A Strangford escape home

A Strangford escape home

2 May 2012 - by Ciara Colhoun

A STRANGFORD barn conversion which hides a piece of local history has featured on a television programme about people wishing to relocate to the countryside.

The popular BBC2 programme Escape to the Country showcased the district when it was aired last week, bringing a Scottish couple on a coastal tour which took in Newcastle, Killyleagh, Strangford and Kilclief and focussed on a barn conversion at Shore Road, overlooking Strangford Lough.

The barn is one of a number of outbuildings on an 1800s farmstead, Tully Farm, which has been painstakingly refurbished by Terry Gorman to create a stunning two-storey three-bedroom home with a half-acre garden.

Terry was delighted the conversion caught the eye of Escape to the Country’s producers and says the process of filming for the programme, which is presented by Aled Jones, was very exciting.

He said he was also delighted to share during filming a little piece of maritime history which forms part of the fabric of the barn conversion.

During the conversion, Terry discovered that beams and masts from an historic local sailing vessel had been used to form the floorboards and beams of the building.

He carried out some research after uncovering the beams and learned they had been salvaged from the sailing boat, Witch of the Wave, which was owned by the well-known Portaferry-based merchants the Elliots.

The Witch of the Wave, which was built in 1852, transported coal and building supplies from Belfast to Strangford and Portaferry throughout the 1800s and shipped exports, including the annual potato crop, to Scotland and England. It was a daily sight on the lough.

Once it was decommissioned, Witch of the Wave lay off Audley’s town for several years before being broken up at Cloughey Rocks in 1920 when it was used to build the Tully Farm outbuildings.

Terry said he was delighted to discover the importance of the boat in local history.

“I am very interested in history and have done quite a bit of scuba diving in the past where we have examined local shipwrecks,” he said.

“Witch of the Wave was very well known locally and was the main supplier of goods to this area. It was common at the beginning of the last century for shipwrecks to be plundered for buildings like ours and it adds a bit of historical interest.”

Terry said he believed the Escape to the Country programme was excellent promotion for the local area, with interviews carried out on Kilclief beach.

“The barn conversion is in an idyllic location with beautiful views and easy access to the shore so it was a good choice for the programme,” he said.

“As it is not yet finished it means the buyer can put their own finishing touches to the building and that is why is was selected.”

Mr. Donald Elliott, whose grandfather owned Witch of the Wave, visited the Gorman’s bar conversion on Friday where he was delighted to see the timbers from the famous family vessel.

“I had heard that the timber had been used in this way and it was very interesting to see the actual beams,” he said.

“Our last family records show the Witch of the Wave was last used in the early 1920s and until that time it had shipped stuff out of Strangford and Portaferry for many years.”