What we saw at the seaside…
A walk along Ballyholme Bay in Bangor with marine life campaigner Aileen McClenaghan…talking treasure, litter picking and how she believes even doing little things can help our big seas.
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. The sea, the great unifier, is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.
Jacques Yves Cousteau
If you are of a certain generation, you may remember Cousteau’s magical television documentaries from a time when colour television was beginning. For the first time, world-wide audiences - whether they lived close to shores or a thousand miles away - could see the beauty of under the sea. But Cousteau was also one of the first to warn about the consequences of pollution.
Now our understanding is better, but all is not lost. While governments and international bodies move to take care of the big stuff, many individuals are looking out for the little things.
Aileen McClenaghan is one of them. Her Instagram page full of little horror stories and hope as she documents what she finds on walks along our sea shores, so of course, I had to join her on a sunny, breezy early August morning.
From left: Aileen with a full bag of rubbish collected from Ballymacormick Point in 15 minutes; lifting a dead herring gull on our walk - Aileen has credentials to allow her to do this; a real jellyfish (top beside the rock) and a plastic bag - similar, but one’s deadly ….. and some “treasure” including vulcanised rubber bottle stoppers, Smartie lids from different decades and the weird little “frozen Charlotte” bath toy.
If you want to know more, or perhaps invite Aileen to talk to your school class or group, contact her via her Instagram account @whattheseasaw or by email whattheseasaw@hotmail.com
Music by audionautix.com
Nailing it!
Peter Vannucci (left) and Alan Dempster - stalwarts of the Bangor soccer scene.
Part One of our “Game of Two Halves”
It’s late summer now and the football season has begun again - from the Premier League to the many amateur soccer associations.
To mark it I spoke to two super-fans of the game in Bangor. Peter Vannucci was one of the original players with Bangor Swifts and for many years, their chronicler. Alan Dempster joined his team, Bryansburn Rangers, as a teenager when the club was well-established and played a record number of times for their teams before becoming Club Chair.
Both clubs celebrated their 50th anniversaries in the last four years so I joined them for a chat about football past…and present.
This is the first part of our conversation…and remember, “no-one is bigger than the club!”
Part Two following shortly!
Music: Building Inspiration by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Bend it …like Bangor footballers…..
Next up on Little Bangor Stories – the history of amateur soccer in Bangor. In this little teaser my two pundits Peter Vannucci and Alan Dempster give a fascinating insight into just how intrepid and adaptable Bangor Swifts and Bryansburn Rangers were in their early days. To begin, Peter recalls where the Swifts had their team base right at the beginning….
Connor Park at Stricklands Glen - once a football pitch where school teams and amateur soccer players tussled!
Next up on Little Bangor Stories – the history of amateur soccer in Bangor. In this little teaser my two pundits Peter Vannucci and Alan Dempster give a fascinating insight into just how intrepid and adaptable Bangor Swifts and Bryansburn Rangers were in their early days. To begin, Peter recalls where the Swifts had their team base right at the beginning….
Music: Building Inspiration by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
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The second part of our chat with Alan Dempster from Bryansburn Rangers and Peter Vannucci of Bangor Swifts and Bangor FC about the history of amateur football in Bangor over the last 50 years. Memorable moments and a peek at the future!
“I learned all about life with a ball at my feet…” Ronaldinho
Second half!
The final part of my conversation with two well-known names on the Bangor football scene - Peter Vannucci and Alan Dempster.
They recall a few of their memorable moments from the early days of Bangor Swifts and Bryansburn Rangers - including “international” fixtures in Dublin - and we couldn’t help but look to the future too.
From left: The commemorative booklets from Bryansburn Rangers and Bangor Swifts; how the Abbey Street pitch looks now - it was used by teams in the 1970s and Alan Dempster with his daughter Amber who is one of Bangor FC Ladies’ star scorers.
Music: Building Inspiration by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com