We travelled our cycles all day on the train from London to Glasgow and then down to Stranraer, embarking on Sealink’s innovative Antrim Princess ferry for an overnight crossing. The rail connection at Larne took us to Belfast and on to Londonderry, where we started cycling. I’m riding a Dawes Galaxy, the legendry touring bike; mine had 2x5 gears and a lightweight frame, hardtail but luxury compared to my previous Dawes Kingpin that saw me through school and a local Raligh bone-shaker I rode at Nottingham University. The lightweight side panniers were the state-of-the art for 1980.
We stayed in a B&B in Londonderry; next morning we cycled over the border with no hassles. The weather turns grim in my photos as we put on the nylon rain gear and stripped down to shorts to keep our jeans dry. Note my mismatched socks! We chuckled at the place names as we passed: The Bridge of Tears and on over Muckish Gap (248 m.) then to Falcarragh on the coast.
In Falcarragh we stayed with a friend of my riding mate Tony and rested up for a day waiting for the soft Donegal mist to clear. On over the peat moors to Burtonport to embark to Aran Island (Aranmore). A slight disappointment because it wasn’t the island of the gritty film “Men of Aran”. We stayed in another friendly B&B on the island. Our ride back looks to have found the sunshine but as I was near the end of my film there’s just a sunset seen from the Galloway Princess ferry, that I snapped to finish the film.
I met with Tony H for several years after our ride but his schedule and mine in television outside broadcasts rarely coincided; gradually we went our separate ways.
New scans of my 35mm Kodacolor II negatives, type 5035, rated 100 ASA. Olympus 35 ED compact camera. Epson 4990 Perfection scanner.
Sealink’s innovative Antrim Princess, one of the first ro-ro ferries with a bow door, also one of the first not using steam turbines, at the quayside in Stranraer with Deltic 40 003
Embarking at Burtonport for Aran Island
Bridge over the River Foyle at Londonderry
