Holiday '78

Another holiday I well remember was to Westport in North West of Ireland. My Brother Frank decided to rent a 'Cottage' . The Advert was in the Paper and booked it over the phone. Dad had just traded in his old car for a newer one. Not new but 5 years old. Later to be termed the 'Yellow Peril' it was a bright yellow Renault 15TS, a smart looking coupe, which replace Dads 15 year old Ford Capri. Anyhow we drove up to Westport and then a few miles further to the cottage which was situated down a steep laneway. Frank had to manoever the Car for Dad as the laneway was very tight. The Cottage was a bit basic, the farmer who owned it had built a new house and rented out the old Cottage. It had a traditional fireplace, the type you could sit in and look up into the night sky. We lit a fire with the turf supplied by the farmer. I think there was electricity in the Kitchen but not in the Bedrooms. On the first night we went to bed late and I fell asleep quickly, probably snoring the cottage down! Suddenly I woke up, I could hear what sounded like machine guns or sounds from an Alien Invasion Film. it was completly dark and I had no light switch to flick. Quickly I realised it was lashing rain and the cottage had a tin roof not a traditional thatch roof. I suppose while I slept and dreamt, the sound of the rain had somehow been incorporated into the dream and when I awoke I was disorientated and well, scared. The rest of the holiday went great, we travelled in the Yellow Peril for the week and luckily the rain was replaced by sunny weather. I have photos somewhere both Frank and myself sporting 'Afro' haircuts which were the 'in thing' then. Suppose my scare lasted about 5 minutes and I remember it well and laugh about it now and its still what I remember about that holiday.