Maureen brings Ballyhornan childhood back to life in book

20 June 2018

THE war years, seafaring disasters and various funny happenings in Maureen Gill-Sharp’s beloved Ballyhornan are brought to life in a new book.

Overwhelmed by the response to her first book ‘Moonlight on Ballyhornan Bay’ back in 2012, Maureen has written a follow up — ‘Memoirs of a Ballyhornan Girl’.

It’s a continuation of childhood memories up to the present time in which Maureen’s love for the coastal village shines brightly throughout.

Now in her eighties, she reminisces about her schooldays, recites the old poems and songs that she learned many years ago, and includes fascinating titbits for the social historians such as a chapter on ‘Old Cures and Remedies’.

Maureen still lives in Ballyhornan today, taking in the beautiful sea views, caring for her pets and enjoying the flowers, birds and wildlife in her garden. It’s clear in her book, however, that those early years in Ballyhornan were magical and irreplaceable.

“I believe that I was very lucky to have been born in the 1930s,” she writes in the opening to her book. “Life was so much gentler then and folk were more friendly and caring.

“I look back with nostalgia on my childhood years, which was a time of simple pleasures. We didn’t have a lot but we appreciated the little we had, and just got on with our lives.

“I can recall when our door was left unlocked from morning till bedtime. It was a time when we felt safe in our home, when children could go out to play unsupervised. In those days we made our own fun.

“We played skipping, tag and ball outdoors till late in the evening. The plaintive call of the curlew flying

home to roost, reminded us children that darkness was falling fast. I thank God for a happy childhood and the deep love of a bygone era. If I could turn back the clock, I would live those years all over again.”

Summer holidays bring some of the fondest memories for Maureen, where she played happily in the sand with the holidaymakers from Belfast.

“I would always feel sad when the summer holidays came to an end,” she writes. “The children would have to go home to Belfast and back to school again. Those were happy days…

“I remember running across the road in my bare feet to get down to the shore, the hot sun melting the tar on the road. Those were the lovely warm days of the summer long ago. I wonder if it is my imagination, but looking back it always seemed to be sunny.”

As a child during the Second World War, Maureen’s memories also contain shadows. On the night of April 7, 1941, she remembers being woken up by German bombers when they carried out a raid on Belfast.

“Just over a week later, 180 German bombers flew over the house,” she recalls. “Mother lifted me out of bed and carried me outside to see Belfast ablaze. More than 1,000 people were killed and thousands of homes were damaged.

“My sister, Kathleen, promised that she would take me to see Belfast. I was so excited as I had never been to the city before. It was some time after the Blitz and what I saw made me feel so sad. Where houses once stood, there were piles of brick and rubble. My thoughts went out to those who had lost their lives.

“My sister could tell I was upset and took me into a shop to buy a book. She then took me to the cinema to see the child star Shirley Temple. I can’t remember what the film was called, but it was the first time that I went to the pictures and enjoyed it so much. Both of my sisters and my brother worked in Belfast at the time of the Blitz. I suppose that they were very lucky to have escaped unharmed.”

Maureen also remembers looking out from Ballyhornan at the “convoys of ships going to war, travelling slowly and flashing messages to each other”.

“The sound of the depth charges vibrating the ground under my feet was very frightening,” she writes.

“During the war years, you never knew what the gales would wash up on the beach. Everything from lifeboats, liferafts, oars, lifebelts and ship’s furniture would wash ashore. One day I was on the beach and saw apples, oranges, coconuts and tinned fruit were washed up by the tide. It was obvious that a cargo ship had been sunk. I wondered if the crew on the ship had survived — I certainly hoped so.”

Later training as a shorthand typist, Maureen met and subsequently married RAF man Bob Sharpe, who sadly passed away 20 years ago. After living in Yorkshire for some time, and leaving part of her heart in an “English country garden”, Maureen eventually returned home to live overlooking the shoreline she loves the best.

For her latest writing venture, Maureen is donating all profits to the Guide Dogs charity.

“I enjoyed writing my new book, I hope people enjoy reading it,” she adds.

‘Memoirs of a Ballyhornan Girl’ is available to buy from Kevin Og’s shop in Strangford, priced £15. Details of how to order a copy online can also be found at: https://www.ballyhornan.com.

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