are here again .. and its bringing back memories of my hols when i was a kid... ireland for two weeks .. then running riot round rising bridge if i was lucky dad would have a day off and we'd go out for the day but that wasnt often seeing as he was self employed and a felt roofer .. and summer was the time he could work with not as much rain ... 
I always got an extra 2 weeks holiday than the others .. because we always went to northern ireland for the 12th July. I never had a birthday at home .. seeing as my birthday is the 11th .. i was always in ireland. We travelled on 9th or 10th .. always overnight .. ready for the first ferry out of Stranrear which was at 6am ... I loved going over on the ferry .. spent most of my time on deck. Some of my earliest memories is of seeing the sun come up and the ferry in the distance. We'd get there early ... and we'd be sat there waiting in the queue to get on the ferry and it would be full of lorries rather than cars. It would be packed in tight .. and dad would tell me to remember which stairs we went up so then when we got over to Larne then id be able to find the car again!!! This was because as soon as we'd had our breakfast in the restaurant .. id be off exploring the ship .. and they wouldnt see me again until the warning came over the tannoy that we were coming into larne. We always travelled in the standard class .. except for once 
Dad said we are going to travel in style and we're going first class .. and he never made that mistake again .. there was nowt in it except comfier seats - even the restaurant was in standard!!! He said it was a waste of time and money 
When we'd landed in Larne we'd go off to granny's ... never grandma - always granny .. i cant remember my grandad he died when i was 18 month old .. and she lived in a bungalow on the road to Markethill about 2 miles outside of Armagh and thats were we stayed for 2 weeks until i was 11 that was when she died. My aunt & uncle lived nearby - just round the corner .. but there was another way to their house - across the field at the back of grannys and across the bridge at the back of my aunts in fact it led straight into their garden. The bridge had no railings it was just an old wooden bridge that you took great care going over after the muddy field!!
I had a friend called sandra she lived in the houses down the bottom from grannys .. and every morning i'd go and call for her .. we'd walk down to the swimming pool in Armagh .. and spend an hour swimming - it was timed .. and then go down into armagh and wander round there and then walk home in time for dinner at 12.30 exact .. if i was late granny would shout and yell .. and if she had her walking stick a swipe round the back of the legs - and it was a blackthorn one as well ..
Afternoons was spent visiting the relatives. Most of my uncles lived on farms .. and i spent most of my time following my dad and uncles .. leaving mum with the aunts... learnt how to milk cows and bring em home to be milked, 2 of my cousins started their business out of their dads barn .. now theyre known all over ireland and offices in dublin as well. If we were going and visiting my uncle bill, mum would tell dad to stop off in armagh and we'd go shopping first .. get a cooked chicken from the shop on the main street just past the army stop point, bread and cake from the bakery, salad stuff from the grocers 2 shops up and off we'd go. This was because my uncle lived with his son his wife had died before i was born. And mum always wanted to treat em she always did this but never got milk .. the milk came fresh from the cows .. it was still warm and i loved it .. she'd send me out with a jug and uncle bill would fill it up before it went into the churn .. and id cart it back to the house being careful not to spill it .. Note this is in the 70s .. and health and safety wasnt in force then .. the milk wasnt pasteurised .. but im still here so i must have had some good out of it.
anyway i'll do more later ..
I always got an extra 2 weeks holiday than the others .. because we always went to northern ireland for the 12th July. I never had a birthday at home .. seeing as my birthday is the 11th .. i was always in ireland. We travelled on 9th or 10th .. always overnight .. ready for the first ferry out of Stranrear which was at 6am ... I loved going over on the ferry .. spent most of my time on deck. Some of my earliest memories is of seeing the sun come up and the ferry in the distance. We'd get there early ... and we'd be sat there waiting in the queue to get on the ferry and it would be full of lorries rather than cars. It would be packed in tight .. and dad would tell me to remember which stairs we went up so then when we got over to Larne then id be able to find the car again!!!
This was because as soon as we'd had our breakfast in the restaurant .. id be off exploring the ship .. and they wouldnt see me again until the warning came over the tannoy that we were coming into larne. We always travelled in the standard class .. except for once Dad said we are going to travel in style and we're going first class .. and he never made that mistake again .. there was nowt in it except comfier seats - even the restaurant was in standard!!! He said it was a waste of time and money When we'd landed in Larne we'd go off to granny's ... never grandma - always granny .. i cant remember my grandad he died when i was 18 month old .. and she lived in a bungalow on the road to Markethill about 2 miles outside of Armagh and thats were we stayed for 2 weeks until i was 11 that was when she died. My aunt & uncle lived nearby - just round the corner .. but there was another way to their house - across the field at the back of grannys and across the bridge at the back of my aunts in fact it led straight into their garden. The bridge had no railings it was just an old wooden bridge that you took great care going over after the muddy field!!
I had a friend called sandra she lived in the houses down the bottom from grannys .. and every morning i'd go and call for her .. we'd walk down to the swimming pool in Armagh .. and spend an hour swimming - it was timed .. and then go down into armagh and wander round there and then walk home in time for dinner at 12.30 exact .. if i was late granny would shout and yell .. and if she had her walking stick a swipe round the back of the legs - and it was a blackthorn one as well ..
Afternoons was spent visiting the relatives. Most of my uncles lived on farms .. and i spent most of my time following my dad and uncles .. leaving mum with the aunts... learnt how to milk cows and bring em home to be milked, 2 of my cousins started their business out of their dads barn .. now theyre known all over ireland and offices in dublin as well. If we were going and visiting my uncle bill, mum would tell dad to stop off in armagh and we'd go shopping first .. get a cooked chicken from the shop on the main street just past the army stop point, bread and cake from the bakery, salad stuff from the grocers 2 shops up and off we'd go. This was because my uncle lived with his son his wife had died before i was born. And mum always wanted to treat em she always did this but never got milk .. the milk came fresh from the cows .. it was still warm and i loved it .. she'd send me out with a jug and uncle bill would fill it up before it went into the churn .. and id cart it back to the house being careful not to spill it .. Note this is in the 70s .. and health and safety wasnt in force then .. the milk wasnt pasteurised .. but im still here so i must have had some good out of it.
anyway i'll do more later ..
