Into Northern Ireland

Wet, grey start. Glad we went to Slieve League yesterday and not leave it to this morning!

Near Castlefin, we passed under a huge flock of blackbirds swirling in the grey sky - like a scene out of Hitchcock's film 'The Birds'. Wet all the way to here and then the sun tried to poke out from behind the grey mist. Not holding my breath.

Cross over the border at Lifford - over the river to Strathbane and we are now into Sterling for currency and Miles per hour. Might need a converter app! We stop to adjust the Preferences on Tom-Tom so we don't exceed the speed limit.

The weather hasn't changed though. Nor the slow tractors on the road. Lovely green countryside.

The traffic is stopped by 3 motor cycle police roaring through in the opposite direction, lights flashing, followed by 3 trucks each laden with a propeller for a wind turbine - they are HUGE!!!

Derry/Londonderry (depending on your political persuasion) - we spent several hours here. Did a Martin McCrossan walking tour, run by a passionate local called John. Martin, I am told later at our B&B died about 28 months ago suddenly - aged 51, didn't smoke or drink, and he was fit (ran and swam - presumably walked too ...). As Bob at our B&B said laconically - 'Everything in moderation'.

Martin McCrossan was known as 'Mr Derry' and much loved in the town.

The tour was interesting - around the city walls:

I was particularly interested in the Bogside, the neighbourhood outside the city walls. This area has been a focus point for many of the events of the 'Troubles': in 1969, a fierce three-day battle against the RUC and local Protestants - known as the Battle of the Bogside - became a starting for the 'Troubles'. Between 1969 and 1972, it became a no-go area for the British Army and police. It is here where the famous People's Gallery of street murals can be found - these depict the 3 decades of the conflict of the long struggle for Catholic civil rights.

A highlight was stopping at the original Presbyterian Church where we were treated to a song 'Wind in the Willows' sung in a nice tenor voice - by an 89 year old! Still in good voice! The rain held off. It was a very grey day, befitting the gloominess of the history here.

We visited the Museum of Free Derry - they are waiting to move into new premises; they certainly deserve better ones!

This museum chronicles the history of the Bogside, the civil rights movement and the events of Bloody Sunday through photographs, newspaper reports, film clips and the accounts of first-hand witnesses, including some of the original photographs that inspired the murals of the nearby People's Gallery.

It was a very interesting exhibition - particularly about Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972); this is when a march by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association through the streets of Derry was fired upon by the British Army killing 13 civilians and injuring 14. This part of Northern Island's history - the Troubles (the late 1960s to 1998 when there were outbreaks of violence between the loyalist/Protestants and the republican/Catholics resulted in the deaths of 3466 people and over 30,000 were injured) - is very sobering, very disturbing.

We then visited the Guildhall with its beautiful stainglass windows originally built in 1890. There was a good exhibition here also - exploring how the concept of 'Plantation' has shaped the history of Ireland. It underwent a major renovation starting in 2010 both internally and externally at a cost of about £8 million!

I found it to be a despairing sort of place - terrible unemployment - and trying to rise above The Troubles with cautious optimism. On 10 April 1998, the British and Irish governments and most of Northern Ireland's political parties signed up to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, made a landmark apology in June 2010, saying: 'The Bloody Sunday killings were unjustified and unjustifiable'. This has been a big step in repairing UK-Irish relationships.

Now for something a bit lighter - in the window of a cafe:

We finally got away from Derry. We took the Causeway Coastal Rd north to the Old Bushmills Distillery but we knew we wouldn't make the last tour at 4 pm. Too bad. So we continued on to the Giant's Causeway, an area on the northern coast of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption.

They charged 'an arm and a leg' for entry. We did the walk around the top towards a rocky outcrop known as the Chimney Stacks; the walk provides views in all directions over the ocean below and over the Causeway and then loops back to the site itself. Waves were crashing over the rocks. Quite tremendous really. The light was failing fast; but it wasn't raining!

Our B&B for tonight is just 5 kms down the road at Ballintoy. Bob had a lovely fire going plus tea and biscuits. Lovely place. This is County Antrim. We could have spent a few days here!!

We had dinner 10 or so minutes drive along the coast at Ballycastle at The Central, a wine bar. Nice food; had an Old Bushmills whiskey sour. Nice music - solo singer on guitar. A really nice night.