My grandfather and grandmother first moved to the village in 1926, my father was born there and lived all his life there, and me and my brothers grew up in the village. My parents built a new bungalow on a greenfield site opposite my grandparent’s house in 1967, moving in in 1968, and lived there for the rest of their lives.

The house as a building site in 1967

The house in 2010

My grandfather and father were heavily involved in the local branches of the Orange, Black and Masonic orders, they were both founding members of the local Silver Band in 1947 and they had a really strong personal identity with the area.

However me and my brothers all moved away in our late teens and have lost our connection with the village on the death of both our parents. While I am really pleased that we’ve been able to sell the house to a young family and we hope that they’ll be very happy there, the sale breaks that 84-year link between our family and “The Bawn”.

There’s something about our identities that will always mean that we’re from that particular place. We’ve been shaped by it’s history, particularly during the troubled times of the 1970s and 1980s, but also by the history of our family in that small area. The view from the front of the house across to Garvagh Hill is imprinted on my brain and I’ll never ever forget that I’m from “The Bawn”.

Derek was born in 1965 and had Downs Syndrome and related health complications. He only lived for 20 months, so these photographs are really precious.

My Mum, Bee Adams, passed away on Sunday after a short stay in hospital, and her funeral is tomorrow.

Olive Beatrice (Bee) Thompson was born in Larne in 1933, youngest of five children of Mary and William Thompson. They moved to Markethill (?late 1930s/early 1940s) where William was a police sergeant at Markethill RUC station. Bee always remembered her father sounding the air raid siren on top of the police station, and how Gosford was used to house German prisoners and American GIs.

Bee finished her schooling in Ballyclare, and enrolled as a trainee teacher in Stranmillis College. She met John Adams there, and they married in July 1958 and moved to Hamilton’s Bawn. She took up a teaching post at Salter’s Grange Primary School where John also worked. Bee spent most of her teaching life in Salter’s Grange, and saw several generations of children through their primary education. She retired in 1985 after approximately 30 years.

She had four sons. Unfortunately Derek (born 1964) had Downs Syndrome and sadly died at 18 months. This was a body-blow to Bee and John, a deep sadness that she never lost.

The Troubles also dominated Bee’s life, as John was a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment in a volatile part of Northern Ireland. Although many friends and colleagues were killed, the UDR also offered new horizons and opportunities, and the chance to meet many people from outside Northern Ireland. It is difficult to imagine the stress of those years, particularly for Bee who was affected by the uncertainty of waiting, wondering and worrying.

Unfortunately John died suddenly in 1997. Bee became ill in April 2004 and spent several months in hospital and Roxborough House, Moy. With the help of Premier Care, and particularly her carers Jennifer and Caroline, she was able to continue to live independently at home for over four years.

These are the old varieties I remember my Dad growing:

• Home Guard
• British Queen
• Navan

I’m looking forward to seeing how they grow with minimal interference!

We went here last year on Lisa and Gav’s joint birthday, and repeated the party this year. Once again, the food was great, the service warm, friendly and efficient, and the company brilliant.

Potted shrimp with melba toast (could have been improved by warming the potted shrimp, but maybe that’s not the idea?)
Asparagus with vinaigrette dressing

Roast partridge with all the trimmings (chipolatas, game chips, bacon, brussels sprouts, chestnuts, bread sauce, breadcrumbs, cooking juices)
Steak with snail sauce and chips
Smoked haddock with crushed potatoes, poached egg and mustard sauce

Upside-down apple tart with cream
Rice pudding with red fruit compote
Creme brulee

Despite a heavily French wine list, the antipodean waitress recommended a nice and good value Aussie shiraz when I asked for a recommendation of “something like a New World shiraz”).

My Dad, John Adams, died ten years ago today, on 30 September 2007. As my niece Riona says, he died “of smoking” at the age of 64.

He lived a full and interesting life, as a husband and father, school teacher, soldier, gardener and euphonium player, and lived through some of the most dangerous times in recent Northern Irish history.

But as a person, I still miss him. There are many conversations over the past ten years I would have wished to have had with him. About a wide range of subjects including gardening, music, politics, history and business. And of course he would have very much enjoyed seeing his granddaughters (my nieces) growing up.

The restaurant is warm and welcoming, with large leather sofas and chairs in the bar area, and well-spaced tables in smaller rooms dotted around the building. The service was friendly, competent and unobtrusive, and the kitchen specialises in local Devon ingredients.

Amuse bouche: Asparagus soup with truffle oil.

Ruby red beef with horseradish cream.
Confit of duck leg salad.
Smoked mackerel terrine, aubergine caviar, bombay potatoes.
Baked Vulscombe goats cheese with tomato dressing.

Fernleigh estate lamb.
Duck breast with baked cherries.
Asparagus with hollandaise sauce and poached egg.
Curried seabass with spicy seafood risotto.

Chocolate mousse with homemade lavender ice cream.
Greek yoghurt parfait with honey and local strawberries.
Panna cotta with local berries.

The food highlights were the lavender ice cream that Roger had with his chocolate mousse (the poor guy had to put up with three additional spoons descending onto his plate) and the lamb (pink and tender). The seabass was slightly over-spiced. The bread was really good, with four varieties to choose from, and they passed the water test. They could have provided more than five petit fours for four people, but that’s only a minor complaint as we were all stuffed by then!

The restaurant is located just off the busy A78, in an old farm steading not far from the village of Fairlie. Also on site are the smokery, the farm shop and a cookery shop. Fins restaurant occupies the old byre and a more recent conservatory, and is warm and welcoming.

The food lives up to the farmers’ market reputation. It had that taste that you only get when the fish is really fresh and has been cooked with a light touch.

Mussels in a white wine sauce – the mussels were small and sweet, and the sauce really garlicky. (For some reason, I was the only person who had a starter!)

Pan-fried mackerel coated in oatmeal, onion marmalade.

Langoustines in garlic butter. Simple, classic, and around 200g of garlic butter for the whole table to dip our bread in!

Seared scallops, white wine, cream and salmon sauce. Sweet scallops, good caramelised flavour.

Cold seafood platter – hot smoked salmon, langoustines, crab claw, gravadlax, pickled herring, mussels, smoked salmon pate and oatcakes. A really well-packed, very Scottish platter.

This is the sort of seafood that Scotland exports every day to Spain and France, and is only just becoming common here.

The service was friendly, passing both stage 1 and 2 of the water test! The staff even offered more bread with the main course saying “you’ll need something to mop up the garlic butter”!

But don’t take my word for it. Support these guys in the UKTV Food Local Hero 2007 awards.

Rococo is in the basement of one of the Blythswood Hill tenement blocks, but is light and welcoming, with large leather banquettes and comfortable leather armchairs. Service was attentive and friendly, although they failed the water test at Stage 2*. Surprisingly, the restaurant was only half empty at 8pm, and there were only two tables occupied by 9.30pm, and this was the start of the payday weekend!

The food was well executed and tasty, and presented well on large plates. Most of the ingredients were locally sourced, and the chef was accommodating enough to convert one of the starter dishes into a main course.

Amuse bouche: deep fried ball of duck confit (the oil was a little too hot, so the breadcrumb shell was a touch hard).

Green bean salad, red onions, chicory.
Ballotine of French rabbit, girolles.
Tian of crab, guacamole and tomato relish.

Loin of wild venison, cabbage, bacon & mushrooms
Oven Roasted Fillet of Scotch Beef with Glazed Green Beans, Roasted Gnocchi and Root Vegetables, Truffle Jus
Roast pigeon, pea risotto.

Caramelised apple mille feuille with salted caramel
Pepper cannelini with lemon ice cream and strawberries
Trio of panna cotta.

Coffee and (home-made) petit fours.

We all agreed that the star of the meal was my caramelised apple mille feuille.

* The water test
Points are awarded for:

• Stage 1: Providing a jug of iced tap water when requested (a bonus point if it appears unrequested);
• Stage 2: Leaving the jug on the table. If the restaurant is one of those pretentious ones that seem to think that diners can’t be trusted in pouring their own drinks, then the maximum time a water glass should be empty is 5 minutes.

I wonder if having Irish passports will be an advantage in an independent Scotland come 2010? Come to think of it, we’ll be able to apply for a third (Scottish) passport each if Scotland does become independent (heaven forbid!). Handy for crossing the border at Gretna.