About us

Bridge House Information

Situation.

Bridge House is ideally suited for the business traveller and holiday maker alike.

Helen’s Bay is a little village 8 miles from the heart of Belfast and 4 miles from Bangor which is a bustling seaside town at the mouth of Belfast Lough.

The two towns are connected by the coastal path which runs through Helen’s Bay and which is a popular path for walkers and cyclists.

There is also a rail connection and trains run regularly every half hour throughout the day.

The main route is the A2 which is links the two towns.  To journey from Helen’s Bay to Belfast takes 20 minutes by car.

The village really dates from the arrival of the railway in the 1860’s. At one stage, the Belfast and county Down railway offered free season tickets to attract commuters to live in the area. The splendid gothic baronial style station, originally called Clandeboye was built at the behest of the first Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. The village owes its name to his mother, the daughter of R.B.Sheridan, the famous playwright.

In its heyday the station had 4 permanent staff. It now houses a spa.

There are several other shops in the square. A pharmacy  where you can also buy sundry items such as milk and newspapers, an off licence and a hairdressers.

A mile up the road in Crawfordsburn there is a spar shop and petrol station. The shop sels just about everything .

!0 minutes on the train in either direction takes you  to a wealth of restaurants and eateries.

In Bangor there are bars and restaurants galore and in Holywood you can choose from The Dirty Duck with its sea views, The Bay Tree which is on the main street, Fontana, Wine and Co and       to name but a few.

In Crawfordsburn which is only a mile away is the attractive Old Inn, parts of which date from 1614. It was extended in the 18^th Century, when the Inn was used by smugglers. The Inn was a key staging post on the mail coach from Belfast to Donaghadee, then an important port. At the Old Inn there is a formal dining room or the Bistro so you can have a choice of the type of meal you would like.