Ireland-Scotland 2013 - Tramore & Waterford
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On Thursday afternoon we arrived at Tramore, which like Cobh is on the rugged & scenic SE coast. After checking in, we went out on foot & saw most of the small town, walking on the beach & the boardwalk. After perusing menus we had a good dinner in town.
Later at a pub we celebrated Arthur Guinness' birthday, with live Irish music, a trio of guitar, accordion and mandolin. The B&B was a 10 minute uphill walk from center city.
The B&B was comfortable and we were here two nights. The host was pleasant & talkative and it was nice being the only guests. Once again I had a big crank-out window to bring in fresh air & the sound of waves breaking in the distance.
note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.
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Tramore - Paul reading menus |
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old doors |
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Celtic Sea, with 'Metal Men' in the distance |
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fishing |
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on the beach |
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sea wall |
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boardwalk |
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On Friday morning at breakfast we had an hour's chat with the owner, and afterwards went for a walk to look for the Metal Men, along the coast.
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great B&B |
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Paul at Tramore | |
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overlook |
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calm now, but... | ||
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...120+ shipwrecks happened here |
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the trap, see below |
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on the Metal Men walk |
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Irish Sea on a calm day |
The number of shipwrecks here was mind-boggling !
Historically, large sailing ships or even steam-powered ships were known to have no little to no control in really rough seas, and winds, and massive storms often used to blow ships hundreds of miles off-course, with little to no control.
Tramore harbor has a boxy-shaped entrance, and ships could be inadvertently blown into a trap, with shallow water & rocky outcroppings. The display stated that Tramore residents had time & again (in day or night) seen or heard ships breaking up during the worst storms, with the attendant heart-breaking cries of the unfortunate passengers & crews as they drowned in rough seas, the residents being unable to do a thing to help. Within the hour, bodies were washing up on the beach.
Lloyds of London (shipping insurance) built the metal men (on prominent pedestals) to warn ships away, but once you saw them, it was already too late. It was not until modern wireless signals enabled ships to triangulate their exact location when such accidents finally ceased.
Waterford - we visited Waterford Crystal, which entered bankruptcy in 2009 and was purchased by a new owner in 2010. For a few years manufacturing was performed at overseas locations, but, our Docent said, as of 2013 the facility which we toured produces all of the 60,000 pieces made each year.
What we saw was a 'demo production line' but it did show the painstaking hand-eye work required, an admirable portrayal of real 'craftsmanship'.
The Docent told me hat the glass-making and decorating/etching jobs require a 6 to 8 year apprenticeship. and, that these jobs pay really well. When I mentioned that the mental concentration required must be intense, and possibly difficult to sustain, she agreed & said the most skilled glass finishers here work two 3-hour shifts, with an hour off to recover, an eight hour day.
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the Docent starts the tour |
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glass molds | |
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real dilemmas |
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they have long apprenticeships here |
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master glass cutter |
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copper wheels for engraving |
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rough to finished |
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crystal hummer |
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BCS replacement trophy (see below) |
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The Docent said that at a recent (2011?) College Football Bowl Championship (BCS) ceremony in the US, held a month before the main sporting event, one of the guest speakers on the way to the podium lost his balance and lurched into the table with the Waterford crystal BCS trophy on it, which rolled off its support & smashed into the ground. That crystal football cost 23,000 Euros, or 41,000 USD, in currencies compared at the time of our visit.
Since then, the US BCS has asked Waterford to make & keep a backup crystal football on hand, in case this ever happens again, and, surprisingly, our small tour group was able to hand the crystal football around. Upon request, the docent held it & posed for us.
Postscript - We were in retrospect very fortunate to see the manufacturing center for Waterford Crystal, because about a year later the company was sold to a different owner and subsequently went under for good, a sad state of affairs.
go to day 8 - Rock of Cashel & Dromoland Castle
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