We had our fifteen minutes of fame last night as BBC Countryfile went to air, featuring stories from our beloved hometown of Ballycastle, Co. Antrim.
The team were interested in checking out the Naturally North Coast and Glens Artisan Market, which prides itself on high quality, locally produced or sourced, handmade goods - where the stallholders are also the artisans who make the products.
Filming day was pretty wet and wild so the market was held inside the lovely, accommodating, Marine Hotel on Ballycastle's seafront. It was crammed full of locally produced art, photography, jewellery, ceramics, glasswork, woodturning, textiles, toiletries, jams and chutneys, breads, meats, vegetables and more.
Here Melanie talked a little about the market, and about our Smoked Dulse flakes. We were delighted that they wanted to focus on North Coast Smokehouse and have a closer look at what we do - so presenter Joe Crowley tagged along with Ruairidh to collect fresh organic salmon from nearby Red Bay pier as part of the Glenarm Organic Salmon weekly harvest.
Joe was then tasked to go off and find some nice dark red Dulse seaweed to bring back for smoking later, while Ruairidh went off to fillet the salmon.
Joe's main interest though was to find out more about Pollan - a unique freshwater herring found in Lough Neagh and carefully managed by the Lough Neagh Fishermen's Cooperative. Ruairidh did a bit of al fresco smoking at the seafront with the majestic Fairhead in the background, and followed it up with a little Pollan Picnic on the wall overlooking the sea.
Also featured on the show were fellow market members, the Cole family, from Broughgammon Farm, producers of goat, veal and wild game...some of which was supplied by the local vet (!) who talked about controlling a healthy deer population.
Not on the menu were the squirrels and other wildlife to be found in the Ballycastle Forest as the show followed Daniel McAfee from the Glens Red Squirrel Group, taking a group of local school children on a forest education trip.
Finishing off the show, our twin boys, Jack and Eddie, joined us along with the Cole family and the Countryfile presenters for a mouthwatering Broughgammon Farm Supper Club.
The Ballycastle region was presented in all its beautiful glory, with spectacular drone footage and breathtaking beach scenes.
Please watch it if you get a chance!
It is available on BBC iplayer for the rest of the year (2020) at: