Cherrie's Notes
We were out and about on our Roadshow travels again recently, this time by the invitation of The Crossfire Trust which has its home in an historic 18th century house in the village of Darkley in South Armagh.
According to The Crossfire Trust website, Darkley House is 鈥渁 little out of the way for a lot out of the ordinary鈥�. Today its former role as 鈥渁 symbol of power and prestige in the linen period鈥� has been replaced by its purpose as a place which 鈥渟eeks to heal the past and restore confidence, hope and community aspirations for the future鈥�.
It was a beautiful evening for the drive down, although showery - there鈥檚 a surprise - and the countryside was as ever, all the prettier for it.
Inviting temporary signposts welcomed us in through the gate and along the drive and led us to the right door while friendly chickens scratched and scuttled in their little enclosure up on the bank above us.
The valley below drew the eye down into the lovely Armagh countryside, which stretched before us.
Somebody had been busy in the garden too and on the pretty enclosed lawn in front of the house tubs, pots and containers added to the atmosphere created by shrubs and small trees and brought bright bursts of spring colour.
Jim Bradley and Averil Milligan were our gardeners-in-the-know on the night.
We were all received right-royally by Ian and Pauline Bothwell, the remarkable people behind the Trust and their family and friends.
We were fed and watered and generally spoiled as we sat in the big cosy kitchen before the recording, finding out more about the Trust鈥檚 work and enjoying a hearty bowl of stew (made by Ian鈥檚 fair hand) and delicious apple crumble and custard.
I did say we were spoiled, didn鈥檛 I?
Difficult as it was to move from the comfort of the kitchen, we were there to work.
So we made our way from the kitchen into the hall to meet the audience and record this week鈥檚 programme and thanks to the wonderful world of radio and the internet, you can join us, in the by now familiar myriad of ways.
I鈥檓 only sorry you won鈥檛 be able to savour the delights of virtual stew and crumble ... that day is yet to come but you can imagine it as you listen live on Saturday morning just after nine ... or via the repeat on Sunday at lunchtime - or by listening again anytime over the next seven days or by downloading the entire programme as a podcast.
Just go to the Radio Ulster homepage and follow the links and if you鈥檇 like to know more about the work of The Crossfire Trust just go to www.crossfiretrust.net
