Ballybeen is a large housing development close to our studio location in Dundonald. The majority of people who live there are the decent Protestant working class people of Ulster – my own background. For centuries July has been a special month for them – the annual celebration of victory of William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne, which ushered in the Glorious Revolution, enshrined the Constitutional Monarchy in the British Isles, dethroned the despotic Stuart kings, and guaranteed civil and religious liberty for all.
Donaghcloney, or Donacloney is a village in Co.Down, – or Co. Armagh (depending on who you ask!). I should know, for I used to live there – back in 1986, for around six months. Situated between Banbridge and Lurgan, and along the bank of the Lagan River, the village was built around the Irish Linen industry. The old linen mill was still working when I lived there, but it’s closed now, and its site is being redeveloped for housing.
In Donacloney to visit a home there, I took a few minutes to make some photographs.
Driving along the Portaferry Road, Newtownards this morning in nice clear Autumnal light, so I stopped for a few minutes (I couldn’t spend any more time) and pointed the Fujifiln X-T2 across the mud-flats (tide was out) towards Scrabo Tower.
I grew up in Bangor, so the sea-front, the piers and the area surrounding it were the background to my youth. Just beyond the North Pier is The Long Hole, a sea inlet, into a rocky narrow pool, quarried out from the rocks in the 19th century, with man-made slipways and walkways. The Long Hole is now disused as a harbour.
The old water Tower on Galloway Hill, close to Moneyreagh, Co. Down is listed on the community website, https://moneyreaghdistrictcommunityassociation.btck.co.uk/ as being one of the significant landmarks of the village! It is certainly visible for quite a distance around, but as a landmark it probably lacks a little in the beauty department. Still, I suppose its mostly only seen in the distance, as this photograph, taken from Tullyhubbert Road shows, and from a distance it doesnt look too bad.
Fujifilm X-D2 200mm lens, f/9 @ 1/250th sec on ISO200.
So, in the interests of bringing its lovely ‘landmarkedness’ to the wider public, I drove up Tower Lane to reach said monument to the human desire for thirst quenching wateriness, and record it from closer distances. Continue reading Moneyreagh Water Tower→
Groomsport, once a popular holiday destination, with acres of seaside caravans, lying on the North Down Coast just outside Bangor, and a great place for a quiet walk – with the Fujifilm X-T2 on an afternoon after an appointment nearby.
There’s a harbour, tidal though, so some of the vessels were no longer afloat when I arrived
Originally known as ‘The Olivet Home’ it was built to be an orphanage in 1886 by Alexander Orr Reid as a memorial to his only son who was killed in a shooting accident. It was purchased by Ballygowan Presbyterian Church in 1918 and used as a school and church hall. The inscription on the building is ‘The Time is Short’ – thought to be a reference to the death of one of the construction workers, who fell to his death from the roof. A white stone on the top of the tower marks the event.
Portraits2Go.co.uk 