the scientific name and common name implies it is not to be eaten, though not fatally poisonous it kinda does what it says on the tin.

https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/russula-emetica.php

28/07/2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/qxsmv10bx7/missing-in-the-wild-and-praying-for-survival

Anybody might assume that my sole source for Facebook posts is the BBC News website, and that might be true, so here is another story. I was attracted to this story because of the similarities with that of Dr Michael Mosley, a doctor going for a solo walk in a hostile environment, and the Doctor in this case Dr John Pike references Michael Mosley and says,

"There was an awful lot of criticism of Michael Mosley for going out for a walk without his mobile phone, for example, and in extreme heat. And I thought, ‘You guys give the man a break’. It's very, very easy to be wise after the event. He's obviously a highly intelligent man. You know, if he can't get it right, what hope is there for anyone? And yet it just happens to people.” .

It is worth reading the story to learn of the coincidences that lead to a successful outcome in this case. It is also useful to consider Dr John Pikes advice to anyone considering a solo walk.

"John's advice to fellow hikers now? "Leave a message in the front of your car on your dashboard saying where you've gone walking, as well as having told somebody... how long the walk is likely to last," he said.

Have another method of navigation... I would strongly recommend to people having a GPS device with a full scale map of the area that you're walking in."

And one of the rescuers added: "Just go with orange [clothing]. You look a little bit louder down the high street, but you're easy to find."

My personal advice, and I know its not always possible is to go walking with a companion, and to check out our own Mourne Mountain Rescue Team for safety advice on their website at https://www.mournemrt.org/mountain-safety/ .

When on the website consider a donation to MMRT not only for their everyday operational expenses but also their fundraising activities towards building a new base at the foot of the Mournes in Newcastle.

Mountain Safety A guide to safe adventures in the mountains... The Mourne Mountains are undoubtedly an awesome place, but as with all in mountainous regions, the factors that make them exhilarating are also those that pose the most risk. If you don’t take proper care, through careful planning, inc...

26/07/2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2gz1p2v12o

I like this BBC News item about a Blanket Bog in Scotland being awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.

Blanket Bogs are an important type of landscape where "bog mosses and other bog plants break down very slowly to gradually form a layer of peat. Peat depth varies from 50cm to 3m on average, but depths of up to 8 metres aren’t uncommon.".

Amongst the benefits of Blanket Bogs or indeed any Peat Bog such as we have in the Mournes and other uplands in NI is that they, " store water and help to maintain steady flow rates on rivers and reduce flood risks downstream, (a recent 'Spotlight' programme intimated that the flooding in Downpatrick was partially caused by the rapid run-off of rain water from Slieve Croob, the ultimate source of the Quoile River).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Quoile #:~:text=The%20river%20begins%20its%20life,finally%20emptying%20into%20Strangford%20Lough.

Peatlands are also significant sink of Carbon partially off-setting the carbon we pump into the air from fossil fuel use. It is estimated that Peat Bogs store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests.

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/peatlands-store-twice-much-carbon-all-worlds-forests

Peat bogs are very fragile and I am pleased to say our own Mourne Heritage Trust are working actively to improve the Peat Bogs we have in the Mournes check out Mourneliveand the post on the 5th of June in particular, World Environment Day.

However one line it the BBC News item caused me a little consternation, check out the third sentence below from the item where it suggests that the Causeway Coast is on the UK mainland and if that is the case so must be the rest of Northern Ireland. At least I should now be able to order batteries from Amazon without getting the message, "this item can not be delivered to your address".

"The award is made by Unesco, a UN organisation that promotes cooperation on education and science.

It means this vast tract of peat bog joins just 121 landscapes worldwide which have been awarded the designation.

Only two of these are on the UK mainland: the “Jurassic Coast” in Dorset and the Giant’s Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland."

25/07/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdn-HCgQx2c

This is where I go for my 'messages', but why do we in Norn Iron say 'going for our messages' when we go shopping, well one possible explanation is on the answer site below.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-messages-when-referring-to-shopping-in-Ireland-My-wife-is-from-the-North-coast-and-my-family-from-Mayo-We-have-both-heard-it-used-frequently-but-pondering-where-it-came-from #:~:text=In%20Ireland%20particularly%20after%20the,telegram%20for%20them%20i.%20e.%20messages.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

In its heyday, not one but two major railways served the seaside resort - surely that would guarantee its future? Sadly not.

06/05/2024

I was pleased to read that one of my favourite comedians, RHOD GILBERT has received a 'clear scan' after a cancer diagnosis about 2 years ago.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c72p1z0790xo

For me, one of his most memorable routines was on a trip to Ireland and the travails with his luggage. There might be some learnings in there for us all in the hospitality business in terms of customer service.

https://youtu.be/OISGykO6Z7U

Rhod Gilbert on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow in Edinburgh. Originally broadcast on 07/06/09.

18/04/2024

The weather is looking really good for the weekend, perhaps spring has sprung at last, which is timely as we launch the first ever Mourne Gullion Strangford Outdoor Spring Festival, check out the video below, Mourne Geo Tours, my alter ego, is in there somewhere and visit all the other activity providers by clicking on Visit Mourne

I have to hand it to my colleagues in the outdoor activity and experience sector and our Council for pulling this all together, this is a really great initiative, and hope it is the first of many Outdoor Spring Festivals.

16/04/2024

Today the 15th of April is the 112th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and by coincidence we had a guest from Australia who left on Friday, and he told me an interesting Titanic related story encountered on his travels around the world.

One of the places he visited was Fairview Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia where there are one hundred and twenty one victims of the sinking of the Titanic buried, more than at any other site in the world. There are another twenty-nine Titanic victims buried elsewhere in Halifax; nineteen in the Roman Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery and ten in the Jewish Baron de Hirsch Cemetery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairview_Lawn_Cemetery

But what is interesting about the 10 bodies buried in the Jewish cemetery, 8 were unidentified and of the two that were identified both were later discovered not to be Jewish. One of these was Frederick Wormald a ships steward who turned out to be Church of England, and the other Louis M Hoffman had a much more interesting back story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_de_Hirsch_Cemetery,_Halifax

Louis Hoffman was really, Michel Navratil, a tailor and Slovak immigrant to France, who married Marcella Caretto an Italian, and they lived in Nice in France. They had two sons Michel Jr. born 1908 and Edmond born 1910. The marriage was soon in trouble and the couple separated with the boys being put in care until custody could be decided. Michel Sr had permission to take the boys out of care for Easter Monday 1912, but he did not return them at the end of the day. Fearing that he may lose the boys and that he was about to be served with a bankruptcy notice, Michel decided to emigrate to the United States, taking the boys with him. He bought White Star Line tickets in Monte Carlo and travelled to Southampton and boarded the Titanic using a stolen passport in the name of Louis M Hoffman.

After the Titanic struck the Iceberg Marcel and another man placed the boys Michel and Edmond in Collapsible D, the last lifeboat successfully launched from the ship that night. Michel Jr aged only 3 at the time lived until 2001 and was one of the last survivors of the Titanic to die. ( the last was Millvina Dean who died in 2009 https://www.biography.com/historical-figure/millvina-dean )
Michel Sr died in the sinking, and his body was recovered by the rescue ship, Mackay-Bennett, and because of his assumed Jewish surname, he was buried erroneously in the Baron de Hirsch Jewish Cemetery.
To round the story out, the children who could speak no English were eventually re-united with their mother after a newspaper publicity campaign and she took them back to France.

Also in Nova Scotia is a piece of Tollymore Oak, as seen in the image attached to this post. The image is part of the Grand staircase of the Titanic that was picked up by one of the rescue/recovery ships and brought back to Halifax, it is now held in the Maritime Museum of Nova Scotia which houses as they say, “In addition to a Titanic deck chair, there are over 50 objects including artefacts (collected as flotsam at the time of the great ship’s sinking) and historic photographs.”

https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/fr/what-see-do/titanic-unsinkable-ship-and-halifax

Tollymore supplied the White Star line with all their oak for the construction of their ships by Harland and Wolf in the early 1900’s.
I believe it is still possible to see the remnants of those harvested Oaks in Tollymore, see the attached photos.

https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/fr/what-see-do/titanic-unsinkable-ship-and-halifax

09/04/2024

Saturday the 20th is going to be a busy day here at Tory Bush Cottages and in the Mourne Gullion Strangford Geopark area generally.

Here at Tory Bush Cottages we have local singer Aideen Barter and some friends providing an evening of music and stories in our 'big' room.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3761367180669848/?ref=newsfeed

The friends include Dermot McQuaid who is just about the best tin whistle player ever, check out this video,

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1463167014475060

and Anne Harper, again a local multi-instrumentalist and story teller, check out this video,

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=428066226568312

I hope to be back in time to catch some of the evenings entertainment, for my own part I am participating in a day of activity across the Mourne Gullion Strangford Geopark as part of the area's first Outdoor Spring Festival. See if you can find which activity I am providing.

Check out this facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/100064624724646/posts/854087623422054/?rdid=uwXYlk6TfCWOXRzj

Experience an adventure of a lifetime this April at the Mourne Gullion Strangford Outdoor Spring Festival. 🚵⛰️ 🌊 🌳

Discover the thrill of our mountains, lakes, and ancient forests on a guided tour. Immerse yourself in the tranquil beauty of our land and coastline on a voyage of discovery. Step into nature and soak up its bounty on a unique mindful experience.
Whatever your taste for adventure, join us for the day or make a short break of it. Book now.

📌 Mourne Gullion Strangford Outdoor Spring Festival
📅 20 April 2024
📍Mourne Gullion Strangford Geopark

🔗 https://www.visitmournemountains.co.uk/whats-on/outdoor-spring-festival

26/02/2024

The attached image is from the Daily Mail last Saturday featuring a travel story about the St Patricks Way that runs from Armagh to Downpatrick.

Check out https://www.walkni.com/mourne-mountains/saint-patricks-way-the-pilgrims-walk/

WalkNI describes the trail as follows,

"This 89 mile signed walking trail connects key sites relating to Saint Patrick and Christian Heritage, taking you through some of Northern Ireland’s most spectacular scenic landmarks.

Saint Patrick’s Way is suitable for leisure walking and pilgrimages. The walk begins at the Navan Centre outside Armagh City and will lead you through Armagh and Down’s rural, industrial and linen heritage, via canal towpath to the historic city of Newry. The walk then takes a scenic route through the stunning Mourne Mountains, through beautiful forest to the seaside town of Newcastle. From here, the Walk travels through the untamed landscape of Murlough Bay Nature Reserve, by Dundrum Castle, Tyrella Beach and finally to Downpatrick.

A special Pilgrim’s Passport aims to enhance the walking experience as well as acting as a recorded souvenir of the journey. The passport is available from The Navan Centre & Fort and local Visitor Information Centres or can be downloaded online. Stamp your passport at the 10 specified locations along the route and present your stamped passport at The Saint Patrick’s Centre, Downpatrick to receive your certificate of achievement.".

The image is of a pair of pillars and a gate I erected, probably in the mid 90's, there was a photo taken at the time of me, trowel in hand plastering the pillars, which was used in the local farming press, probably FarmWeek, I thought I retained a copy of the photo but I can't find it, I wonder does FarmWeek have a searchable archive.

When I built the gate and pillars I knew they would be photographed a lot and often wondered how much I would have accumulated if I had a 'pound' for every time the photos would be taken or used. If you do a quick search for 'Red Gate Mournes' and you can see how high photos of the gate feature and some of them are for saleable prints by photographers and one at least one from a photo-stock collection which charges a licence fee to use the image.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Red+Gates+Mourne+Moutains&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjpgPXs-smEAxUyQaQEHS12AHkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=Red+Gates+Mourne+Moutains&gs_lp=EgNpbWciGVJlZCBHYXRlcyBNb3VybmUgTW91dGFpbnNI0khQiQdYhjlwAHgAkAEAmAF-oAGJCKoBAzYuNbgBDMgBAPgBAYoCC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwgIEECMYJ4gGAQ&sclient=img&ei=9APdZem2LbKCkdUPreyByAc&bih=904&biw=1783

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-farm-gate-beneath-the-mourne-mountains-county-down-northern-ireland-53914899.html?imageid=9B23BE74-E8EF-4D05-B043-A7AA76C33AEA&p=7008&pn=1&searchId=19b1802392958b144e9764c4b6c44c0a&searchtype=0

It hasn't helped that my cousin now keeps his donkeys in the field, see the second and third images.

15/02/2024

I read somewhere recently that Stephen Spielberg has described Silver Strand beach in Donegal as the best beach on the planet!

Well I say, as Paul McCartney once said, “Ringo is not the best drummer in the World, he’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles”, has Steven Spielberg not been to Northern Ireland, think of our great beaches we have, the 7 miles of Magilligan Strand, and our own Tyrella and Murlough beaches.

I did a search on the best beaches in Ireland and of the 10 listed in Lonely Planet all were in Southern Ireland, most on the West Coast apart from Killiney Strand in County Dublin. They go on to explain this by saying

“The best beaches invariably are on the wild western coastlines, where the occasionally angry waters of the Atlantic might not at first glance seem all that inviting. But on a sunny summer’s day, you can run your hands through the impossibly soft sands and imagine yourself a fair bit closer to the equator.”

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-beaches-ireland

I had to a further check to see if the coastline they were alluding to was to the Irish Republic only or the Island of Ireland and it turns out to be the latter.

However, ‘Lonely Planet’ do go on to redeem themselves in a separate article on 7 great beaches near Belfast, in which Murlough and Tyrella do rate highly.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-beaches-in-belfast

Lonely Planet is one of the world’s leading travel guidebook publishers, founded in Australia in 1973, by Maureen and Tony Wheeler, the company has printed over 150 million books. Would you believe it, Maureen Wheeler was born in Belfast!

What are beaches, strictly they are rocks in transition, for example if you walk along the Shimna river in Tollymore, you will see little inlets along the banks full of a rough sand, this sand was once part of the granite of the Mournes that has been eroded by various means and is now on its way to the beach at Newcastle, eventually the sand will settle at the bottom of seas and over very long times will build up and be compressed to form another rock called Sandstone. This is all part of the Rock Cycle see the final image in this post.

Sorry to deliver a bit of a geology lecture but I was blatantly leading up to mention that I have launched a second page, on the back of this area becoming a UNESCO Geopark.

Checkout https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556326224959

The other images are firstly Silver Strand, in Donegal then Murlough and finally Tyrella. Got to hand it to Mr Spielberg in terms of picturesqueness he is probably right about Silver Strand. Or as a friend of mine would say in terms of 'picture-skew-ness'.

23/01/2024

The attached image of a clock and words of a poem ‘The Clock of Life’ was posted on a WhatsApp History group that I am part off, and I have always had a shortened version of the poem on my wall as can be seen in the second image in this post. What may not be known is that there is a potential local link with these words, in particular the shortened version.

We all have probably heard of O’Hare airport in Chicago, which is the 4th largest airport in the world by passenger number, and some may have wondered how it got such a local Irish name. When I say local, I mean County Down name, as the first image attached to this post shows the distribution of the ‘O’Hare’ surname in Ireland in 1860, about the time the originators of the surname in this story left Ireland for America and you can see the name is most common in Co. Down.

To fill in some detail, O’Hare airport is named after Edward ‘Butch ‘O’Hare who was the first American World War Two air ace, of particular importance as his exploits were just months after Pearl Harbour, his actions help restore America's esteem after Pearl Harbour. He was lost in action about 18 months later in an exercise trying to perfect night flying. You can read more about him here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O'Hare

As much as Butch O’Hare was important what is relevant to this story is his father who was also called Edward, known as ‘Easy Eddie’. He was born in 1893, in St. Louis to first-generation Irish American parents Patrick Joseph O'Hare and Cecelia Ellen Malloy. He was a lawyer and made his name representing a man who invented the mechanical rabbit used in Greyhound racing.

At that time the 1920’s, anyone successfully involved in a gambling-based business soon came to the attention of the Gangster underworld and in particular Al Capone. Edward senior became the lawyer to Al Capone allowing him to make a second fortune. At some point he turned against Al Capone and set up meetings that eventually led to Capone getting jailed for tax evasion.
It is not sure why he turned on Capone ,there is speculation that this was done to curry favour so that Butch got into the Naval Academy. The Academy was a bit of an elitist organisation only for the ‘posh boys’, so Butch the son of a ‘hoodlum’s lawyer stood little chance of entry.
Whatever the motivation, in retribution, the elder O'Hare was shot and killed while driving his car on the 8th Nov 1939, a week before Capone was released from jail, what is pertinent to this story is that when he was shot, he had two items in his pockets, a small Spanish automatic pistol and a folded piece of paper with the words of this poem on it, or least the shortened version. It was as if ‘Easy Eddie’ knew his time on this earth was limited and he had to make the most of it, read more about him here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_J._O'Hare

It would be great to establish where exactly the O’Hare family came from in Ireland, and indeed was it County Down as the laws of probability would suggest.

18/01/2024

This a photo I took today of the mountains with a dusting of snow, it was requested by a guest from England who stays frequently through the spring and summer months and consequently has never seen the mountains covered in snow.

It's amazing what we take for granted, those of us lucky enough to live in this beautiful area.

11/01/2024

Another day in the office!

We planted these trees last year and whilst they have guards to protect them from wildlife such as rabbits and hares our problem now is Deer jumping out of the adjacent Moneyscalp Forest. So I had to carry posts and wire up to fence along the back of the stone wall. I did the same last year to prevent sheep coming out of the Forest and on that occasion I had to carry the posts up two at a time, but I am not as fit as I once was, so this time I used the tractor.

I thought it made for quite a good photo given the backdrop.

I am not entirely happy using Barb Wire to keep out the deer but this is a technique used by Forestry Service, that is two strands of wire on tall posts running along the top of the stone wall, but I will attach animal deterrent tape to the wire, see the link below and I will paint a really pungent wood preservative on the posts to put the deer off.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PestExpel%C2%AE-Repellent-Double-sided-Reflective-Detterent/dp/B07DT1QW15/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3UT1DO6MS6OFT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZzXN-f6Yel63BipE9Ki-WMeSxUHnw0PD7p6-ecKN3j9uVE07lBRX98PP3d03eJdL-r0AdR7j0mfOzrh6gLyTzw.6kVYEljm2Sw3LPJOTgBTjlmCdigM7Ld3BYhuj04m6qI&dib_tag=se&keywords=animal%2Bdeterrent%2Btape&qid=1705000095&sprefix=animal%2Bdeterrent%2Btape%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-6&th=1

I think the deer are Fallow Deer as I saw two about dusk this evening and they were a dark brown/grey colour, and the official description is " Common Fallow (the most numerous) are light brown with white spots in summer and this greys and darkens in the winter."

Talking of not being as fit as I once was, this song by Toby Keith justa about says it best.

https://youtu.be/kRZn4sgtzYo

25/12/2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67819395 Just what you need on Christmas Day, thankfully PowerNI responded quickly and our guests were without power for about 2 hours and thankfully none had a Turkey in the oven.

I feel for those local families just preparing their Christmas dinner I am guessing some are still without power, I took a drive around at 2.00p.m and saw a PowerNI van in the Spelga area heading towards Attical/Kilkeel.

https://media1.tenor.com/m/Laa30ux3dbUAAAAd/no-power-power-outage.gif

24/12/2023

Santa, has left the building!

Throughout December Santa and Mrs Claus were resident at Tory Bush, he has just left, this photo shows his empty chair. According to our calculations he should be in New Zealand heading for Australia, hopefully making an important stop in Melbourne.

He might come back next year if we can provide him with more workshop facilities as he is less keen on out-sourcing his toy manufacture and wishes to create employment for local Elves.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=mourne%20santa

22/11/2023

In this 'Cost of Living Crisis', one really has to appreciative of the steps Supermarkets go to reduce cost of items to us the hard pressed consumer.
This is a photo of a promotional price in a local store, which shall remain nameless, I am sure it cost more than a penny to print, distribute and display the signs.
I seem to recall posting another promotion from the same 'multi-national' a year or two ago which was offering lemons at 50p each or two for a £1.

14/11/2023

This is a photo of some of the cleaning products we use either in the cottage or to clean them for arrivals. What struck me was that whilst we have used numerous brands over the years it is the well known proprietary brands that seem to work best for us.

We do use some own brands, in the laundry room we use Lidl washing powder which is just as good as some of the leading well known brands such as Persil and Aerial. One Lidl Deutschland product that we find 'fantastic' are their little green kitchen scourer pads, once recommended as the lowest priced Which Magazine best buy at 6p each!

We use the Carex liquid soap as part of a green initiative from away back in 2005 when we used to supply little hand soaps on each hand basin, but noticed that in our business of short-breaks most of the soap bar was being wasted as they were minimally used before being replaced by a new bar for new guests. As part of a 'Pilot Green Tourism' scheme we installed plastic liquid soap dispensers and now only the soap used is used, if you know what I mean. I just wonder how much solid soap we have stopped going to landfill over the 18 years since, and remember soap is partially a crude oil derived product.