Peaceful Solitude – Oil on Linen Painting by Janice Lightowler

Sitting high and proud above our idyllic Strangford Lough is the majestic Scrabo Tower. It was built by local townspeople to honour the third Marquis of Londonderry, Charles Vane for his efforts to support local people during the potato famine. Constructed in the 1850s at a cost exceeding £3000 (bankrupting the original contractor).

Before its closure in 2014 you could climb the122 steps to the top and it felt like you could view the whole of Northern Ireland and beyond.

As a child my grandparents had a caravan in Groomsport, years later my family got a caravan in Ballywalter also on the Ards Peninsular. As we travelled from Belfast, passing this iconic monument always marked the beginning of long summer holidays.

My brothers and I used to see who could spot Scrabo first as we travelled in our Morris Minor, pushing against the front seats to help my daddy get the car up the hills and arrive sooner on holiday. It felt like an epic road trip every time, but the sight of Scrabo generated great excitement as all of a sudden you could see the sea, and the question “are we there yet?” was no longer needed.

We always took our fridge with us on holiday, strapped to the roof rack. On one occasion we were travelling along the road beside Scrabo when a motorist flagged us down to let us know that the door of the fridge had flown off into a field, just as we approached the top of the hill and Scrabo Tower came into sight. I’ve no idea what happened next!

On looking for a location to build my new studio I unexpectedly but delightfully found a plot with a view of Scrabo Tower, it will forever make me smile.