Scenic Northern Ireland

02/09/2026

📖 A LITTLE BOOK WITH A BIG HEART ❤️ Poems, Songs and Stories - 2026.

Here's a lovely little book of poems, songs and stories by Hugh Black, elegantly presented by his good friend Pat Mccollum, about people, places, precious memories and the way of life along our beautiful Antrim Coast.

Hugh has put this eclectic mix together celebrating the characters, communities and everyday life of Carnlough and Glenarm.

It is the sort of book that will have you smiling at one page, remembering someone you knew on the next, and perhaps saying, “I remember that!” 😊

But there is an even more special reason to buy a copy.

The books have been produced to raise funds for two very worthwhile local causes: Maggie’s Call and the Antrim Coast Lions Club. ❤️

❤️ Maggie’s Call

Maggie’s Call was established following the tragic death of five-year-old Maggie Black of Glenarm in December 2021.

Maggie’s family turned their unimaginable heartbreak into a campaign for change, calling for closer cooperation between the Fire and Rescue Service and the Ambulance Service so that help could reach people in rural communities as quickly as possible.

Their campaign received enormous support, with more than 20,000 people signing the petition, and in 2022 the Maggie’s Call initiative was launched in Carnlough, bringing trained on-call firefighters and the Ambulance Service together to respond to certain cardiac emergencies.

There have also been tangible reminders of Maggie’s legacy. A lifesaving defibrillator was installed at St John’s Camogie Club in Carnlough in her memory, providing publicly accessible emergency equipment for the local community.

It is a wonderful example of how a community can take something heartbreaking and turn it into something that can help save lives.

🦁 And supporting Antrim Coast Lions Club

The Antrim Coast Lions Club has been serving and fundraising for the local community since 1976, supporting charitable causes and local projects through its fundraising activities and charity shop.

So, by buying this little book, you’re not only taking home some wonderful local poetry and stories, you’re also helping to support two causes that make a real difference in our community.

📚 How to get your copy

The book costs £6 plus postage.

If you would like to buy a copy or make a donation, please private message Mona Hyndman

If you are a member of the Glenarm Facebook group, Mona can also be contacted there.

📍 Books will also be available from the Antrim Coast Lions Club Charity Shop in Carnlough.
Or contact:-
www.antrimcoastlionsclub.org
Or email [email protected]

A wee book about our people, our places and our memories, helping to give something back to the communities it celebrates. ❤️

02/09/2026

Great photo sent in by Dorothy Graham. Getting ready for the jump – at Portstewart Harbour! ✨

Making memories - all lined up, silhouetted against a stunning Causeway Coast sky….. that magical moment on the harbour wall as the sun breaks through the clouds.

Many thanks Dorothy. 💙

01/09/2026

Loves young dream 🌹

I think most people of a certain age will understand the feeling expressed in this lovely wee poem by Hugh Black entitled “Loves Young Dream.”

A young lad smitten with a girl on the school bus …… a teenage crush that was never spoken - until 60 years later.

Who else remembers those school bus days ….. or those teenage crushes?

Thank you for sharing this with us, Hugh.

Did you ever meet your "young love" again years later? 🤔

31/08/2026

The Lady Piper of Carnlough 🎶

Have you spotted the Blue Plaque in Carnlough? It marks the home of a truly unforgettable local character - Miss Netta Jane Nicholl Johnston (1878-1953), fondly known as Miss Johnston.

Born on 11th July 1878, Netta lived above the family hardware shop and funeral directors at the bottom of Whitehill Road with her mother and siblings.

She was a cultured, refined and wonderfully eccentric lady. A fine musician who could play piano, whistle, flute, pipe organ, violin and uilleann pipes. She taught violin, played the organ at St Mary's Church of Ireland (until she was banned for practising at 3am and falling out with the rector!) and was often seen walking Carnlough in the small hours with her sword cane for protection.

It’s said she was also proficient in judo and kept a shotgun under her bed.

In 1904 she helped organise the very first Feis na nGleann, where she met renowned piper R.L O'Mealy and began travelling to Belfast every Wednesday for uilleann piping lessons. She became best known as The Lady Piper of Carnlough.

At a time of great division, Netta brought people together through music, forming the Carnlough Non-Sectarian Flute Band “Notation” in the 1920s and 30s. They practised behind her home, Seaview House.

When she died on 30th March 1953 she left her beloved uilleann pipes to the Ulster Museum.

She had wished to be laid to rest in a glass-topped coffin and paraded around the village to ‘Let Erin Remember’ - though her funeral was a much more conventional affair at St Mary's.

Her legacy lives on. In 2022 the Ulster History Circle unveiled a Blue Plaque at Seaview House in her honour, and in 2021 her story was featured in the TG4 documentary Mná na bPíob (Women of the Pipes) celebrating pioneering female pipers.

Next time you’re in Carnlough, look out for the plaque and think of the lady piper who filled the Glens with music. 🎶

31/08/2026

Celtic Heart — Final Summer Show, Waterfront Hall Studio

We attended the final summer performance of “Celtic Heart - A Belfast Story” yesterday afternoon in the Waterfront Hall Studio — and what a send-off. 👏👏👏👏

Created by The Music Yard, Larne with writer/performer Colin Urwin, this powerful, humorous, thought provoking and somewhat sad story is set around a quiet kitchen table in early 1900s working-class Belfast.

A Catholic father, Liam, reflects on love, loss and impossible choices after his only daughter brought home her boyfriend, a Protestant called Billy McWilliams.

As his memories take hold, the past springs to life through live traditional music, stirring vocals and breathtaking Irish dance, with echoes of folklore throughout.

Intimate, moving and full of Belfast humour, it had us stamping our feet, wiping a tear and laughing all at once.

A perfect finale to its 16th-30th August run. If it returns, don’t miss it — a story told, as ever, from the heart. ❤️

Brilliant performance - great storytelling, great music and great dancing!

Did you get to see Celtic Heart?

💃🏽🪕🪉🎻💃🏽🪕🪉🪈🎻💃🏽🪕🪉🪈🎻

30/08/2026

30/08/2026

The saga continues … 🤪🤪
Camel Chronicle 5
🐫🐫🐫🐫🐫🐫🐫

Recap:
The camels were about to leave
Ballycastle and return to the Coast Rd to make their way towards Larne when they saw an advert about the “MINI Club Weekend” in Portrush! 😳

Thinking they would see girls in mini skirts, Tam Paddy and Big Wull couldn’t turn them and they set off walking 19 miles to Portrush! 🤪😜🤪

🐫
Then leaving Ballycastle all the camels saw a sign
The four males they liked women - they let out a little whine
A weekend full of "minis" - in Portrush - GOSH - what a treat 🤩
I'll have to see these "bits of cloth" which sit far from the feet

The four males - all excited 'bout this "mini" weekend treat 🥳
And how these "bits o cloth" had climbed so far from people's feet
The female camels - not so keen on what the males had said
So they'd go little walkies - "minis" just weren't in their head

So off they set for Portrush - lots of time - no need to dash 🐫
So they just walked the nineteen miles - it saved them quite some cash
"Aul Llama's Fair" sang loudly as they gently marched along 🎶
This sure became their anthem and their new-found favourite song.

They stopped at night on beaches ough too many for to name 😴
And got great treats along the way the closer Portrush came
They didn't stop at Bushmills - sure the "Boss Man" felt quite cross
For he was keen on whiskey!!! 🥃
BUT his partner was "the Boss"

Excitement now was mounting as they entered Portrush town 🥳
The males, with eyes wide open, looked for "minis" up and down 👀
Well they were in a tantrum - for although they looked afar
They couldn't see a "mini" as the streets were packed with cars 😤

Then all the males - in unison - let out a massive “GRUNT”
A mass of well-kept motors all said "MINI" back and front
Well what a waste of nineteen miles - no "minis" far from feet
The walk from Ballycastle didn't end up with "their treat" ☹️

Now such a disappointment - so they headed to the train
Their two-toed feet were tired - "We'll never walk that length again" 😩
So English classes needed - to make sure what is "a treat"
SINCE
The "MINI" is a car and not a skirt far from the feet 🤪

- Hugh Black

To be continued ……. Watch out for Camel Chronicle 6 coming your way soon. 🐫

Where next the seven camels roam,
No soul can rightly say.
For if there’s fun in Scenic N I,
They’ll surely find a way!
🤪🐪🐫🤪

29/08/2026

We’ve had a wonderful day at the Glenarm Arts and Literary Fayre.

We met some lovely people - did a lot of chatting (nothing new there then! 😂) and took home some wonderful momentoes.

We picked up a couple of books - Poem’s Songs and Stories by Hugh Black and presented by Pat Mccollum - and also Angeline King’s new novel “Dusty Bluebells”. I even got them all personally signed by the authors. 😀

I also brought home a beautiful work of art by Linzi Conway Art - Irish Linen Paint and Embroidery representation of the Barbican Gate at Glenarm Castle.

Now I’m keeping my fingers crossed for one of the fabulous raffle prizes! 🤞🤞

Happy Days!! Great day!! 😀

29/08/2026

The house you grew up in will one day belong to someone else... but a part of your heart will always remain within those walls.

For everyone who has ever driven past their childhood home and felt that lump in the throat.

Scenic NI 🌹

28/08/2026

Evening light at Manor House Marine, Killadeas ✨

Look at that sky reflected in the water — Lower Lough Erne showing off again.

The boats all tucked in for the evening with not a ripple in sight.

Is there a more peaceful spot in Fermanagh for a sunset?

📍 Manor House Marine, Killadeas, Lower Lough Erne