From the pages of the Down Recorder, June 10 1975

From the pages of the Down Recorder, June 10 1975

10 June 2015

STRANGFORD — A 13 year-old ferry vessel, which is to come into service between Strangford and Portaferry later this summer, must be topping the list of best bargains.

The £43,000 purchase price amounts to less than a third of the existing vessel’s annual running costs and it’s only a fraction of what the existing ferry cost when it came into service six years ago.

Strangely enough, a shortage of money has delayed the building of a bridge between the loughside towns. Yet the building of a bridge in South Wales has made the 13 year-old Cleddau King available for use in Strangford Lough.

As the holiday season heads towards its peak the news of the second vessel coming into service is more than welcome in Strangford and Portaferry. For a long time businessmen and weekend travellers have been part of extended queues at both ports.

It is seen as the answer to troubles that have plagued the dependability of the service upon which so many people rely on each day. More than 60 car loads of workmen fill the first three trips each morning. Successive passages take hundreds of pupils and many teachers to school.

Yesterday more than 200 lorries and vans were among the 560 vehicles. The construction industry alone is responsible for the daily passage of scores of heavily laden lorries.

SAUL — More than 3,000 people joined in the annual Down and Connor diocesan pilgrimage up Sliabh Padraig, Saul, on Sunday.  The pilgrimage was led by the Bishop of Down and Connor, the Most Rev. Dr. Philbin, who also presided at the concelebrated Mass, which was held at the 40 year-old altar built below the statute of St. Patrick, which stands at the top of the mountain.

The sermon was preached by Dr. J. Maguire, PP, Drumaroad, who said that the 3,000 people gathered there had come to worship God and to praise His holy name. During the mass, St. Mary’s Secondary School choir, under the direction of Mrs. Fitzsimmons, sang a number of hymns. The Boy Scout and Girl Guide groups from Downpatrick formed a guard of honour as the bishop led the procession to the altar.

DOWNPATRICK — Lunchtime may be the busiest time of the day in Downpatrick if a suggestion by Downpatrick Business and Professional Women’s Club gains momentum. In an open letter to the Recorder this week, members of the club have asked for the reaction of shopkeepers and the general public on the subject of shops remaining open during the lunch hour.

According to members of the club, this would greatly facilitate working people. Staggered lunch hours are operated by some shops at special times of the year, such as Christmas when there is a demand for lunchtime opening.

Whether it would prove a worthwhile exercise all year round for many of the town’s shops would be an entirely different matter. Lunch hour window shoppers are a common sight in Downpatrick so perhaps the demand is already there. No doubt it is something to set the brains ticking over this weekend.

The open letter is as follows: We, the members of the Downpatrick Business and Professional Women’s Club would appreciate the views off the shopkeepers to the shops remaining open during lunchtimes as this would greatly facilitate working people. We would also be interested in public reaction.”

TYRELLA — A mysterious object embedded in the sand dunes at Tyrella Beach caused some discomfort for day-trippers on Sunday evening – for it resembled an unexploded shell. An army technical officer form Lurgan examined the object early on Monday morning and proceeded to blow  it up. It was discovered that the object was an oxygen cylinder that had been dumped a number of years ago.

RAFFREY — The church that has been empty for nearly 11 months will reverberate to the sound of choirs and congregations once more this weekend. Saturday is the day that marks the reopening of Raffrey Presbyterian Church, which is for all intents and purposes a new church.The old building, standing since 1843 with only minor alterations to it, was gutted last July in an attempt to beat the damp which had become a menace. Only the shell was left standing with the walls being stripped back to the stone, the floor lifted and the old pews removed.

The contracting firm of David Dickson, Derryboye, set to work on the £30,000 scheme and now, almost 11 months later, the completed building will be occupied for the first time at Saturday’s Thanksgiving service when the Rt. Rev. Dr. James Dunlop will be the speaker.

On Sunday three services will be held. At 12 noon the Rev. Trevor Anderson, church minister for only a few months, will be the preacher. At 7pm the Rev. Martin Smyth, a former minister of Raffrey, will lead the service and at 8.30pm there will be a special youth rally.

NEWCASTLE — Down Council have refused to give financial aid to a Newcastle church to help with the maintenance of floodlighting. The request came from the select vestry of St. John’s Parish Church, but councillors felt  that if aid were approved they would create a precedent in the district for which there was no available budget.

KILLYLEAGH — The annual horse show and gymkhana organised by the Killyleagh, Killinchy, Kilmood and Tullynakill Farming Society has always been an attraction for local people — and Saturday’s show proved no exception with hundreds of spectators taking advantage of the glorious sunshine to visited the Killyleagh Showgrounds.

Conditions were ideal for the event and there was such an increase in entries in all show competitions that some classes had to be broken up into two sections. Horse-jumping entries were much the same as usual. The presence of the local TA pipe band added a splash of colour to the event, while the  Round Tablers produced many competitions, the proceeds going to charities.

BALLYNAHINCH — Ballynahinch Gardening Club have been given permission by the South Eastern Education and Library Board to hold their monthly meetings in the local library. The decision was taken at a meeting on Friday and will be reviewed in April 1976.

PORTAFERRY — Several tennis courts are to be erected at St. Columba’s Secondary School, Portaferry, as part of a redevelopment scheme aimed at improving school amenities. The existing playground is also to be resurfaced and the total cost of the work has been estimated at £2,272.

SEAFORDE — Mr. Channon Heenan’s farm at Manse Road, Seaforde, is the setting next Tuesday for another of Richardson’s demonstration evenings with the theme on how farmers can maximise production from every acre.

JONESBOROUGH — Jonesborough market, which attracts many local people to South Armagh on Sundays, is one of a series events causing headaches for Eire’s revenue commissioners. The commissioners say the weekend bargain hunters are smuggling by using unapproved roads and warn that in future motorists must use approved roads.

CASTLEWELLAN — Castlewellan Town Committee have persuaded the South Eastern Education and Library Board to investigate the possibility of siting a new library at the Market House in the Square. At a meeting on Friday the Board agreed appoint their chief architect to inspect the building. Town Committee members have told the Board that the old Market House is ideally situated in the centre of the town.

CLOUGH — Over 20 bands attended the band parade at Clough on Friday night when Colonel Brush, Official Unionist, and Mr. Ernest Baird, Vanguard, were the guest speakers for the night. Mr. Cecil Harvey, Vanguard Unionist, who was the chairman, condemned the sectarian shootings and killings, adding that these cruel happenings emphasised the desperate days we live in.