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Spring

It’s spring and there is new wildlife arriving at the lough. As boat owners prepare for summer, Kieron Black says an emotional goodbye to Pavane, his father Brian’s boat.

As winter migrants leave and summer visitors arrive, Strangford Lough is in a state of flux. National Trust ranger Hugh Thurgate is preparing Swan Island for the return of sandwich terns. Near Greyabbey, sheep farmer Kerry Angus is busy with lambs. Spring is also songwriter Brigid O’Neill’s favourite season, and she talks about how images found in nature can pop up in her songs years later.

Near Portaferry, now the winter storms have abated, it’s time for entrepreneurs David and Jill Crawford to plant out the remaining tea plants in their fledgling tea plantation. As the weather warms up, it’s also time for boats around the lough to return to the water. In Whiterock, Kenny Smyth is getting ready to launch his sailing boat Laragh, a historical class of sailing boat that is unique to Strangford Lough.

We also meet artist Kieron Black, who is getting his father’s boat ready for new owners in Scotland. It’s an emotional job: his father was Brian Black, a much-loved broadcaster who was killed in 2020 when he became trapped in his car as it rolled into the lough. Watching the boat sail away is a bittersweet moment for Kieron.

28 minutes

Last on

Mon 6 Jun 2022 20:30

Credits

Role Contributor
Series Editor Richard Weller
Series Producer Veronica Cunningham
Director Veronica Cunningham

Broadcasts