Joe Boyle BBC News
As part of a series of features studying the UK's seaside towns, the spotlight falls on Newcastle in County Down.
As you arrive in the small town of Newcastle, you cannot fail to be struck by the looming presence of the Mourne Mountains.
Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland's highest peak, stands majestic with grey-white clouds clinging to its sweeping green slopes.
Yet the splendour of the topography is hardly matched by the down-at-heel main street, where pound shops vie for space with 1960s shopping centres and amusement arcades.
Young mothers push baby-buggies, bored-looking teenagers loiter idly, shopkeepers buzz around, arranging and rearranging their goods.
The wind rips through the street and motorists sit in queues of traffic, gridlocked.
It could be a scene on any high street in any UK town.
But that is a misconception corrected after a day in Newcastle, hearing stories of Tiger Woods being dropped at the local hotel by helicopter.
Big plans
Running parallel to the main street is the newly-built promenade. Its shiny metal railings and freshly-laid walkways flank the seafront, punctuated by dazzling metal sculptures and low-rise blocks of modern apartments.
The new promenade is part of a £14 million regeneration project that is a source of considerable local pride - residents almost universally describing it as "fantastic".
