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.

Inside Crom

The BBC will air a new programme tonight about the Crichton family and the measures they take to retain Crom Castle. I've featured Crom in previous posts so thought I'd add a link to the programme and embed the video clip from the BBC.

My Blog Posts & Pictures of Crom

BBC: Keeping The Castle

I spotted the boathouse

I'm watching the new BBC series, The Blandings. Whilst enjoying Timothy Spall's panic over The Empress I spotted a familiar boathouse in the background. It seems the series filmed at the beautiful Crom Estate. The boathouse featured in the photos I posted after visiting the estate in summer 2012.

Crom Estate Blog Post

Our Place

We've had reminders recently that there are still people in Northern Ireland determined to bring the peace process to an end. I grew up in a time when reports of punishment shootings, tit-for-tat revenge, and talk of legitimate targets were daily news articles. A time when a loud bang had you wondering where your nearest and dearest where because your first thought was bomb and when a fire alarm meant bomb scare. I never want to go back to that or see another generation feel the need to get out and away.

For all this country has been through, I've always been proud to be from Northern Ireland and am glad I moved back here. It's a beautiful place and it, and the people, deserve peace. I talked about that in the post Why Northern Ireland? when I discussed why I set my stories here and talk about it on the blog. We have to acknowledge what's happened, it's part of us but there is so much more to Northern Ireland and I hope some small piece of what I do here shows that.

Today, after speculation, it's been officially announced that the G8 Summit is coming back to the UK and this time it will be in Northern Ireland. They've chosen the Lough Erne Resort outside Enniskillen in Co, Fermanagh. I visited the Resort this summer, enjoying a relaxing evening there with my husband and children, after a day spent cycling around Crom Estate and Castle Coole. It is based around golf courses and a lake, with a turreted hotel, lodges and holiday homes. It's a quiet spot around the edges of Fermanagh's lakes and we found the welcome, service and food excellent. There's already been some talk of those who will protest against or at the Summit, as usually accompanies it, but there's a strong focus on the positive aspects of this group coming to Northern Ireland. The logo for Discover NI (the official tourism site for Northern Ireland) is currently 'ni2012 our time our place.' With recent tourism highs like the MTV EMA's, the opening of Titanic Belfast, the Olympics torch relay and the investment we've seen in places like the new visitors centre at The Giant's Causeway we're seeing much greater number of visitors and maybe this is the time for the people of NI to hold our heads high (or at least higher) and be proud of our place.  Northern Ireland has climbed up the rankings of places to visit, according to Guides such as Lonely Planet (incidentally one of it's founders - Maureen Wheeler - is originally from Belfast) so perhaps this Summit will continue to put NI on the map for good reasons, rather than just our troubled past.

Losing the light and rain coming in means this wasn't the best picture (snapped as we drove out of the Resort) but this is a photo of one of the views at Lough Erne.

Lough Erne Resort

Discover NI

Crom Walled Garden

I'm in the midst of a new manuscript, The Glass House. The main character, Caitlin, has inherited her grand-parents property, near the village of Sion Mills, and their love of gardening. On clearing a wild corner of the walled garden, on the property, she discovers a door that leads to a dilipadated Victorian Glass House. With the help of local handy-man, Jack, she restores it so that it becomes the centre of her burgeoning horticultural business. The Glass House contains other themes that run through the story.

I had already drafted the second chapter, in which Caitlin's glass house is first described but I was thrilled when I discovered the walled garden and derelict glass house at Crom Castle. I'm grateful to the staff member who told me about it. This glass house, like Caitlin's, is in a very sorry state. It doesn't exactly match my vision or description but does show the remains of pipes, brick walls and benches. It's a ghost of the beautiful and functional building it must once have been. The National Trust staff also told me when they cleared some of the wall and area round the glass house last year, they revealed marks along the wall. These show where other houses and structures once stood. In the barn building that the Trust use at Crom, there is an information centre. Within it they have an excellent plan of the walled garden from early in the 1900's, which includes the walled, circular rhododendron pool at the centre of it. Today only one corner of the garden is in use as allotments.

National Trust: Crom
Discover NI: Crom
http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/enchanting-walled-garden-of-crom.html

Crom Estate, Co. Fermanagh

The Crom Estate sits on the edge of Upper Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh and contains not one but two castles (albeit one is in ruins, but no less spectacular). You can hire a boat at the National Trust site or, like my family and I, you can take your bike and enjoy the trails. It's a beautiful estate and well worth a visit.

One highlight of the day, for me, was discovering the walled garden and the dilapidated glass house within it, not only as someone who would love to be a great gardener but also because it conformed so well to my vision of Caitlin's walled garden and glass house in my work in progress, The Glass House. As there are so many photos to post of the estate itself, I'll reserve the ones of the garden and glass house for another day.

Crom Old Castle

Current Crom Castle (privately owned)

The Boathouse

Bridge to the island (where the walled garden is) and the Summer House

View from the Summer House 

National Trust: Crom
Discover NI: Crom
http://cromcastle.com/index.html

Out & About

Could have called this miscellaneous pictures as it's a bit of a mish mash.

From the County Down countryside in the snow, to the zoo and castle in the Belfast Hills, Castle Ward on the Ards Peninsula and the Marble Arch Caves in Co. Fermanagh.

Since this picture was taken a set has been constructed for the filming of Game of Thrones - today you could see the scaffolding for the set just beyond the telephone pole in the distance.

Belfast Zoo

Belfast Castle

Gardens at Castle Ward, one of my favourite National Trust Houses because of it's unique design  - one side Classic and the other Gothic - internally and externally.

Inside the Marble Arch Caves (which aren't actually marble, but limestone, and no less spectacular for it). Their website does them a lot more justice than my photography skills:
http://www.marblearchcavesgeopark.com/