Gracehill

We woke up to a sunny day which was lucky as our plan is to cycle on the Comber Way to the Titanic Quarter, then on the Lagan and Lough cycle way to Michelle and Michael’s house in Downsview Avenue. The Comber Way was a very pleasant, leafy route until we reached East Belfast which was a built up residential area with some interesting murals and views down to the very large Harland and Wolfe “Goliath” cranes. We then cycled through the very modern Titanic Quarter with the iconic Titanic Belfast tourist attraction. We then cycled through the industrial dock area until we reached the residential area close to Michelle and Michael’s house. There was some lovely 1920’s residents to see along the way and lovely views down to the harbour. It was great to see Michelle again after 14 years and to meet Michael. We sat in their garden in the sunshine and had coffee and some delicious scones, jam and cream.

We went for lunch in Gracehill in an old school house at a restaurant called Millside where we had a delicious lunch. The village and building were very interesting and picturesque set around a large village green. The village had a history of education, one of the houses had been used as a girls’ boarding school in the late 19th century as well as the school house for boys. The small museum in the restaurant also showed examples of very skilful embroidery, sewn by ladies in the village, and, it is thought, one of their christening gowns had been used for a baby in the royal family.

After a very enjoyable day we enjoyed a pleasant evening cycle back to the site with just one stop where two little girls, Cara and Erin, were selling lemonade, from their front garden, to raise money for the food bank.Read more