A bit hectic. We fitted in a quick trip to Castleward in Northern Ireland for the wedding of old friends. There was just time to look at one of my favourite bits of Northern Ireland – the narrows between Portaferry and Strangford at the entrance to Strangford Lough. The tide runs at speeds up to nine knots and there are plenty of eddies and whirlpools to make life interesting for the sailor.
We found the first tidal power installation to supply power to the National Grid hard at work in the channel. On for a quick visit to Braemar – which served to remind me of the astonishing beauty of Scotland and how much of Ireland has been spoiled by apparently random development of poor quality.
I called in this morning on a Training Session for congregational representatives from across the Province who take responsibility for Children and Vulnerable Adults. The attendance was very encouraging. The best thing one can say about all this is that it needs to become routine. I’ve never really believed those who say that ‘We’ll never be able to find volunteers because of all this form filling and legal stuff.’ The reality is that it makes everybody safer – adults as well as children.
Touch of nostalgia there for me. I remember as a teenager standing on the quayside in Portaferry watching the ferry set out from Strangford. With the tide receding, the heavy boat tacked away to the north, then in the middle of the lough was carried down broadside by the tide, and then had to tack north again, with engines on full power, to escape from the current. The tide-race there is awesome.