Where the Bush Water flows
into the ocean on Black Rock Strand
Lois Elsdon
"Most of my novels are set in an imagined landscape, and most of them are set in the imagined seaside town of Easthope, the neighbouring city of Strand, and the fading industrial town of Castair. Strand is totally imaginary, and so is Castair; Easthope is on the coast and in my imagination it is a little like Portballintrae and Bushmills in County Antrim, but squished together into a fantasy place."
On Monday, May 14, Lois adds:
"Several years later in 1995, as we were contemplating where to take our two tiny children on holiday there was a travel programme on the television, where a very wet but lovely Jill Dando, tried to persuade the viewers to visit Northern Ireland. It was raining, the skies were grey but the land was green and going to Ulster from Oldham in Lancashire wasn’t a difficult journey. We booked, we travelled, we fell in love."Tyche Kane is one of Lois' heroines and Kane is a common family name on the Causeway Coast. The Ui Catháin had strongholds from west of the River Bann to east of the River Bush - and there's also Mac Catháin and Mac Eáin.
Here are some more images for those who might like to write stories:
