Middle Harbour from Castle Cove, 2002. Middle Harbour, looking north east towards Bantry Bay, from Willowie Road, Castle Cove
When I was 12 or 13 my father would take me fishing at Middle Harbour. I would walk from our home in Alleyne Street through the bush to Echo Point and hire a row boat, row down the harbour and moor the boat at the beach below the cave at Killarney Heights. Often we would stay in the cave overnight. Sometimes my friend Roy Vane would accompany us. One night in 1940 I was in the cave and I heard a motor boat coming. I was wondering who it could be when I heard voices saying 'there’s a boat moored over there – I wonder who’s there?' Roy had a large powerful torch and turned it on the boat. We discovered it was the police patrolling. They were blinded by the light and told Roy to turn the light off. They asked why we were there and I explained we were just fishing. As it was during the war they said 'You know you are close to a restricted area?' The restricted area was a large ammunition dump at Bantry Bay. I assured them we knew and they went on their way.