UP THE REBELS!! - UP CORK!!

We'll be painting North Devon red and white with a little bit of Corkmania before the all Ireland on sunday. Saoirse proudly wearing her People's Republic of Cork T-Shirt from uncle Séan.

UP THE REBELS!! - UP CORK!!

The Duggans

Feed Me Seymour

Earl of Rone weekend

We've just had our first Earl of Rone weekend and it was great, I thoroughly recommend drinking in the street surrounded by children driven into a dancing frenzy by big bass drums. The pictures speak for themselves but for more information on the event click here www.earl-of-rone.org.uk



Master Callum & Miss Ciara Duggan

I kept calling this the 'Hobby Horse'....Ciara angrily snapped 'Hobby Hoss' Daddy" every time I did...I stand corrected!

Dancing on the beach

Hannah's Dad was worried about the crowd realising that his name is 'Tyrone'....don't tell anyone it's a secret.

Master Keegan with his flaggan of beer



The Earl on the donkey

The earl is shot several times

This scene is best described as a frenzy


Don't know how that got in there!.....Sara's just signed up to be a dancer in next years festival....she's going for a medieval cowgirl look apparently.

Combe Martin Skate Park

Callum is going to shred the combe martin skate park on this classic dogtown Alva skateboard. It's being built just behind our house and will be ready by the summer...I'll be there cruising on a longboard (handmade in Braunton) trying not to look like an embarrassing Dad ( I am 31 now)

I'm Back

Sorry I haven't blogged for soooo long, I've been stacked with work and travelling to London every week....back on the ball now!

The Sun's Here!!

It was sunny all weekend in Combe Martin....so we spent it in the Pack O' Cards drinking fine lager and cider...mmmmmmm beer.

Anyone know th people lurking menacingly behind O'Grady??

Wet Wet Wet

Ciara went to a makeover party after school, 3 hours of makeup and hairstyling was ruined by a 2 minute dash to the car in the glorious North Devon rain.

Putsborough

We really like this house with it's own private beach on Putsborough, when we buy it we'll paint it white and fly the Jolly Roger from the roof.
I gave the kids orders to storm the private beach....

...they did and we claimed the rocks like good Irish pirates.

O'Grady rocking a look even on a Sunday afternoon stroll (no Eve that's not the top you left at our house 2 years ago). It looks like she's carrying an accordion to entertain the tourists on the beach....

.... but it was just a well wrapped up baby Saoirse (re-named Maggot by the kids).


Miles and miles of sandy beach, in the distance you can see Woolacombe.

Vintage Duggans

Here's some old cine footage I've had on my laptop for ages now without really knowing what to do with it......so here we go check out the chimps on stilts...evilness! Also check out my uncle Mick paddling in the sea at crosshaven....trousers rolled up and shirt untucked for that casual look.

Damn Seagulls

This morning we were rudely woken up by a scene reminiscent of Hitchcock's film 'The Birds'...but with seagulls pooing on cars rather than crows pecking my eyes out. It was really early so I decided to take the dog and the boy for a walk up Little Hangman Hill before work.

On the way Callum 'accidentally' fell in the stream.....

..... this is the view from the foot of the hill.....

.....this is Candy enjoying some fresh early morning sheep poo.....

... it was muddy....

... really muddy...

...really really muddy...
... but the views are well worth it!

C'mon kid I need some coffee

Brave People

There are a lot of people still braving the surf over at Woolacombe. I'm looking for a cheap second hand surfboard that I can ding the hell out of while I'm learning to surf ...but I'm not getting in that sea until the end of March(too cold).

Combe Martin?

I've had a lot of emails asking me for information on Combe Martin so to save them the time and effort of visiting Wikipedia I've done it for them -

Combe Martin is a village in Devon, England.

The name is derived from Combe, which derives from Old English cumb "wooded valley". The name was recorded as Comer in 1128. The 'Martin' affix on the place-name is from the name of the Norman family who inherited the manor from one of the supporters of William the Conqueror.

The village is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the edge of the Exmoor national park. Due to the narrowness of the valley, it is composed principally of one single long street which runs two miles from the valley head to the sea. The population is over 2500, with many Domesday Book families still in the area.

The street is the longest village street in England, and at one time there were nine pubs all on the same side of the road, enabling customers to progress from one to the other without fear of being knocked down.

Combe Martin is famous for its strawberries, which are said to be the finest in the world

Several disused Silver mines are located on the eastern ridge and evidence of tunnels can still be seen, as well as the remains of a wheelhouse used to lift ore from the mine. There are items in the Crown Jewels made from Combe Martin silver.

One of the village's unusual features is the "Pack o' Cards" pub built around 1700 by George Ley. Reputed to have been funded by his gambling successes, it originally had 52 windows, 13 rooms and four floors (matching the numbers from a pack of cards).

The "The Hunting of the Earl of Rone" annual procession features the rare hobby horse of Pagan England mixed in with the capturing and multiple shootings of the 'Earl of Tyrone' im around 1607. The "Hunting of the Earl of Rone" takes place over a week, finishing in a two-mile procession along the closed-off main street, featuring Redcoats, music and hundreds of dancers in traditional dress.

Unfortunately the procession was banned in 1838 (due to drunken behaviour) and the modern version from 1970 features Red Coats (first seen in the English Civil War in 1644) and disregards the fact the Earl of Tyrone (Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone) escaped to the Continent. It is an interesting and noisy week-long event in early May each year.

Just to the east of Combe Martin Bay are the Hangman hills, the Little Hangman and the Great Hangman. The Great Hangman is a hog-backed hill of 1043ft with a cliff-face of 820ft, making it the highest cliff in southern Britain, and can be reached by following the South West Coast Path which runs through the town.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sun's out in Combe Martin

It's really sunny here today so thought I'd post some pictures I took in my lunch break. Can't really think of anything else to write so here's some Rock pools n shizzle.

Candy on the beach

Candy had her first proper run on the beach today after her operation, she ran like a dog possessed and terrorised the seagulls.

Camel's Eye

The kids have been looking for the Camel's eye on Combe Martin beach but we didn't have a clue what it was, we found it last week just north of Toria's camel toe.

Ellie's Photos

My good friend Ellie 'Elsa' Hyde recently did some wicked shots of the brats in her studio. She's coming down at the weekend so I'll get her to shoot some pics for the blog.

Check her work out here

Size Zero

Despite all of the adverts on my blog linking to sites for Eating Disorders I have not become a size zero model nor do I encourage bulimia (unless it's caused by drinking too much Exmoor Beast).

Here's a picture of the Chinese KFC I took in Shanghai...slightly off topic but all the talk about lack of food made me miss KFC...even if they do breed chickens with no feet.

Combe Martin Life

Check out this neat blog about Combe Martin....hundreds of photographs of the surrounding areas and men in strange costumes

Visit it here

One Month Old

Saoirse is one month old today and is showing all the classic 'Duggan' traits;

• Anger
• Self - Obsession
• Bottle Addiction
• Messianic complex

That's my girl!

The Claw

I was wondering why Callum looked so nervous in this picture...then I noticed the child snatchers leather bound claw making a lunge for his ankle...he was returned unharmed.

Lynton Cliff Railway

We went to Lynton on Sunday and rode the cliff railway...my battery ran out on my camera but managed to get a shot of the drop to the bottom. The train driver was a joy...he didn't crack a smile all the way down and back even at our fake screams of terror.