0:00:06 > 0:00:10I'm Michael Smiley, comedian, actor, North Down hallion.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13I've done stand-up, I've done drama, I've done film and TV.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16I've done all right for myself, but my true love is cycling.
0:00:16 > 0:00:1830 years after leaving home,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20I'm back for a pedal around Northern Ireland.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23This could turn out to be the ride of my life.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I'm Holywood born and bred, but I've been away in London for 30 years.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28I'd hate to think I've lost my accent.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32People always say to me, "You're from Holywood. Snobby Holywood."
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Like, you know, Holywood, we're all just down there,
0:00:35 > 0:00:37peeling pomegranates, you know.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42That gives me the hump, because, yes, the Bangor end of Holywood is really posh, you know.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46If you go east of the maypole it becomes posh, you know.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50It's judges, you know, and it's multi-millionaires down there, so it is.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52And they are giving scum like me a bad name.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Holywood always had that reputation that we're a bit snobby, but not the bit I come from.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Proper Holywood. I'm talking about Holywood when everybody was John Wayne
0:00:59 > 0:01:02and nobody was Cary Grant. I'm telling you that for nothing.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Holywood, to me, had three accents. The Bangor - they'd talk to you like that,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09- POSH VOICE:- "How are you doing, Michael? Lovely to see you back."
0:01:09 > 0:01:11But I noticed since I went away and came back,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13the accent was different.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15"Paddy! How's it going?!"
0:01:15 > 0:01:20"Happy days, good to see you back. When are you going away again?"
0:01:20 > 0:01:24"I'm speakin' out of the side of my mouth, and movin' my head like a demented chicken.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26- "How're you doing there, boy? How the..." - HE CLUCKS
0:01:26 > 0:01:28"..are you doing? I haven't seen you in ages."
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Then you get the ones who like to jam together,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34playing records and learning the Neil Young back catalogue.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38That sort of jazz-cigarette culture, you know. They would just talk to you like that, man.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41- SLOWLY:- "How are you doing? Good to see you, man."
0:01:41 > 0:01:46The voice is a wee bit...pulled out a wee bit further, a wee bit more nasal.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51"Lovely, that's cool, man. You're looking good, anyway. Lovely seeing you, now.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53"What's his name again?"
0:01:55 > 0:01:59# Well, ain't got no money
0:01:59 > 0:02:01# No fancy car. #
0:02:01 > 0:02:03There are so many places near and dear to me.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Belfast is as good a town as any to kick off my trip.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Later, I'll be pedalling around Portaferry,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10helping to educate some tourists.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Northern Ireland, it's like a TARDIS.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15In Newtownards, I meet famous photographer Bill Kirk
0:02:15 > 0:02:17and discover the secret of eternal youth.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20- How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?- I'm 76.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22You look ten years younger than your age.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24- And that's the bicycle?- Probably.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28And I'll be reliving some childhood scrapes, riding down memory lane over in Bangor.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33I managed to stick my leg out and drag him in. I saved his life.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38But first, Belfast and one local icon that holds strong emotional ties to the Smiley clan.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42This is St George's Market, in Belfast,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and it is in the Markets area, which has a very strong place in my heart,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49because my mother was born and reared in the Markets.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51The Markets people are a special sort of people.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53You had to be a bit whoo, a bit wey, as they said in the day.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55You had to know your onions.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57You had to be light on your feet.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59You know, quick with mouth, quick of mind.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Maybe there's a wee bit of that in me, too.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04That in-your-face quick talking, if you know what I mean.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Half of me is Holywood born and bred and the other half of me is from the Markets.
0:03:08 > 0:03:09A good wee combo.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14MUSIC: "Double Barrel" by Dave and Ansell Collins
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I'm here with Paddy Lynn, who is one of the foremost men in the Markets.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20He has got a lovely stall there, with his beautiful wife Joy. Joy!
0:03:20 > 0:03:21How are you doing?
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Paddy, you're from the Markets and you've been working in the markets all your life?
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Yeah, well, I grew up in the Markets, this was my playground as a kid.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29We came from East Street
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and my grandparents were originally from Market Street.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34What would you say would define a market man?
0:03:34 > 0:03:39My ma was a real wheeler-dealer. She'd say, "I can make a tanner look like a tenner."
0:03:39 > 0:03:42There was one thing about market people, they were survivors. They had to be.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45They were very close to where food was being brought in.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47There was fish being brought in from all the ports,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50such as Portavogie, Ardglass, Kilkeel.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53There was always food here and there was always work here.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57But there were hard times, too, because, after the famine,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00this area took off in the 1850s.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01People came from the countryside.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04No-one is originally from the Markets.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06The Markets is originally in them
0:04:06 > 0:04:08from somewhere else in Northern Ireland.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10So they brought their culture...
0:04:10 > 0:04:11Market people came to the Markets area?
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Yes, they came from County Armagh, they came from Donegal, they came from all the other places.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19St George's Market is the last of the ten markets.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22- It's come full circle, from what it was to what it is now.- It has.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Apparently, when you're down in the Markets in these situations,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29you have to have a montage scene, apparently.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31So this is doing it as quick as possible, OK.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33So, montage, montage, montage.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35# Diddly-duh, duh-duh, montage
0:04:35 > 0:04:38# Diddly-duh, falafel, falafel, falafel, falafel
0:04:38 > 0:04:40# Montage, montage! Diddle-dah
0:04:40 > 0:04:42# Ginger Rosie montage. #
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Pretty girls blushing! Pretty girls blushing!
0:04:45 > 0:04:47- You're making me blush.- There you go!
0:04:47 > 0:04:48Best girls in the world.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Belfast girls blush.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Then they'll knock you spark out.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Here we are on the enigma that is the Ormeau Road.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59You never know where you stand in the Ormeau Road, do you?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Could be one thing, could be the other. I like it, you know.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06My whole life in Belfast has been wrapped around the Ormeau Road, pretty much.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10My mum was born down in the Markets and my granny and granddad moved out
0:05:10 > 0:05:15of the Markets and here we are, the legend that is the Hatfield House.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18This part of this area, Lower Ormeau, is republican.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19Nationalist, rather.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Over the bridge is loyalist and mixed.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25So the Orangemen always wanted to march down here.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27They'd set up a barricade.
0:05:27 > 0:05:28The police and the army were out.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Everybody was out in this area trying to hold the Orangemen off.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Orangemen at the other side of the barriers, trying to get down.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36There were helicopters in the air,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40police and army all over the place, except in the Hatfield.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43There was the barman and two old men sitting in the corner.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48Pint bottle of Guinness, a half and a whiskey, doing the crosswords together.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50You know the old type - strawberry noses,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54hat at a jaunty angle on the side of their head, smoking a wee roll-up.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55One of them looks at it.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57"Old MacDonald had one.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02"Five letters, what is it?" "Pig?" One went to the other,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05"That helicopter's been up there all day."
0:06:05 > 0:06:08- The other one went, "It's probably broke down." - HE LAUGHS
0:06:10 > 0:06:14I'm really interested in the history of cycling, and luckily for me, so is Ian Knox.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15A political cartoonist,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19he is one of only six penny farthing owners in Northern Ireland.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23The thing before was that thing where people pushed themselves along.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Yeah. That started it. That was two, if you like.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The big jumps were, first of all, the hobbyhorse.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34Then there was Macmillan in Scotland, who made the treadle drive.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Then there was the growing of the front wheel, when they found out
0:06:38 > 0:06:41about steel and its tensile properties, and this huge wheel.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43The size of that wheel just screams danger at me.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46How dangerous were they for the unskilled?
0:06:46 > 0:06:50For the unskilled, they were lethal. It's strange. It's like a kangaroo -
0:06:50 > 0:06:52you wonder how it ever happened.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Why people were crazy enough to make and climb onto such things.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59And just gently into it, like that. Pick up the pedals
0:06:59 > 0:07:00and then you're away.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07He looks brilliant, though, doesn't he?
0:07:10 > 0:07:12You're sort of holding it underneath, as well.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Yes, I like that particular grip, because...
0:07:17 > 0:07:19Well, partly because of all these cameras.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20He looks fantastic,
0:07:20 > 0:07:26but the idea of that scares the living things out of me.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30It fills me full of fear. Look at it. He looks amazing.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32He looks just majestic on it.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35It wasn't a short man's sport, was it?
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Aye, exactly. It wasn't. You've got it in one.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43If you saw a group of spindly, abnormally tall guys walking down the street,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47you reckoned there was going to be a bicycle race somewhere later that day.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50That's brilliant. Ian, that is absolutely gorgeous.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53- It was a man's sport, too. No women.- No women did it.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56For good-looking tall men in the 1880s, you were laughing.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00- You were laughing. Or you were dead. - Or you were dead!
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Bring it over here so I can get up on it.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06You can lower me onto it like a lady!
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'This is production researcher and human stabiliser PJ.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12'I'm risking my life for your viewing pleasure.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'You can't say I didn't do anything for you, now.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:16I'm not balanced.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18It'll happen.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21The forward movement makes it happen.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24- I've heard of Ian talking about "bicycle face".- Yeah.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25That's all I'm thinking about now.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28You've got a lovely bicycle face, sure. You're made for it.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30This was made by a bicycle, this face.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I thought he meant "bicycle face" was the face you ended up with when you landed.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37And I've had that. I wasn't born looking like this, you know.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I was a Tom Cruise lookey-likey when I was a child.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46- Oh, this is really freaky.- You don't want to start racing just yet. - Right.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51- This is freaky, man.- Go for it. - Oh, no. I don't know so much.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Even though I knew, like a wee child, everybody was standing
0:08:54 > 0:08:57either side and wasn't going to let me fall off,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I couldn't. I couldn't. My brain wouldn't make sense of it.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05It's mad. It scared the life out of me!
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Bicycle face. MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Look at my face! Is that the wind behind me?
0:09:11 > 0:09:15That's you going at speed, as you did when the camera wasn't on you!
0:09:15 > 0:09:16Thank you.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19We didn't want to get that on the camera because I didn't want
0:09:19 > 0:09:23people to know that I'm quite a proficient penny farthing rider.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Just off the Ormeau Road is the Belfast Bicycle Workshop, on Lawrence Street.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Not everyone remembers their first bike,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33but mine was really something else -
0:09:33 > 0:09:35a late '60s Christmas present that left me wondering
0:09:35 > 0:09:37if Santa Claus had stuffed the wrong stocking.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48- This is a Stone Special. - This is the Stone Special, yeah.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53- When does this go back to? - It was built in 1958.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Stone's was a big shop in Cromac Square, down near the Markets.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02So when I came to get my first bike, we went to Stone's.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06And my Christmas present was a bike and, of course,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10- you know when you're a kid, you want things just so.- Perfect.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12- Has to be just so. - In your imagination.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- And if you have parents who just think a bike's a bike, is a bike, is a bike...- Yeah.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20And I got a girl's bike,
0:10:20 > 0:10:25which was red, white and blue, green, white and gold, yellow and black
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and had white wheels, so I couldn't even skate on it either.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32So the morning I knew I was getting a bike, I ran downstairs
0:10:32 > 0:10:36and opened the sitting room door and there was a girl's bike.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41- You started to cry?- "It's a girl's bike! I'm going to get laughed at."
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So here we are, coming full circle.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48This is the only one with the actual "SS", Stone Special.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- A part of Belfast cycling legend.- Totally.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53My dad used to ride fixed gear
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and his famous story is that he rode from the Vale of Avoca
0:10:57 > 0:11:01to the Antrim Road in one afternoon
0:11:01 > 0:11:03and then went to a dance.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05At that time, the Stone Special was the bike to have.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07This looks like a type of workshop,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11an ethos that is part of the community. Are you community-minded?
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Would you help people who are, say,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17- for the want of a better expression, underprivileged?- Yes, I do.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22This year, I've worked with a group of Syrian refugees here.
0:11:22 > 0:11:23They are not allowed to work,
0:11:23 > 0:11:29so any refugees or asylum seekers have to have a bike for transport.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32So when the bike breaks down, if you want to bring it to
0:11:32 > 0:11:36one of the bigger players, they're going to charge you a wee bit more than I want to charge,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40a good wee bit more, and, also, I sort of teach them the skills.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44They can come to the classes and they don't get charged for them.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47That's the classic, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49"Teach him how to fish and you can feed him for the rest of his life."
0:11:49 > 0:11:54- This is it.- I love the socio-political thing about the bike.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56It was a tool that motivated
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and got the working classes and the peasants out, you know.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Got them out of the village, got them to work.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05If you go to Third World countries, that is the tool.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12- We're right smack in the heart of Belfast...- Yeah.- ..and you open the doors and, like, a secret garden.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16It reminds me of The Secret Garden. Everything was black and white and grey.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19You come in here and there is a big ping of colour and creativity.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Recycling and old bits that have been reused again. This I love.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25We're going to do a little practical thing now.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28I know people are going, "It's all very well yous going on about your bikes,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30"because yous are loving it and know about your bikes."
0:12:30 > 0:12:33I like that about biking, though. But say I had a puncture,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36it's getting those tyres on and off, for example, that gives me the fear.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40The only tool you need to take a tyre off a wheel
0:12:40 > 0:12:41is a couple of tyre levers.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45All you've got to do is basically put it into the tyre.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49And then, straight round
0:12:49 > 0:12:52and you can pull it right off from the other side. Presto.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57- Nothing to it, dead, dead easy. - There you go. Couldn't be more simple.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Couldn't be more simple there if I tried!
0:12:59 > 0:13:01"Getting it off is easy," you're saying.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04"That's all very well, but what's it like putting it back on again?"
0:13:04 > 0:13:08Thank you very much. That was from Deirdre in Culleybackey there!
0:13:09 > 0:13:13You put one side of the tyre onto the wheel first, like so -
0:13:13 > 0:13:15boom-boom,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19and then you bring it round to the other side
0:13:19 > 0:13:23and then everybody fears this last little bit, because it's so tight,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28but if you use both thumbs evenly and push, look at that.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Anybody can do it.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- And you pump it all the way round to make sure it's all sat in. - Oh, yeah.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Always check that, because I've fallen foul of that.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42You go, "That's sorted," and pump your tyre hard, because you want to get going
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and the tube comes out the side and, before you know, you hear a massive...
0:13:45 > 0:13:47BOTH: Bang.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48- Yeah.- ..Bob's your dad's brother.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52They're having to get you out of a wheel arch with a pizza shovel.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57We are here in Great Victoria Street bus station, or as it's called now, I think, Glengall Street.
0:13:57 > 0:14:0230 years ago, on the 7th of January 1983, I got an Ulster Bus to London
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and have been there ever since.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07It's a weird feeling being here, because it evokes memories
0:14:07 > 0:14:12and I just remember the wee lad who left. He was about 19, had a Walkman.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19I played Jackson Browne's Stay as we left the bus station.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Even in those days, I was very melodramatic.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25He was frightened and excited, skint and determined to leave,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28because he felt this place had nothing for him.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29It's quite an emotional place for me.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32MUSIC: "Stay (Just A Little Bit Longer)"
0:14:32 > 0:14:35As the fella says, nostalgia ain't what it used to be,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37but with all this talk of leaving, I think it's time
0:14:37 > 0:14:39for a spin around the place that I left.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Heading out of Belfast towards Holywood, my home town,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45and my birthplace.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48This is the Holywood Hills.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52The original Holywood Hills. One L of a town.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Holywood, you see? One L in Holywood. One L of a town.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00This is where I'm from. A very respectable housing estate.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05That's the house I was born in. Reared in.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09When I was a wee lad, my ma opened the front door, kicked me out.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11You weren't allowed back in the house, you know.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Even if it was blowing a gale outside
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and it was lashing out of the heavens and there was snow up to your kneecaps,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21your ma would still put an anorak on you and throw you out of the door again.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Because she was always hoovering.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I'd come up here. We'd build huts, climb trees.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30We would snog wee girls, you know.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33One of my first girlfriends, she lived in the front row there.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36You were youngsters, kissing and cuddling and stuff,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and holding hands, going to the pictures.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Except she had a mate and her mate hated me.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Unbeknown to me, she decided to drop me. You know, you get dropped?
0:15:44 > 0:15:49They say it takes your loved one and your enemy to hurt you to the core.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52One to slander you and the other one to get the news to you.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55So a knock on the door and Ruth was there.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57She went, "You're dropped!"
0:15:58 > 0:16:00"What do you mean?"
0:16:00 > 0:16:02"Debbie doesn't want to see you any more."
0:16:02 > 0:16:04The look of glee on her face.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07My young pink heart was crestfallen.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10I looked at her and said, "Why?"
0:16:11 > 0:16:15She said, "You move your head around too fast when you're snogging her."
0:16:15 > 0:16:18I just imagined I was doing this sort of thing,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20with my mouth wide open.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Like a flip-top head with a tongue attached to it.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26God love the wee girl, you know what I mean?
0:16:26 > 0:16:29I have an emotional connection to this field.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33There was a big tree up the back there. And I remember the morning
0:16:33 > 0:16:36that I decided to leave
0:16:36 > 0:16:40and I was leaving Holywood and I was leaving Ireland. It was dawn.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44I sat and I looked over the loch and the sun was coming up.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45It's a bit misty today.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50And I made a decision that I was leaving and I wasn't coming back.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Luckily, things worked out for me. I've got a really good life.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57There are many people who left who didn't and struggled
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and there are many people who left and would love to come back
0:17:00 > 0:17:03and can't, you know.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04# I'm leaving for the country... #
0:17:04 > 0:17:08This is Graveyard Lane. Guess where it leads?
0:17:08 > 0:17:11A lot of family buried in this graveyard -
0:17:11 > 0:17:13a lot of family and friends.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16When I was a kid in Holywood, there was an older graveyard.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17There was the Priory graveyard.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22Me and my dad used to walk around, his hands behind his back,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and look at how old the graves were and the people who were buried there.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27And he'd tell me stories about them.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Like our connections to family members, because my dad is old Holywood.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34And that was part of our connection -
0:17:34 > 0:17:37that both of us were proud that we were Holywood born and bred.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40The only ones in the family.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43And now he's in this graveyard, so is my ma.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44Yeah.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48WIND HOWLS
0:17:48 > 0:17:49That's life, isn't it?
0:17:54 > 0:17:58One thing I've noticed being back is that tourism is a much bigger deal now.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Out in Portaferry, I join a German, an Italian and two Polish students
0:18:01 > 0:18:04for a cycle tour run by local company Iron Donkey,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07led by tour guide Gary Sloane.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09I haven't been back home much in the past 30 years.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I left 30 years ago, which is part of the programme.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15In a short period of time that I've been over this time,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and cycling around, it's made me want to come home more.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20What is it that draws people back to Northern Ireland,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22or draws people to Northern Ireland, tourist-wise?
0:18:22 > 0:18:24It is a fantastic place to cycle.
0:18:24 > 0:18:31I can't pretend that we couldn't improve some of our more urban cycle routes, but I think it's the routes.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35- They are spectacular.- Here we are, look at that beautiful sun setting.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39- You can even see the sun, somehow? - Just about see the sun.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44It looks really magical. Like in one of these King Arthur movies.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Off the main roads, there are some fantastic routes we have planned
0:18:47 > 0:18:50and spent many hours presenting and sharing.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53And they're quite light on traffic. So have you picked them so they're specifically...?
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Light on traffic, yeah,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59and spectacular in terms of the actual scenery.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02We can give them full support in terms of cycling with them,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05or staying maybe a few hours behind them.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07The backup van is always there
0:19:07 > 0:19:11if people get into a bit of bother, but that is a rare experience.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16We usually find they stop in some pub or other for lunch and we have to get them home.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Have to go for a wee sleep in the snug and then wake up,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22- "Where's the bikes gone? Don't worry, we can always get another bike!"- Yeah.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24So you would come back again, would you?
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Definitely, definitely.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32- I was planning on travelling through Ireland in the summer.- OK.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- When I finish uni. - All over's lovely, you know.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39It's such a small country, but there's a lot in it.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Northern Ireland, it's like a TARDIS.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47Usually they're very fit people and they're usually experienced cyclists,
0:19:47 > 0:19:53who come for the guided and independent tours and the customised tours.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57We offer tours for all range of abilities and ages.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01- We find we get all age groups and... - Shapes and sizes. - Yes, shapes and sizes.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Boys are boys, huh?
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Now that I've done my bit for the Northern Irish Tourist Board,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I can head off towards my final stop at Newtownards.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14First, I thought I'd check out the site of many young Michael Smiley's escapades -
0:20:14 > 0:20:15Bangor.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Since I've been away, it's acquired a fancy new marina,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22so clearly Bangor is another town with tourists on its mind.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27It's lovely around here, isn't it? It's beautiful, it's beautiful.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30When I was down here as a child, we used to come down
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and go to the swimmers up there and we used to come down to the Pickie Pool.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39I guess this turned into an amazing wee park for kids. They would love it.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43And there are older people here. Look, they've got their motorised boats out, huh?
0:20:43 > 0:20:49When I was a kid, this was the Pickie Pool, which was pretty much just seawater,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53closed off using reinforced concrete.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56It was freezing, it was absolutely freezing.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00It didn't matter if it was 40 degrees, it was still freezing.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03My first-ever heroic gesture was done here.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Me and a mate of mine, James, we were inseparable as children.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10We shared the same pram and everything. He lived across the road from my ma and dad.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15I was the quiet one of us two, so you can imagine how mad Pepe was.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Pepe never told me he couldn't swim.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21And in the Pickie Pool, there was a slide and a diving board.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Of course, the slide shoots you into the water.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29And it shot him into like... It must've been 12ft deep.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31And he hit it. Whoo!
0:21:31 > 0:21:34And he came up and he couldn't, and he's drowning.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37I didn't know what to do. I was only a wee lad.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41I managed to hold on to the side of it,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45the diving board, and stick my leg out and drag him in.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Saved his life.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50But it was so cold and, you know, people talk about it now,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54but it WAS hotter in those days.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56And we sat around the edges getting sunburnt
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and then into the water and you'd get frostbite.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02That's probably the two things
0:22:02 > 0:22:05I suffered from in childhood in summertime -
0:22:05 > 0:22:08frostbite or sunburn, you know.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10As I say, we are a country of extremes.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17A short hop from Bangor is Newtownards, home of keen cyclist,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21acclaimed photographer and personal hero of mine, Bill Kirk.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24I remember Billy Kirk's photography from when I was a kid.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27My dad was an amateur photographer. So he was a big fan of Bill's stuff.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32- It's an absolute joy to meet you today.- I'm sort of honoured.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35This was the first photograph I had seen of yours
0:22:35 > 0:22:36and it's probably the most famous one.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38It's a brilliant photograph,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41the way that you've got it so you don't see his face.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46I think he was trying to prevent me making a successful photograph.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49Ah, right. That's even better.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53So he put the megaphone in front of his face to ruin my photograph.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56- And he made the photograph. - He made the photograph.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Where did you get your photographs first published?
0:23:00 > 0:23:07The Klondyke Bar book was published in 1974 by Blackstock Press.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Some people frowned when I took up work at the Tourist Board.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13They said, "Oh, you've sold out."
0:23:13 > 0:23:17But working at the Tourist Board refined my technique.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21- I was under pressure to do photos to order.- Yes.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25I've got a picture here, Central Bar, Cushendall.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27A group of people who could be out of
0:23:27 > 0:23:32- JM Synge's Playboy Of The Western World. - What year would that be?- 1979.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35He is ready for the pose
0:23:35 > 0:23:39and he's stood there. He's got a wee butt, he's leaning on a stick. He's ready.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42She's pushed to the front. He's having a go at pushing for the front.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45He is somewhere between, he can't make his mind up whether he wants to stand up or sit down.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49And I think you've hit the nail on the head about what I love about your photographs.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52There's a play there. You could look at that.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54If you were feeling inspired to write something,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58you could get one of your photographs and it would just tell you.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59That looks fantastic.
0:23:59 > 0:24:05Let me show you. I don't claim any great skills. Very often it is luck.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Yeah, but who is it who said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get"?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10I could have taken photographs in that pub
0:24:10 > 0:24:13- and I would never have got that shot.- Thank you very much.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18- There's one, see - button's open.- His zip's undone as well! Ha-ha! Look!
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Ah, brilliant. Love it.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28- This picture, Edenderry, 1983. - That's the year I left.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30A very hot summer.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And that summer I got married. I got married in the August.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35- Yeah. - Got married in a Catholic Church
0:24:35 > 0:24:38and had my wedding reception in the Orange Hall
0:24:38 > 0:24:40- and the army did the catering! - LAUGHTER
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Look at this.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46There you go. A field in Ireland.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51# Put a candle in the window... #
0:24:51 > 0:24:55- You always cycled? Did you cycle from a young boy? - Yes, from a boy.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57I was a very late learner,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01which was probably the key to why I became such a fan.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I didn't learn to ride a bike till I was 12,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- but the day that I learned is...- Like an epiphany?
0:25:07 > 0:25:09"Epiphany" is a good word for it.
0:25:09 > 0:25:17The early death of my parents from TB made me also want to keep my health.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21I also wanted to prove to the world that I wasn't in bad health.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25That's brilliant. That that thing there can bring so much into your life.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29It gives you health, gives you self-determination,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31gives you the freedom.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34- How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?- I'm 76.- 76.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Look at that. You look ten years younger than your age.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- And that's the bicycle, would you say?- Probably.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44During my entire cycling career, I actually had TB.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48The medics at Forster Green Hospital said to me,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52"Mr Kirk, there's an element of mind over matter in your case."
0:25:52 > 0:25:56- So, from that point on, I was never going to...- Got to give it up?
0:25:56 > 0:25:57I was never going to give it up.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02- That expression, "tapping it out", have you heard that expression? - I have heard that.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Just keep tapping out. Keep tapping out the pedals.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Don't give up. And that's a metaphor for life for me. Just keep going.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14I think you're just amazing, I really do.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16I want to ask you a favour, if I may?
0:26:16 > 0:26:19My late father was a keen photographer,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23amateur photographer, and I was bequeathed one of his cameras.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25And I've had it checked.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27I was wondering if you'd have a wee look at it
0:26:27 > 0:26:29and see what you think of it.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Maybe if you'd take a photograph of us, of me and you together,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34using my dad's camera?
0:26:34 > 0:26:36That would bring it full circle for him.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- I've brought some film to put in it. - Ah.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- Would you?- I would.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Where do you want me?
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Just lovely and ca... Easy, like that.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51# Picture yourself...#
0:26:51 > 0:26:54- That didn't... - I never thought I'd see this day.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Maybe it's the ghost of my da taking the BLEEP!
0:26:58 > 0:27:00If I know him, it probably would be.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02"That Bill Kirk fella. I bought his books and all that,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05"and he's using my camera!"
0:27:05 > 0:27:09"I haven't passed away, just passed on, you know."
0:27:09 > 0:27:11If he was doing that, he'd have a roll-up out of the side of his mouth.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14I always remember him doing that.
0:27:14 > 0:27:15Yeah. Winding it on.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21"All right, there now, just stay back in that position. There you go. Good lad, good lad."
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Get back! Look at you! Your slobbers are all over that.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30You hound dog! And you've been drinking my isotonic drink as well.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33So, Bill, why did you bring me here to take the photo?
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Well, this road, the Ballyreagh Road,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40it was only a mile or so from where my mother died.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45- Right.- And her house at... Ballyalicock was the town. - Ballyalicock?
0:27:45 > 0:27:46Ballyalicock.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50But my mother was born in Ballywatticock,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52which is about a mile from here.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57- So.- Who makes these names up?! - Oh, this is it. I know.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02- It's a privilege then for you to take a photograph of me here. Thank you.- Yeah, here we go.
0:28:11 > 0:28:12HE LAUGHS
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Are you getting me underneath here, look?!
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Song in my heart, wind in my hair,
0:28:19 > 0:28:20dead flies in my teeth.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22You're a beast. You're a beast of a woman!
0:28:23 > 0:28:26You just said we're doing a 25-mile time trial.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28You never said it was the Ulster Championship.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30I'm in the Ulster Championship now.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34- Who's got the waxing kit? - LAUGHTER
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Oh, no, no, no!