When you leave Bangor in County Down and drive down the east coast of the Ards Peninsula you encounter many pretty little seaside villages –  Groomsport, Donaghadee, Millisle, Ballywalter, Ballyhalbert then Portavogie. The last time I was in this particular village was probably twenty years ago.

Reserved parking

I was sailing with some friends from Dublin back to Scotland. Around midnight we realised we were not going anywhere because of the tide and decided to pull into Portavogie. We could not get into the harbour, however, because it was solid with fishing boats. You could walk across the harbour in any direction without fear of getting wet. I made the mistake of asking a slightly inebriated local how the boats that came in first got out again? The answer was, of course, that they had to wait until all the others had gone … doh! We spent the night tied onto the outer wall of the harbour. When we told the story to the harbour master he said “that must have been a while ago! Nowadays there are only 23 boats”.

It was good to be back though and to see it in daylight for the first time. Judging by the parking notice we may not have been only ones having trouble stopping here.

Oops!

It takes a long time getting anywhere when you are birdwatching. With a car load of people all thinking they have seen something exotic it means stopping at almost every layby along the way. Eventually, however, we came to Portaferry, a lovely village where you can catch a ferry for the fifteen minute trip over to Strangford. We had just missed it however and, lo and behold, it was bang on scone o’clock. The Portaferry Hotel was beckoning. It was a glorious day so everyone was sitting outside. We were attended to by a cheery young girl who informed us that they had fruit scones so we opted for five of them. What is it with cherry scones over here? When our order arrived it consisted solely of cherry scones.  An ‘oops’ moment for our server who quickly and apologetically rectified the situation.

Smugglers of Strangford Lough

While we sipped our tea we could look out over the water and think of all the shenanigans that went on here in the past. Daft Eddie and a gang of smugglers called the Merry Hearts of Down used lots of caves and coves around her to ply their trade in the 18th century.

Eddie was the illegitimate son of an aristocrat therefore he only ever had one name. His surrogate parents did, however, receive a very healthy allowance every six months from a mysterious “someone”? The ‘Daft’ bit was added due to his sunny carefree disposition. His tombstone bears a single word, “Eddie”. The Merry Hearts of Down used this treacherous stretch of fast flowing water to very good effect. They knew it extremely well and also knew that the government ships pursuing them were frightened of these tidal rapids. They would make their escape through here into the calm waters of Strangford Lough. A bit like most Tories, in these parts evading tax was not seen as being particularly dishonest. It was just a game to be played with the government. To most people, these smugglers were totally invisible.

On the other hand our scones were not smuggled. They were fresh baked and very visible and very tasty. Once again the cherry scone was very good even though it did not have the whole cherries of our previous scone at the Old Inn. The fruit scones were equally good. Overall the joyful service, the presentation with large bowls of jam and cream, the warm sunshine and the scones themselves, made for yet another topscone award. Well done Portaferry Hotel.

Republican scones

When we eventually caught a ferry we thought we should do a quick trip into Southern Ireland before a wall is built along the border. Alas we did not manage a scone in Carlingford but we did catch up with a couple of old friends … brill! Maybe another trip is required for a scone in the Republic?

Even Daft Eddie would have looked at the EU elections with a certain amount of incredulity. in the UK the two main parties have got their comeuppance. May has all but gone. Corbyn’s guiding principle has become clear at last … it’s a range of options! This clarity has ensured a total collapse in the Labour vote, especially in Scotland. Corbyn will eventually support Remain, not out of principle but out of expediency to save his own skin. Whatever … having looked at all the candidates, we are backing Daft Eddie as next leader of the Conservative Party.

BT22 1PE             tel: 028 4272 8231            Portaferry