Groomsport owes its existence to the harbour which is sheltered by Ballymacormick Point, Cockle Island and the rocky outcrop where, from the time of the Vikings in the 9th century, a quay was built. The second Lifeboat in all of the province of Ulster was based in the harbour from 1858 to 1920. The quay was improved in 1902 and the building of a sea wall in the 1970s led to the provision of a dinghy park, a car park and green area around the Boathouse. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the harbour accommodated many fishing vessels, which were owned and crewed by village residents. Today the harbour provides sheltered moorings for Cockle Island Boat Club and it is used for other water-based leisure activities.
This photograph shows the harbour which is sheltered by the quay, by Cockle Island and by Ballymacormick Point. Many of the village’s notable buildings can be seen, including the Boathouse, Cockle Row cottages, the Walter Nelson Hall and the Watch House. Beyond Ballymacormick Point are Belfast Lough and County Antrim.
This image shows Cockle Island at low tide. At high tides, the island can all but disappear. Cockle Island is a breeding ground for a number of seabirds including ArcticTerns which travel to Groomsport from the Antarctic. On a number of occasions high tides have washed nests into the sea. The National Trust, which owns the island, believes that, over time, the birds may relocate to safer nesting places on the Copeland Islands.
Groomsport had a lifeboat (the second in the province of Ulster) from 1858 to 1920. The Boathouse was designed by the famous architect, Sir Charles Lanyon. It is now used as the harbour office and a community hall.
Groomsport Harbour – bye-laws, rules, regulations and penalties. 1904
Photograph: Peter Gibson. Document in Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Perceval-Maxwell papers (D3244/E/42)
The Harbour – early 20th century
Photogravure by Raphael Tuck Postcards. Downloaded, with permission, from: https://www.tuckdbpostcards.org/items/130156-the-harbour/picture/1
Groomsport Harbour and Watch House, 1909
North Down Museum. Copyright Ards and North Down Council. Reproduced with permission.Notice issued by the Office of Public Works in Dublin in 1904. It is probable that, by that date, the planned improvements to the harbour had been completed.
A view of the harbour including the Boathouse and Cockle Row Cottages. The image was taken after the improvement of the harbour (c.1902) and before the Lifeboat Station closed in 1920. The RNLI flag can be seen flying from the Boathouse.
This post card, which was posted in 1909, clearly shows the improvements that were made to the harbour by Grahams of Dromore a few years earlier.
The Watch House
Donal McCann Photography for Bradley McClure Architects. Reproduced with permission.
Harbour and Boathouse, 1944
Photograph: Sgt. John Blankenhorn, 166th Signal Photographic Company, US Army
John Waterson and Diver on the Tarred Rock
Photograph reproduced with the permission of the Waterson family.This photograph shows the modern Watch House with its recent extension, clad in black wood. It also shows two earlier alterations to the house. The bay windows, which replaced the boathouse on the ground floor and the watch room on the first floor, were in place by 1944. The extension to the left of the building, facing the harbour, was subsequently added. The vestiges of the original slipway can also be seen.
A view of the Harbour and Boathouse taken by a US soldier who was billeted for six weeks in Groomsport House in 1944. The simple original structure of the Boathouse can be seen – before it was extended and disfigured in later years.
Fishermen met and tarred their nets and ropes at the Tarred Rock. This photo shows John Wateson (1841-1922) and his dog, Diver, at the rock.
After the redevelopment of the harbour area in the 1970s, only the top of the Tarred Rock was visible. It was marked by placing an anchor on it. The origin of the anchor is not known. Itt was netted by a boat skippered by John Waterson, the grandson of the man who appeared in the earlier photo of the Tarred Rock. The Boathouse is seen in the background.
This aerial photograph gives a good view of how the harbour was developed in the 20th century. At the bottom centre of the image is the harbour which was improved by Down County Council c.1902. The Boathouse which was the Lifeboat station from 1858 to 1920 is in the centre of the image. The area around the Boathouse, including the dinghy park, the car park and the green area was created by the building of seawalls in the 1970s. At the same time, a concrete path was built from the harbour, along James Bay beach, through Perceval-Maxwell’s wall (top centre of the photo) and on to Cove Bay beach.
James Nixon and Ed Wheeler had sailed the Grasshopper from Ballyholme. It was one of the Insect class of dinghies which Ballyholme Yacht Club had designed for those who were learning to sail.
THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
