Montmellick

Montmellick is a small rather insignificant village in the centre of Ireland. However, for anyone with an interest in embroidery it is the home of Montmellick needle craft the reason why Bazflyers paid the place a visit. Stopping over for the night in the village proved fortuitous in more ways than intended. Firstly, we stayed in a most charming bed and breakfast furnished and decorated with Nina's amazing eclectic collection of stuff. Secondly, we were recommended to visit nearby Emo Court, a grand Neo-classic building designed by the architect James Gandon in 1790 for the Earls of Portarlington. 

Nina's 'Old Bank House' B&B

During the middle of the 20th century Emo was owned by the Jesuits and for some of this time the former gardener's cottage was occupied by an ageing Father Francis Browne. Prior to his life as a Jesuit priest, Father Browne had been given a camera and with permission of his superiors he was known to take photos that were often processed in a bath tub.

Emo Court

During the First World War, Browne served as chaplain to the Irish Guards in France and Flanders. Injured five times and gassed once, he was described by his commanding officer as “the bravest man I ever met”. 

When he died in 1960, Father Francis Browne’s negatives were packed away and stored inside a battered metal trunk and moved to the Jesuit archives in Dublin. There they lay covered in dust, quietly mouldering for about 25 years, until someone decided to take a look at what lay inside.

When the trunk was opened in 1985, critics began comparing Father Browne to the greats in photography like Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Doisneau, except Browne's work predated theirs by decades.”

Father Browne's photo's taken in WW1 have recently been published for the first time. On their own this collection is hugely significant. 

Artefacts from Father Browne's life and a captivating sample of his photos are on public display at Emo Court. It’s perhaps impossible to do justice to the breadth and skill of his work. The country he was born into had no cars, no electricity. His first pictures showed schooners sailing in the port, and by the end of his life, he was photographing Transatlantic aeroplanes at Shannon Airport.....!

Father Browne around the time of WW1

Alcock & Brown

The first non-stop transatlantic flight occurred in June 1919. British aviators Alcock and Brown flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifton in County Galway, Ireland. The Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill, presented them with the Daily Mail prize for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 'less than 72 consecutive hours'.

The crossing was not only a tribute to the aircraft's reliability but also to the navigation skills of the pilots. After 16 hours flying they made landfall in Galway not far from their intended landing place. The aircraft was damaged upon arrival because of an attempt to land in what appeared from the air to be a suitable green field but which turned out to be a bog.

Bazflyers took a narrow farm track over the bog to stand on the very site of the Vimy's crash landing. Unless the landscape has changed over the past 90 odd years we conclude any prospect of a successful landing would have been unlikely. Nowadays, there are are aroximately 3000 flights across the Alantic every day...! 

Cairn marking the site of Alcock and Brown's landing

Archive photo of the landing 

Cliffs of Moher

On Ireland's rugged west coast there's a place where the land abruptly gives way to the North Atlantic Ocean in a most spectacular way. Known as the 'Cliffs of Moher' this iconic monument of nature is not surprisingly a major stopping-off point for tourists. Today the Bazflyers joined many other visitors at what is Ireland's most visited natural attraction. A very strong blustery wind imbedded with the odd rain squall only added to the magical vista.  

Cliffs soar around 700 feet above wild North Atlantic waters. Sea birds large and small hone their air-borne skills along the cliff edge often coming within an arms length of assembled tourist spectators. Nature doing what it does best...understandable why this inspiring setting has been used as the location for some notable movies and advertisements....think, Ryan's Daughter, The Princess Bride and Father Ted......

Dursey Island

The rugged Beara Peninsula, located in South West Ireland, pokes out like a finger into the treacherous waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. At the extreme end of the peninsula is Dursey Island which was today's Bazflyer journey. 

This formally in-habituated island is separated from the mainland by treacherous waters making access by small boat a perilous undertaking even in calm weather. After strenuous lobbying by the local parish priest, a cable car was built in 1969. Unique in Ireland, it unfortunately failed to stem depopulation. Today Dursey is the haunt of ornithologists and walkers, a place where old field patterns are largely undisturbed and the wildlife is protected.

The tenacity of folk who once lived in this rugged and remote corner of Ireland can perhaps be best  illustrated by a heroic sea rescue carried out by Dursey Island men in a row boat. In November 1881 a huge storm destroyed the lighthouse on nearby Calf Rock leaving six keepers marooned and exposed to the fearsome elements. After several failed attempts to rescue the men by British gunboats seven brave fishermen set out from Dursey to save the men. Battling high winds and raging seas they brought all the men to safety.

The rescuers were subsequently honoured for their bravery and seamanship at a ceremony in London. News of the rescue even reached New Zealand some 3-months later. Here is the report as printed in the Marlborough Express:  

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=MEX18820213.2.15

The cable car to Dursey Island is behind Mrs Bazflyer who is well protected from the elements

The remote and picturesque Beara Peninsula

Small colourful town along the road to Dursey

Peel

To visit the Isle of Man is to take a step back in time. Stone walls, neat white cottages, flower filled gardens, tidal fishing harbours all set against a mellow green countryside. Almost every vista could be right at home on a postcard or chocolate box. Bazflyers of course like to unearth a story wherever we go and in this regard the Isle of Man is nothing short of a rich treasure trove. 

Nowhere on the Isle of Man is far from the sea. As a result seafarers, ships and wrecks have dominated the island's long history. Peel is a small harbour on the west coast facing Ireland and home of one of the island's three volunteer lifeboats, a lifeboat famous for what is generally regarded a very daring rescue. 

This occurred during a violent storm on the 7th October 1889. A Norwegian schooner had lost its rigging and was floundering off the coast of Peel. It was feared all on board would perish but a volunteer life boat crew from Peel braved the elements. They rowed to the rescue and over several hours saved 23 crew and passengers. Among those saved were the captain's wife and baby daughter. History records that on landing the baby ashore there was a request for a lady to step forward and care for the infant until the mother regained her strength. Something akin to a rugby scrum then allegedly took place as ladies vied for the privilege of caring for the infant.

In honour of the daring rescue, the Norwegian Government conferred the highest honour they could upon the lifeboat crew. 

The little west coast town of Peel

The modern day Peel lifeboat 

Houses in a Peel street

Flowers in a boat

Isle of Man

The Island of Man sits neatly in the Irish Sea midway between Scotland and Ireland. The island is not part of the UK or an overseas colony. It shares the same unique status as Jersey and Guernsey in the English Chanel. It is a self governing 'Crown' dependancy.....just the sort of place us Bazflyers would visit and we're certainly pleased with our decision.

Perhaps the Isle of Man is best known around the world for its legendary motor bike event, the Isle of Man TT. First held 108 years ago the race is staged on public roads. This year's two week event begins on the weekend and with race day preparations already deployed we drove our hired Ford Fiesta around the 60 kilometre course. Sedately of course....

New Zealand riders have a long history of participation in the TT. New Zealander, Bruce Anstey, has nine TT wins to his credit and holds the outright lap record at an average speed of 212.9 kph. His unofficial top speed was recorded at 332 kph...!

Watch this: http://youtu.be/OmNXCJt7K3Q

The intensity of this race at such speeds defies our comprehension. Through quaint settlements, down narrow country roads edged with hard stone walls, a mountain section where the road tops 1300 feet and altogether more twists and bends than a plumbers nightmare. No wonder the TT has claimed the lives of 240 riders.

The annual influx of people for TT week exceeds 40,000. Fortunately we will be departing the island for Dublin as the advance crowds arrive. Nevertheless, there's already many motor bikes on the roads and campers in the fields which help contour up a sense of the excitement to come.

The circuit as it descends down from the mountain section towards a fast right-handler

    

Bazflyers on the TT circuit

A popular viewing spot....with refreshments on hand

Looking down on the mountain course

Old timers

Streets of London

Founded by the Romans over two thousands years ago, London is recorded as the most visited City on the planet. During the past weekend Bazflyers, along with Bill and Kate, were among the many people visiting this mega city. Greenwich, Bow Street, The Strand, Covent Gardens, Big Ben....whether names on a Monopoly Board or straight out of a Sherlock Homes novel the familiarity of London always seems unnerving.