The day we went to Bangor

Dave grew up in Carnalea, a wee place sandwiched between Bangor and Helen's Bay, across from Belfast. He left when he was a wee blond haired laddie 10 years of age to come home to Scotland.

Today he drove us back to his old haunts. His house hadn't changed he said but Bangor, where he went to school, had. He was a bit blue his old school, Connor House, had been torn down and the comic shop he spent his train fare on - which meant he walked the railway line home every day unbeknown to his folks- was nowhere to be seen. The sun shone for our visit to Bangor and just long enough for us to visit Crawfordsburn Park and beach, where he would cycle along from his house in Carnalea to visit his Granda's house in Helen's Bay.

And it was Helen's Bay we went to next, to that very house, and while his Granda has long passed, he felt the house was unchanged. His Auntie Anne and Uncle Cecil made us all very welcome and were pleased to meet the kids.....who behaved for 89% of the time. We were well fed and afterwards got some insight into that side of the family, the changes, the history and how the family first came to that area. Anne asked us all to write in her visitors book, which had been signed by every visitor that had been to their house since they were married in the 60's from their years in America, to Bristol and back in Helen's Bay. Her mother, Dave's grandma, had given her the book when Anne had married and Anne also had her Mum's visitor book from the generation before. I saw entries by Dave's Dad, visiting from decades before and visitors from around the world as Cecil's job has taken him to distant shores which had also brought reciprocal visits to their door. The comments section always made mention of Anne's lovely meals. No chance of me achieving such comments in my house what with my pitiful culinary skills. But now Dave, Sam and Tess have signed the book too. So we are part of the story now.

They took us down the garden to the shore of Belfast Lough as the light fell and we walked up and round the old world war defence posts and canon. Another memory lane trip for Dave who used to scramble about the derelict buildings as a wee whippersnapper; now it's fenced off, refurbished and a working museum. Sam was happy looking for beasts and seals, Tess chattered on. It was soon time to head back to Cullybacky, old haunts revisited and relatives re-acquainted.

If fate had dealt a different hand Dave might have stayed in Northern Ireland all these years, as it was, he hung aboot Scotland long enough for us to meet. And time has fairly shifted since.