One of my (slightly belated New Year’s resolutions) is to start writing again more, so I figured there was no better topic than a Valentine’s Day adventure around the Ards Peninsula with my wife.
I’ve realised that it’s been so long since I’ve written something here that I’ve gotten married to Laura and she’s managed to put up with being married to me for nearly 5 years at this point.
During my route planning (standard Duke of Edinburgh leader behaviour), I realised that our trip down the Peninsula would take us close to Movilla Abbey Cemetery.
Movilla Abbey Cemetery
The cemetery contains some famous graves. Our first stop was at the final resting place of US Civil War veteran James Francis. James fought in many battles during the Civil War before making his living from gold mining, finally returning home to Newtownards in 1918 before his death in 1921.
Blair Mayne
Movilla Abbey is probably best know for the grave of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne. Blair was born in Newtownards, going on to study at Regent House Grammar School where he was first introduced to rugby. He went on to study law at Queen’s where he also took up boxing and went on to win the Irish Universities heavyweight title.
His passion for rugby continues and he made his Ireland debut at Ravenhill in 1937. He had only been capped for Ireland a mere three times before he was selected for the Lions tour to South Africa later in 1937. Unlike modern Lions tours, this trip lasted for over three months and included an incredible 24 matches. When he returned from the tour he was capped a further three times for Ireland before the outbreak of war.
Blair Mayne enlisted in the Royal Ulster Rifles at the beginning of the war before joining the Commandos and eventually becoming a founding member of the Special Air Service. From 1941 to 44 he led many raised across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, often far behind enemy lines with little or no reinforcements available.
During his many missions, his bravery shone through and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order four times, becoming only one of 16 people in history to have been awarded the DSO four times. He was also cited for the Victoria Cross, but it is believed that this was turned down due to his sometimes disrespectful and often reckless behaviour. He was famous for being insubordinate to his commanders, but he was incredibly well respected by his men. There have been several campaigns for the VC to be posthumously awarded, most recently in April 2025.
After the war, Blair returned home to Newtownards where he became Secretary to the Law Society of Northern Ireland. He was killed in a road traffic collision, aged just 40, in 1955.
Continuing on a history journey, our next stop down the east coast of the Ards Peninsula was to stop at the Dunroamin Caravan park in Ballyhabert. Arriving at the front gate, you’d wonder what was significant about this place, but Google Maps might help and hint at what this area was before the caravans moved in.
As you may be able work out, there used to be some runways here at the site was once home to RAF Ballyhalbert. You can still clearly see the outlines of two of the three and can just about spot the third and there are several buildings which remain, including the former control tower. The tower is now located on private land, but you can still see it from the caravan park and can imagine how busy this place was during the Second World War.
Lunch
By this stage it was nearly 1 O’Clock and we were both getting hungry. A few weeks ago, and part of the reason for this trip in the first place, I realised that we hadn’t been to The New Quays for a good while.
If you don’t know about this place, get to know. I’ve written a separate post all about our visit today so check it out after you’ve finished this.
After a lovely lunch, we headed to the furthest point of the Peninsula and the reason for our day out, Exploris.
As we drove into the car park, it was absolutely rammed. After a lap of the overflow car park, we got lucky and saw someone leaving so nabbed their space.
The last time Laura and I were there was in 2020 and there’s been lots of work done since.
The inside sections contain some lovely fish and reptiles, but I was most looking forward to the outdoor section with the penguins, seals and otters.
As we walked around outside, Laura noticed a capybara. Firstly all I could think about was the TikTok song but they are actually really cute in person.
Once you’ve finished with the outdoor section, you head back inside there are some more reptiles and birds before you exit via the gift shop.
Walking back to the car we decided to head home via the Strangford ferry as neither of us has been on it for years. At over £9 it’s not overly cheap, but it was a fun experience and was actually quite busy.
We drove home via a short stop of to Mahee Island and we’ve decided we want to come back in the summer when it’s (hopefully) drier and not as cold.
It was then a nice drive through Comber, over the Castlereagh Hills and back to Belfast.
1 Pingback