From the pages of the Down Recorder, June 12, 1979

From the pages of the Down Recorder, June 12, 1979

12 June 2019

CROSSGAR — A former Crossgar man is being plagued by bad weather and aching feet during his bid to cross the Atlantic in a rowing boat — but he has decided to struggle on.

Twenty seven year-old Kenneth Kerr, formerly of Drumaghlis, set out on May 1 from St John’s, Newfoundland, to cross 2,100 miles of ocean to the west of Ireland.

Kenneth, a former Navy submariner who now lives near Edinburgh, recently said in a radio message picked up by a British ham that he had completed 700 miles of the trip in his 13-foot boat.

A spokesman for the sponsors, Tennents Caledonian Breweries, said this week that Kenneth’s target of completing the voyage by mid-July now seemed optimistic.

“He is having foot problems with poor circulation due to the confined spade of the boat,” the spokesman said. “It is giving him a fair amount of pain, but he taking painkillers and just carrying on.”

Kenneth, who has had several chats with crew members aboard ships in the Atlantic, is determined to set a new world record for rowing the ocean in such a small craft.

He was prompted to take up the challenge by the feat of Chay Blyth and John Ridgeway, who 12 years ago jointly rowed across the ocean in a 22-foot craft.

BALLYNAHINCH — Dozens of art collectors will be trying to outbid each other on June 27 when some of the finest treasures at Montalto House in Ballynahinch go up for auction.

For hundred lots will be coming under the auctioneer’s hammer in a marquee erected in the grounds of the Montalto estate, recently sold to a business consortium for over £1 million.

The sale will feature important 17th, 18th and 19th century English and continental furniture, European and oriental porcelain, 18th and 19th century paintings and 19th century marine water colour drawings.

The estate, which has been owned by the Earl of Clanwilliam’s family since the beginning of the century, boasts an amazing collection of masterpieces and the auctioneers, Osborne King and Megran of Belfast, are hoping for a big turnout.

SAUL — The warm sunshine on Sunday evening encouraged pilgrims by their hundreds at the annual concelebrated Mass in honour of St Patrick at Saul.

The pilgrimage was led by the Bishop of Down and Connor, Most Rev Dr William Philbin, and scouts from all parts of the diocese formed a guard of honour as the Bishop led the procession to the altar.

Fr Hugh Murphy, PP, Coleraine, who preached the sermon at the Mass, told those gathered on the mountain that the Irish people all over the world still maintained their devotion to St Patrick and that no matter how much they may differ among themselves — even violently — they still emphasised their homeland on March 17 when away from home.

The celebrants of the Mass were Fr Maurice McAleese, PP Saul, assisted by Rev Dr Joseph Maguire, PP Downpatrick, and Fr M P Kelly, PP Strangford. The Master of Ceremonies was Fr Eamon Magee, CC Dunsford, and the choir of St Mary’s High School, under the direction of Mrs Felicity Fitzsimons, sang hymns in English and Irish.

KILLOUGH — Buzsy, the GPO bird, made a surprise visit to the opening ceremony of Killough Festival on Friday night — and his arrival was followed by three days of action-packed fun for all the family.

The festival got off to a bang when several rockets were set off from the coastguard station in the village and six bottles of champagne were uncorked. 

Hot weather throughout the weekend helped make the festival programme a massive success, with hundreds of people taking part in a host of exciting events.

“This year’s festival was a great success and the good weather certainly helped to bring out the crowds,” explained Mr Pat Conway, one of the organisers.

“The whole programme was well received by the public and a special thanks should go out to everyone who sponsored the events and helped out with the organisation.”

PORTAFERRY — The anxious family of a 42 year-old Portaferry man, who has been missing for six weeks, have appealed to the public to help find him.

Kenneth Hughes, of Lawson Park, was last seen walking home along the Cloughey-Portavogie Road at about 9.30pm on Saturday, April 28.

He had been spotted by two people in a car about half way between the two towns. He was not seen again. 

COMBER — Workmen downed tools quickly the day they began work on the entrance to a new car park in Comber town centre.

They had started to chop down an old Irish oak tree when local residents realised what was going on and decided to put a stop to the felling.

They sent a “Save our Tree’ plea to local councillor Hammy McKeag, who called on Department of Environment officials to halt the work.

Mr McKeag claimed that an agreement was reached months ago with the Department, allowing the tree to remain, despite the building of a car park entrance.

Although a certain amount of damage had already been done to the tree, work to haul it down was stopped and now Ards Borough Council officials are investigating what went wrong.

Meanwhile, the tree, which has been described as a “piece of old Comber”, still stands, defying the march of progress in a busy town centre.

DOWNPATRICK — The Spar shop in Scotch Street, Downpatrick, was robbed twice within a few days last week.

On Thursday thieves climbed over the rooftops and entered through a window, stealing a quantity of goods and sweets. On Sunday they made entry through the rear and on this occasion stole £45 in cash.

Downpatrick police are investigating both incidents.

NEWCASTLE — A Newcastle girl has been awarded a prize in a short story competition organised by Downtown Radio.

Ruth McCracken, of Mourne Green, has been specially commended for her entry and was one of eight people awarded a £5 cheque at a reception in the Europa Hotel, Belfast, on Monday.

STRANGFORD — Strangford police are investigating the dumping of two carcases on the shore at Cloughey on the Strangford/Kilclief Road.

A spokesman said one of the carcases was dumped over the weekend, but the other had been there for some time.

Such an action, he said, could easily be responsible for spreading disease and the matter had been reported to the Department of Environment Pollution Control.

CARRYDUFF — A donkey wandering on the Saintfield Road near Carryduff caused a traffic snarl-up and attempts by passing motorists to move it met with failure.

But the long arm of the law moved into action and a police patrol from Carryduff soon had ‘Neddy’ apprehended and moved to a safer place to allow traffic to flow freely again.

SNOOKER — Friday night was a night to remember for Newcastle’s Barney McKibben after he beat professional Graham Miles in a game of snooker.

Barney was the only player from the eight selected from the Downpatrick Snooker League to beat the Birmingham professional in the special exhibition evening at the Drumaness clubrooms.

Miles was given a tremendous reception before being officially welcomed by Mr Jimmy McGivern, the club chairman, who then handed over to Gerry Rodgers, the MC and referee for the night.

Apart from Barney, Miles took on Martin Singh from Drumaness, Crossgar’s Danny Bell, league individual champion Larry Kennedy, Billy Watson from Killyleagh, Davy Hughes from the St Mary’s club in Newcastle and Noel Noade from Drumaness.

KILKEEL — A new boat has joined the Kilkeel trawler fleet. The boat, maned the Arrivain, was built at the Fraserburgh yards in Scotland, for the former Merchant Navy man, Mr Archie Teggarty, of Kilkeel. The new trawler was launched by Mr Teggarty’s granddaughter, Amanda.