From the pages of the Down Recorder, October 11, 1977

From the pages of the Down Recorder, October 11, 1977

11 October 2017

NEWCASTLE — Greater support from Newcastle business people is a must if the town’s tourist industry is to prosper further, an open meeting of Newcastle Town Committee was told.

The chairman, Mr Bill Martin, said that while some business people gave generously, others had not and as a result the collection this summer had not been as good as in previous years.

The lack of response from business people in the town was reflected in the poor attendance at the meeting of around 40 people, even though some 180 invitations had been sent out.

Apart from this failure of the business community to respond fully to the financial needs of the town committee’s tourist boost, the secretary, Mr Trevor Henderson, could report a successful summer.

Football, indoor and outdoor bowls, sand yachting, aero model displays and the children’s talent competition, which had a record number of entries, were just some of the successes, Mr Henderson said.

The six shows in the bandstand had been very popular and had cost the committee £927.20 with no return. The committee said they would like to see more shows in the bandstand in the next summer season.

Of particular success was the festival parade which contained five bands, 30 entries, horses, music, dancing and colour. “Surely our claim that our festival parade is second only to the Belfast Lord Mayor’s Show is once again justified,” Mr Henderson told the meeting.

BALLYNAHINCH — An application for a seven-day entertainment licence for the pavilion at Langley Road playing fields in Ballynahinch sparked off a ‘never-on-a-Sunday’ debate amongst Down councillors.

Councillors argued for almost an hour over the rights and wrongs of opening such facilities to the public on a  Sunday, at one point causing the council chairman, Col Denys Rowan-Hamilton, to remark: “This is is not a Christian council. It is a district council.”

During the debate Ballynahinch councillor, Mr Eddie McVeigh, said that while the Langley Road playing fields were very well used in the area he felt there would be a number of objections to Sunday opening.

The council vice-chairman, Mr Eddie McGrady, said he believed public facilities in the district should be open to the public seven days a week.

CARRYDUFF — Carryduff’s roads and avenues are streets ahead of others when it comes to being neat the tidy. That’s the verdict of the judges in this year’s Best Kept Town competition.

Carryduff was voted the best kept town in Northern Ireland, well ahead of the 42 others in that class. This is the second time Carryduff has won the competition, run by the Central Gardens Association.

Professor Arthur Muskett, one of the organisers, explained what made the town so special. “It’s because the people of Carryduff look after their own property,” he said. “There is very little litter in the area and the houses and gardens are kept to a very high standard.

Professor Muskett said that people in Carryduff were proud of the result, though it did prove a little embarrassing for him as he lives in the area.

A full list of results and findings will be published later in the year and this is expected to contain a few nasty shocks for some local towns. Downpatrick, for instance, is one place that got a rocket from the judges. Professor Muskett said that general opinion was that the county was “very grubby” and he called on people living in Downpatrick to take more interest in their own surroundings.

ARDGLASS — Detectives are keen to trace dangerous tablets which were stolen from a chemist’s shop in Bath Street, Ardglass, on Monday night.

Thieves broke into the premises by climbing through the roof and they made off with 100 small white heart tablets and 500 Librium tablets. The Librium tablets, which are small and green, are poisonous and would be very dangerous if taken by children.

CROSSGAR — A STEP in the right direction is being taken by pupils at St Colmcille’s Secondary School in Crossgar.

STEP, the Schools Traffic Education Project, designed to teach pupils to be good drivers, riders and pedestrians, has become part of the school curriculum.

To help the pupils at St Colmcille’s the Department of the Environment have supplied them with a 50cc moped to enable them to learn their road craft. A second machine has been supplied by Mr David Mills, of Saintfield.

Senior boys use the two mopeds with the comparative safety of the school playground under the watchful eye of Mr F McCann, who has attended the STEP training scheme.

At a time when a soaring accident rate among teenagers is giving grave cause for concern, Mr T C Hanna, principal of St  Colmcille’s, must be congratulated for having included traffic education as a formal subject in his curriculum.

DOWNPATRICK — A Downpatrick man had a narrow escape when his Kennedy Square flat caught fire. Local firemen received reports that the man had been trapped inside the flat, but when they arrived on the scene they found that he had been rescued by a neighbour.

The flat, which is part of the complex in which a 73 year-old man was burned to death in a blaze in February, was set alight when the man’s settee went on fire. Firemen used breathing apparatus to get into the flat and afterwards reported extensive smoke damage.

After the fatal blaze in February residents called for an immediate survey of safety precautions in the flats.

BALLYTRIM — The pupils of Ballytrim Primary School, near Killyleagh, made a radio debut on Downtown’s Assembly Time programme on Sunday morning.

Each Sunday Downtown feature a primary school from the county and the programme consists of songs of praise and Bible readings. The recording was made at the school last Tuesday morning and went on air at 8.30am on Sunday.

The majority of the programme was performed by the children in the P4-P7 classes, under the musical direction of Miss Lynn Davidson and co-ordination of the school’s principal, Mr A Greenwood.

KILLOUGH — The planned redevelopment of a major part of Killough will not spoil the character of the village. That was the message impressed upon local residents at a special meeting organised by the village committee.

At the moment plans are in their infancy and no definite schemes have been worked out, but it is intended  a large area, including part of Main Street, Palatine Lane and Chapel Lane, will be redeveloped, with work starting around 1980.

A spokesman for the committee said they felt it would be a good idea to explain the situation to people who were going to be affected by the redevelopment in order to quash the many rumours currently flying around the village. 

MAGHERASAUL — The Minister for the Environment, Ray Carter, has declared Magherasaul Crossroads, near Castlewellan, an accident black-spot and has promised to stagger the junction.

Mr Carter’s promise to improve the crossroads was made to a delegation of councillors and residents, led by Mrs Ethel Smyth, who visited him at Stormont last Thursday.

Mrs Smyth pointed out that promises have been made for over five years to have the crossing improved, but that so far nothing has been done.

DUNDRUM — The tireless efforts of handicapped Dundrum industrialist William Keown to help other disabled people have been given further recognition. Mr Keown has been appointed chairman of the Disabled Advisory Committee.

ARDKEEN — Several charities including the Spina Bifida Association, Combat Cancer, Kidney Research and the RNLI are expected to benefit from the Kircubbin and District Horse Show’s cross country meeting held at Ardkeen, near Ballyhalbert, on Saturday.