Anyone ever go camping at the weekends in the summer?
Just loved the sand dunes at Newcastles golf course near the beach a great sheltered spot for camping and the old bottles of scrumpy...Down the hatch gang..
John

I remember camping at Newcastle early 60s and the owner of the camping site, ( forget her name ) running about in the morning shouting " Everybody get up, the binmen are coming "! Help me someboby,who was she called ? Come on Lowroader you must remember1
Donald
Just had a memory flash could she have been called Bonnie?
Donald

Hi John & Donald.

I remember camping beside the railway track at Juniper Hill at Portrush , with my mate. We stayed in a small ridge tent , and some night's we were flooded.Our food consisted of White Loaf , Syrup, and Beans. Not in that order, O we missed home cooking . Did anyone ever shave in cold water. Those were the day's . HARD MEN . Another time we went on motorcycles to Donegall , Portnablagh , on arrival it was dark , and we set up the tent . In the morning we awoke to find we were about four feet from the cliff edge .All the best . Tommy

Hi Donald,
I presume you are referring to Bonnies caravan and campsite at Newcastle. Never stayed there.

The Boys Club camped at Donard Park for some years and and had our evening meal at the Strand Cafe on Main Street.
We also stayed in a large shed type building at the old railway station.
Filled our palliases (actually large potato sacks) at a stable up the yard and had our meals at the guest house on the corner. I think it was called The Golf Hotel (some hotel)

NB.
Sorry I couldn't join in the discussions about pubs or the Top Hat.
Was never in the Top Hat and only visited two pubs in Lisburn (O'Dowds and Alexanders) as an unpaid taxi driver.

I appear to have led a sheltered life down the Low Road.

BTW A Very Happy New year to everyone.

camping at newcastle was popular mid fifties as no doubt a few readers will identify with but no campsites or beach sites it was on the banks of the shimna river and washing dishes in cold running water after ? breakfast? and a few crammed into a wee tent parent waved you goodbye on your way to lisburn station and never gave you a thought until maybe a week later
used to walk the mountains in my case mount thomas? cause i identified with it at that young age but a lot of time at the amusements beside the rowing lake

happy days good luck tom

What once was Newcastle railway station is now a Lidl supermarkt I shopped there last summer.
Donald

Hi Donald
We never did use a camp site at the Castle what i can remember was we walked past the station and on to the beach turned left up the beach towards the golf course
then there was a small gate we went up the path and we found a massive hole like a huge crater it was real private it could have been an old dam or something but you would have got about at least 1 tents pitched there easy.
The beauty of it was there was no wind at all on a good day we just laid and basked in the sun.
Could be still there maybe not many people new about it.
John

Hi Tom,
Just talking about Portrush and hard men.
We used to just camp on the beach along side the golf course great spot.
But always attended the Arcadia ballroom took the good suit and had a great time.

Lowroader, as I'm sure you're well aware, you were wise to avoid those dens of iniquity frequented by such as Donald and myself.
One of the great thrills of my extremely poor childhood was to arrive, on the one or two occasions we could afford it, at the Railway Station in Newcastle, and see the mighty Slieve Donard towering into , (invariably), the clouds, and to wonder about the mysterious Silent Valley. To this day, I still don't know if that really was a place, as we never got up there. But, like Brian Boru and Cohuilan - pardon the Gaelic - it was fascinating to a young imagination.

Dabbler,
I can assure you that the Silent Valley exists. I was up there just this past summer.
The name is said to have arrived from the fact that all the birds were scared away when the dam was being blasted out of the mountains and no bird song has been heard since. I certainly have never heard any.It is a most beautifully peaceful spot.

You are so right about Slieve Donard. As the old saying goes:
When you cannot see the top of Slieve Donard is' raining and when you can see the top it is going to rain.
Of all the places I have stayed in Ireland, Newcastle is out in front by a country mile.

Re Pubs:
I only ever drank once, after a football match, when I was handed a bottle of Guiness. I drank it in a oner and next became conscious in bed at home, still with my football strip on. Two drinks in one.

For me was a day excursion to Bangor a treat, especially if the train went direct from Lisburn to Bangor. It took a right turn somewhere near Balmoral and went past Sirocco works eventually ending in Bangor. I had my first drink of chilled , strawberry milk from a dispensing machine somewhere near the shore. I still think about it today over 50 years later. 6d I think it cost. The Philips family ran bus trips to Newcastle and Bangor from Hilden, us boys sitting in the aisle on a wooden board set across two opposite seats.
Donald

Anyone ever go up to Bundoran thniks i's spelt right
every other building was a pub vertually.
Had some wild times there.

Loved Bangor
Used to go on the day trips on the train from Lisburn
what a time we had on and off the train.
Absolute magic.

Went to Bray for a week there was 5 of us after putting up the tent i noticed a beer truck making deliveries asked the driver any chance of buying a keg he said yeah it's 3 quid and a free tap.
just leave the keg here when your done.
Well what a time the 5 of us had it was paradise.

dabbler
like you one of the wonders in arriving at newcastle station was the mountains towering over it never failed to astonish and amaze' it's to me the thing that sticks in the memory most
tom

John, after the pubs closed in Lisburn, a friend and I used to drive to Bundoran. We would park by the river Duff and sleep in the car until first light, then go fishing. The fee to fish was one pound which we paid when leaving. If we got lucky, we used to sell extra fish to the Golden Pheasant. The Atlantic salmon were beautiful.

Terry

Yes Terry you can say that again
I used to go out fishing after the salmon with Pat Duffy and also caught the eels at night till about 1 am.
After that well had a few rounds and danced the night away.
Magic times.