Back in the USSR… er, UK
Back in the USSR… er, UK

Back in the USSR… er, UK

Having serviced the van at Loughcrew and positively disliking the idea of going cap in hand to request access to the marina yard in order to dump waste, we did not bother to fill and empty and just got away from Carlingford Marina as swiftly as possible. 

It was a glorious morning, bright and sunny with plenty of “seaside clouds” to gaze upon. We were going to cross the border and return to Northern Ireland on our slow journey back to the ferry.

Mr Snail had selected Donaghadee for our next stop in order to add to our list of tested Aires.

The site at Donaghadee Commons is a small sea front unlined car park with public conveniences (not wholly salubrious, reportedly) and a single borne offering two hookups, around 1 Km from the town. Two spaces are marked out for Motorhomes to enable use of the borne and vans are requested to move off the borne point to leave it free after use. It is more of a Motorhome Service Point (as clearly labelled) than a full aire but overnight sleeping in the car park is allowed (free). There is a tennis club adjacent, with floodlighting. Knowing this can assist with selecting a spot in which to park…

Tokens for the borne are available from a bar/restaurant in Donaghadee – Pier 36 – which is happily the first hostelry reached when walking into town along the footpath on the sea front.

Vincent at Donaghadee Commons – follow the path to the left to go fetch tokens or to sup Guinness…

We did not need to service the van and so parked away from the service point. The view across the sea included the Rhinns of Galloway and the Mull of Kintyre, but the Isle of Man was lost in the mist.

The area was extremely busy with dog walkers.

A very well kept harbour

We walked into Donaghadee for  a look around. A little more seaside-ish than Carlingford but far less commercial than Bundoran and overall, quite agreeable. The harbour is handsome. The town is a little hit and miss, with some good buildings and a few coffee shops etc. but signs of being run down and businesses going under.

Quite a good-looking town

Offshore are the Copeland Islands. Not sure why they feature on this “manhole cover” (which clearly on revisiting is nothing of the sort)!

Can anyone explain?

I fancied trying out an appealing-looking pub but we didn’t go in.

Note the Tardis-like litter bin

It turned out that this is claimed to be Ireland’s oldest established pub.

This got me very excited… but turned out to be closed

By the time that we navigated a path back to the pier we were both thirsty, so Mr Snail ventured into the aforesaid Pier 36 to see if dogs were allowed in. Dogs are not only allowed in the bar but Nell received a positive welcome, with several pats and a much-needed bowl of water before we got our Guinness.

It was very agreeable in the bar, with a crackling log fire going, and so when the hail storm began outside we did the only sensible thing and ordered more Guinness… and the menu.

After some Pulled Pork Fritters with Guacamole and a plateful of Buttery Champ fully loaded with Char-grilled Chicken breast, Smoky Bacon, Cheese and Tobacco Onions I was more than ready for a brisk walk back to the van. The storm had passed over, was on its way to Scotland and the daylight was starting to fade – a combination that yielded a wonderful skyscape that no camera had a hope of capturing the essence of.

What a sky

Back at the van we sat up front in the cab seats, watching the last of the colour fade and the light go. We sat there long after the distant lights of boats and Scottish lighthouses appeared, observing planes coming in to land at Belfast.

One comment

  1. Pingback: One last night – Two Snails

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