We took ourselves off to Waterford City on Saturday morning to seek out the Street Art Festival but, with promises of a bit of sunshine and no rain, we drove on another 13km to Tramore Strand.
Well named, Tramore literally means Big Strand. Stretching around the bay for 5 kms, the beach is one of the most popular resorts in the southeast.
Alas, that promise of sunshine was exaggerated and the weather didn’t allow for lingering so we left the sun chairs in the car (well you never know…) and settled on a walk instead. There was no sense of the end of season in the resort though – the place was buzzing! Of course, the beach is huge so plenty of room for everyone!
Eyes left towards Brownstown Head…
If only that cloud would lift…..
Eyes right – a bit of sunshine brightening up the town and Newtown Head
The bay can be treacherous – in 1816, 363 men, women and children perished when the merchant ship Seahorse sank here. After the tragedy, the ship’s insurers, Lloyd’s of London, funded the erection of three pillars on Newtown Head and two on Brownstown Head as visual aids to help prevent further disasters.
Lots of grey stones banking up the back of the beach….
…except they’re not all grey of course….
There is another strand at the back. The estuary there is very good for beach angling.
The surf schools were doing a thriving business-
Never too young….
Yep – reminds me of me!!!
The wall offers great shelter for families…
….not too many in swimming though ….
There’s a fine promenade if you’d rather stay away from the sand…
Its warm enough for an ice cream…
….but we settle for coffee and toasties….
You can hang around and enjoy all the fun of the fair…
…or go for a cliff walk out towards Newtown Head..
Remember the three pillars at the end of the headland? On one of them stands the famous Metal Man. This three metre tall cast-metal sailor points out to sea. He is said to warn sailors away from the shallow waters by calling out:
Keep off, keep off
good ship from me
for I am the rock of misery.
Finally, it is also said, that if a woman hops backwards around the base of his pillar three times on one bare foot she will be married within a year!!!
How well I remember dismal, overcast days like these when I was dragged from my favourite pastime, reading, and taken for walks along the blustery Warrenpoint esplanade. In those days, of course, one also had to wear one’s best clothes which didn’t for enjoyment make: keeping those damned patent hornpipe shoes clean was ‘a divil of a job’!
I was dragged off to Wicklow every Sunday afternoon for the weekly ‘drive’. Needless to say the beauty of the landscape was wasted on me! I loved my hornpipes!! 😅 😂 🤣
Lovely place. Too bad about the sun, but exploring can never wait on the weather, especially these days. Thanks for sharing Marie. Allan
Well if I were dependent on weather I’d rarely leave the house these days!!! Yes sun would have been nice but at the moment a dry day is a good day! XXXMarie
Looks like a great place for a walk
There’s lots to do in the area – it doesn’t really get the same attention as the west of Ireland but its a lovely part of the country. XXXMarie
Places like that are the best I think
I agree with you there – its nice to break away from the herd!
I remember a weekend spent in Tramore with friends, the drive along the coast during the day, the anxious search for the B&B for the night, the evening at the amusement park and the failed attempt at life music in a pub. I have always been amazed at the seaside resort illusion created by some Irish towns, at a time when for 19.99 EUR you could fly to Portugal for the weekend. This year things have changed.
The domestic trade has done well in the past few weeks – we’re rediscovering places from childhood holidays and school tours! The likes of Ryanair took a lot of weekend trade to the continent. Also the development of cheap chain hotels meant that B & B businesses couldn’t compete with their prices…. all good for the Irish tourist of course but as you say – its all different now.
Isn’t the internet great!!! Now we can just find accommodation on line! We’ve had SO many of those evenings ….. both here and abroad, wondering where we’d spend the night! I don’t miss that part – getting too old for the stress of it!!!
It must have been fun to watch people learn to surf. To bad you didn’t get sunshine, but sounds like you had a nice walk. And it wasn’t crowded!
I was delighted to see so many taking part – great to see such activity. Ah – we don’t hold our breath for sunshine around here!! That’s why I’m on a plane every chance I get!!!
Managed to get over to Ireland just before everything went wrong and loved it! ( You’ve lost some pics btw)
Its good you got a trip in – who’d have known………
Thanks for tip off – I’ll check those pics. XXXMarie
https://oldbirdtravelssolo.com/2020/03/10/irish-neolithic-tombs/
Fab photos of Newgrange and Dowth – years since I as there – back on my to do list…
I loved it so much
Funny, the second blog I’ve read in succession featuring Tramore, the other being local resident Jean at http://www.socialbridge.wordpress.com A very English-looking resort reminding me of childhood holidays at Blackpool and Rhyl 🙂
Very similar to British resorts – just on a smaller scale…
I must have a look at Jean’s site – check out the competition!!!😅 😂 🤣
Win lotto and give those hardy young surfers a trip to the Western Australian surf and sun. Love the Never too young photo! Enjoyed the story and photos.
If I win the lotto Therese I’m not sharing it with that lot!!! 😅 😂 🤣 But – Western Australia for myself? Definitely – travelling first class of course!!!