Story 6

"'Granny Smyth' was a wonderful lady from my childhood memories. For many years from 1957/58, my mother, aunt, and cousin Michael, plus at times other family members, stayed at Smyth's Dining Rooms for a week each summer. I have such wonderful memories of those weeks, always, or so it seemed, blessed by good weather and simple pleasures. All year we looked forward to our holiday. Smyth's and Carnlough offered all we could have wished for and more!

Most evenings when we retired to bed - my mother and I in one double bed, my aunt and cousin in the other - at the top of the stairs in a 'double, double' bedroom, we read and chatted till late - or so we thought. On many occasions Granny Smyth would knock and came in to 'warn' our mothers not to let us lean out of the window because if we fell we would be a 'Jap'!!! I made my first visit to a cinema in Carnlough,

Kelly's picture house - up the Whitehill Road. I was very young - I managed to walk to it but was carried back by my father. The film was black and white and seemed to be a gangster film and I was very afraid and consequently 'bawled' the whole time - I'm sure the other eager cinemagoers were disgusted!!

The summer after 'Jaws' came out, myself, Linda, and Norma went on a boat trip with their dad from Carnlough to Glenarm Head to check lobster pots. It had been a glorious summer and we stopped in Carnlough Bay - I jumped overboard to bathe! On the way back to Glenarm - we looked behind the boat and saw a large black fin following the wash of the boat - Jaws!!! As the fin came closer we were told it was a basking shark - longer than the boat! A little dog had come along for the trip and at this stage I considered throwing it over - to save ourselves - that was me - all heart!!!"

Rosaleen Martin (Ogilvie), Belfast