Catherine Drea: A summer pause for thought

The long days and extraordinarily bright nights have me dreaming strange dreams. 

Every morning at about 4 o’clock as the birds begin to sing after only a few hours of darkness, I find myself engrossed in memories. This week, while they were singing about the summer solstice, I was dreaming about the future.

It’s busy in our family these days. I had booked a ferry to escape for a few weeks and I have already postponed it twice. 

There’s always next year. But even still, here in the wild surrounds of rural bliss, we don’t need to travel anywhere to sense that it is time for a summer pause. 

Time to slow down, smell the roses and wander the coastline.

No matter how much we locals might try to keep it all to ourselves, Waterford County is becoming more popular. 

Topping international lists of places to visit, the recent years have brought exactly the kind of developments that holidaymakers want. 

Outdoor activities, beautiful walks and hikes, unspoiled beaches and lots of foodie options.

So what’s next? How can we build on the success of urban regeneration in the city and countryside to preserve the “hidden gem” vibes of this county? What is the future?

Tramore is my local town and it has changed dramatically for the better. 

I will never forget coming to Tramore as an adult completely by chance. 

Most of my friends had already emigrated and I suppose I was on the cusp of that too. But my Right Hand Man, who was a junior architect at the time, was sent to Riverstown to assess the greenfield site as a possible place to build new houses. 

I was an art student, happy to throw my bike on the train from Dublin and head down to have a look at it all. I brought my sketch pad to spend the day drawing the wide open vista of Tramore Bay.

The station in Waterford was charming. Golden gorse grew down the cliff and the river on the other side gleamed in the summer sunshine. We hopped on the two bikes and cycled out to Tramore.

For years afterwards I would remember discovering that the local dump was between us and the beautiful and famous Trá Mhór. I went down a rabbit hole the other day to get a grasp of what on earth everyone was thinking about at the time, that a dump could be so active, even though it was almost on the beach!

Mind boggling now, isn’t it? No one in their right mind would think that the Back Strand would be the perfect place for the rubbish and refuse of the whole town. 

It’s weird to look back and hear on old videos, activists like CoastWatch trying to suggest that it should be relocated. Then to hear the excuses given by those in charge! Over many, many years, the site of the dump, with its diggers and ravenous seagulls, was just part of the landscape.

The other feature that I noticed that first day was the outflow pipe into the bay. Yes, believe it or not, raw sewage was simply poured out by the gallon into the sea. You could see the glorious turquoise colour of the water change to a murky brown just a few hundred metres out into the sea. What were we all thinking that this was acceptable!

These memories have made me wonder what we are ignoring today that we will be astounded by in future? Perhaps the prominence of cars on the Prom? The amusements and gambling halls that are centre stage at the beachfront? The lack of prominence given to the green areas around the lake and the Back Strand?

These days we walk around Tramore thrilled by the progress that has been made to make it one of the loveliest places in the county. Funnily enough, walking around the town as I do regularly to shop and meet friends, it reminds me more of a French village than a typical Irish country town. 

I am always reminded of how much I love those early morning bakery visits and the cafes in France, which spill out onto the streets and the beaches. Maybe it’s just me but it’s like the Norman influence on the streets of the city and the intimacy of Tramore have a really French feel to them.

On an early morning sunny walk in Tramore you are spoiled for choice with a swim followed by a meet-up, a visit to Lafcadio Gardens, an exhibition in the Coastguard, a gathering of buddies in one of the coffee shops on the Prom, a wander in the newly modernised library, a dip into some of the foodie shops along the pedestrianised streets. 

Tramore might still have some way to go but all the award-winning improvements have given the town a heart and soul.

Like the rest of the planet County Waterford is on the brink of a challenging future. With one eye on climate and another on the conflicts around the world, future generations will look back at us and wonder how we were so slow to adapt. Just as we are stunned by the old dump and the raw sewage, they too will wonder how we ignored the signs of biodiversity loss and continued to drown everything in chemicals.

Our future is bright. It’s important that we continue to develop thoughtfully with people at the heart and beauty as our guide.