The Other Side of Crom

I had to record the BBC programme, Keeping the Castle, and watched it tonight.

I've mentioned in several posts how Crom has become one of my favourite spots in Northern Ireland and there is so much for the visitor to the estate to enjoy; the photos I've already posted show the beauty of the landscape and the waterways. Despite all of that, curiosity lingered about the interior of the castle, which is private.

The West Wing is a commercial concern and the South Wing a private residence but both are owned by the Crichton family and cannot be accessed with your National Trust entry fee. So, we had to cycle and walk around the edges of private land, stealing what glimpses we could.

Blandings was filmed at Crom and Sunday nights currently provide Wodehouse humour and a chance to glimpse the inside of Crom Castle. Keeping the Castle takes you into both wings, settling my curiosity a little further.

I noticed some lovely cottages when we cycled around the estate, one in particular on the island - where the walled garden can be found - had stunning views over to the boathouse, castle and summer house. Its garden caught my attention, as did the terrier dog who came out to say hello when we cycled past. He made us wish we'd been able to bring our own dogs with us but it's not easy appeasing a Red Setter during a car journey or taking her along on a bike ride. I realise now that cottage is the residence of a Crichton family member, who maintains a beautiful cottage garden, and Jack Russell's appear to be a family favourite.

So, if you haven't seen any of my other blog posts about Crom, have yet to visit it or are curious about the interior of the Castle I hope you'll take a look round this blog (you can use the Crom tag on the right) and follow some of the links to find out more.

At the end of Keeping the Castle it was suggested by Earl Erne and Viscount Crichton that Fermanagh was the best County. Well, it's a wonderful spot and another one of our gems but as a native of County Down I'll have to argue that our mountains and coastline are hard to beat.