At the Dirty Duck

I was at the Dirty Duck Ale House in Holywood, County Down, last night. I'd arranged to meet up with an old school pal, so I cycled down to Sydenham railway station, left the bike among the bushes (locked), and waited for the 6.21 to Holywood.

Slight snag: I was waiting on the wrong side! The train approached and I hadn't time to scramble over the foot-bridge in time, so I missed it and had to wait for the 6.51.

Pete had missed the 6.21 too, so we both alighted from the 6.51 at the same time. I haven't been in the Dirty Duck for ages, so it was good to see it once again. The proprietor's wife and I used to work in the Bank many, many moons ago. I didn't spot her on this occasion.

We got a table downstairs, ordered a round and meal. We both had the scampi, which was excellent: light batter, good sized scampi, home-made chips of varying sizes, good tartare sauce, a dressed side-salad. most enjoyable, the best I'd had for a long time and a nice crowd, too. This establishment specializes in ales to the extent that there is even one called the Dirty Duck.

I've written a very brief history of these premises. I'd forgotten that it formerly traded as the Waterfront, to add to all its other past names.

A musician began to play at about ten-thirty, though we had to leave because the last train departed at 10.46 or thereabouts. By the way, the Dirty Duck seems to have musicians most weekends and one which caught my eye was the Alan McKelvey Band. I was at prep school with an Alan McKelvey and we were good pals. He had a brother called Reuben and they lived at Malone Park in Belfast. Could this possibly be the same person I was at school with?

The meal and four or five rounds cost almost £50. My bike was still in its place when I went to retrieve it, by the way; and I managed to cycle home without any mishaps!