Fishermen

This photo was taken on Castlerock Beach on Thursday evening.

After a long spell of miserable weather - cold, wet, windy - things began to improve on Thursday.
The week-end has seen temperatures up to 22 or 23 degrees Centigrade - hot for us!
The sun has been shining constantly. Perhaps this week-end is our summer...
So it was definitely barbeque time to-day.

Crowded Sign

This road sign is at the crossroads shown in yesterday's photo.
The white lettering on a brown background means all the signs are tourist information.

A case of too much information??
Which would be easily missed by a fast driver...

Crossroads

This is the crossroads with Cushy Glen's tree on the left.
The picture is taken looking towards Coleraine.

Cushy Glen

The story of Cushy Glen has two alternative endings...
One says that he was shot by a traveller he was attempting to rob.
The other has him being captured and then hanged from the tree shown below.

The tree is at a crossroads on the A2 Coleraine to Limavady coastal road.
Approaching from Coleraine and turning right at the crossroads takes you to Castlerock and the beach which I showed a couple of weeks ago.

I don't know how much truth there is to the Cushy Glen tale, but the house on the right of the tree would know if he was hanged there.
It was built in 1691 - so it was already around 100 years old when Cushy was roaming the hills!

Highwayman

Ballinrees Reservoir lies just off the B201 Coleraine to Limavady road.
The road, shown above, is known as the Windyhill Road. It was given this name in the early 1970's when postcodes were introduced in Northern Ireland.
Before postcodes, country roads rarely had names, as addresses were based on the townlands, the smallest units of land, into which Ireland was divided.

The Windyhill Road was an exception - it already had a name, which was obviously considered unsuitable for modern sensibilities. It was known as the Murderhole Road.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, this was the main road from Coleraine to Limavady. It passes through an isolated and mountainous area which, in the late 1700's and early 1800's, was frequented by highwaymen and gangs of outlaws.
The most notorious of these was a man called Cushy Glen, who allegedly murdered a number of travellers. His hideout was known as the murderhole...

Whins

A corner of Ballinrees Reservoir with whin bushes in the background. Whins - otherwise known as gorse - are a common sight on poor quality land.
The bright yellow flowers, at their best from March to May, are always a cheerful sight on dull spring days.
They look good on bright, sunny days too!

Reservoir

Ballinrees Reservoir is a couple of miles outside Coleraine.
We walked round it the week-end before last.

There are signs telling dog owners that their pet should be kept on a lead. I saw a number of dogs, all running free and most of them wet.
Just as well the water is treated before it arrives at our taps.

Sunset

We've had several beautiful sunny days, so it's time for a sunset photo.

Taken from the back of my house.

Save Lives

The Blood Transfusion Service was in Coleraine yesterday and to-day.
Their units visit towns and villages throughout Northern Ireland on a regular basis. They usually stay two days and run two donor sessions - one afternoon and one early evening - each day.
The sessions are usually held in church halls or in schools. In Coleraine, the Baptist church hall is used.

Each year there are over 75,000 donations but, as it says on the lorry, 94% of the population still don't give blood.
I'm sure few of that 94% would refuse a transfusion if they needed it...

Field

Oilseed rape is not a crop native to Northern Ireland. Although it has been grown here for a number of years, it isn't a common sight.

So it's still something of a shock when you come across a bright yellow field.