NEWCASTLE — The newly-formed Newcastle Town Committee is expected to consult local people and holidaymakers on what improvements are needed for the town and its amenities. That was one of the big issues thrashed out at the committee’s first meeting when it was decided to prepare an extensive questionnaire on the area.
Stalls manned by committee members will be set up at various points on Saturday and people will be asked to study the questions carefully before answering them. When the questionnaire is completed it will be returned and the results analysed. By then the committee will have a broad consensus of local opinion on what improvements are needed and the order or priority in which they should be tackled.
The committee felt that the great natural beauty of the area and the town’s attractions should be given wider publicity and it was agreed that the local amenities needed improving and bringing up to date.
In considering how best to advertise Newcastle, the committee accepted a suggestion that the secretary should consult an advertising agency and ask them to assess the task and make recommendations on the promotion of Newcastle as a holiday resort.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. John Toner and also present were Mr. Turlough O’Hare, secretary, Mr. Christopher Bonny, treasurer, Miss Constance Higgins, Mrs. Aline Hanna, Messrs Fred Wadsworth, Mike Nugent, John Neill, Fergus McFerran, Bill Martin, Bobby Thornton, Gerry Toner, Robert Smith, Ian Porter, Andy Murphy, Martin Waddell and J. W. Gardener.
DOWNPATRICK — The Downpatrick and District Sports Advisory Council — the body which produced the report in 1971 on a sports complex for the town — should reconvene as a “matter of urgency,” Mr. E. K. McGrady said at a meeting in Downpatrick.
Addressing SDLP branch members, Mr. McGrady said that district councillors are no longer receiving help from sports organisations in their fight for adequate facilities and unless there is a whole community voice their case will be weakened.
“If this community is to be placed in its proper order for government assistance, then a much greater clamour will have to be made by local clubs, committees and organisations,” he said.
KILMORE — It was the wedding of the year at Kilmore on Tuesday, not only for the bride, groom and guests, but also for almost 100 police and special branch detectives.
They were keeping a tight security rein on the wedding of Miss Sheila Lowry, daughter of the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Lowry, at Christ Church, Kilmore. Special branch and plain-clothed detectives mingled with the guests which included eight High Court judges — Sir Robert’s colleagues on the bench.
Before Sir Robert arrived with his personal armed bodyguard, the church had already been searched for bombs and the wedding guests had been screened as they arrived. After the ceremony strict surveillance was kept along the route to the reception at the Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch.
Thirty police were stationed in the grounds and ‘greeted’ guests by stopping their cars, searching them and checking names against an official list.
CASTLEWELLAN — Police are still puzzled about the explosion which wrecked a house at Mill Hill, Castlewellan, on Sunday night. The explosion, followed by a fire, happened just after 11pm. The house was empty at the time and nobody was injured.
It is thought the explosion may have been caused by leaking gas, but an RUC spokesman said this could not be confirmed until the experts completed an examination and filed a report. The house belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rooney, who were out at the time. It is believed they are now staying with relatives in the Rathfriland area.
Mr. and Mrs. Rooney have been married for two years and among their loss are numerous wedding presents which were still in the wrappers. Fire crews, who used three jets on the blaze, reported that the house was well alight when they arrived.
DUNDRUM — People attending a public meeting in Dundrum last week decided that a sailing club is needed in the village. The meeting was convened by Mr. Russ Whatmough, secretary of the local regatta and sports committee, and he has been appointed acting secretary of the new club.
Mr. Seamus McGlennon has offered the club a spacious loft to hold meetings and eventually begin boat building.
SAINTFIELD — You could be excused for feeling ashamed if you happen to be a ‘regular’ in a pub which has just been judged the second ‘Grubbiest Pub’ in Northern Ireland. However, many people in the Saintfield area don’t let the title daunt them. You see, it’s rather a compliment!
The pub in question is the Rowallane Inn and the title was conferred after a two-week long congest. The ‘grubbiest pub’ was the one which could serve the best food to its customers — and not, as some might think, to do with being the filthiest pub in the land. It was quite a feat too, as the chef at the pub, John Pitt, joined the staff only six weeks before the competition and persuaded Mr. Kieran McCann, the owner, to enter.
The idea behind the contest was to find the pub in Northern Ireland which serves the best food at a charge of under 50 pence and taking into consideration such things as the quality of the service and the range of the menu.
ARDGLASS — The view across a bustling Ardglass harbour is indeed beautiful — that is unless you happen to be sitting on one of the summer seats recently erected by the local council. If you don’t want to strain your neck muscles then the view from Bath Street, where several seats were put up this week, is an entirely different one.
For instead of scanning the waters to the horizon, you are looking at Ardglass Presbyterian Church and its cluster of graves in the foreground. Not that we’re suggesting the Church is not a pretty site, but rather, as one local resident told us this week: “It’s the harbour area that we want to see.
We asked Down Council’s works manager, Mr. Jas. Mitchell, about the siting. He agreed that had the seats been put across the street or in a small plot of waste ground beside the children’s playground, the view would have been ideal.
CROSSGAR — The death occurred recently of Mrs. Sarah Ann Hutton at her residence, 9455, 76th Street, Edmonton, Canada. She was in her 100th year. She was the widow of Hugh Hutton and was the eldest daughter of the late Agnes and John McKeown, of Drumnaconnor, Crossgar.
DOWNPATRICK — The Northern Ireland branch of the Suffolk Sheep Society held their special show and sale of pedigree Suffolk ram lambs, ewe lambs and ewes in Downpatrick Livestock Mart, Market Street, last Wednesday morning. According to Mr. David Crossan, auctioneer, the society held their inaugural meeting in Downpatrick fifty years ago, but this was the first time the show and sale had been held in the town.
POWELL — Fiery ex-Tory MP, Mr. Enoch Powell, has been hotly tipped as the Unionist candidate for the South Down seat in the expected General Election in October. Speculation has mounted that Captain Lawrence Orr, who has represented South Down constituency at Westminster for 24 years, will stand aside to let Mr. Powell run for the seat. It is understood that Unionist officers from the constituency attended a Unionist meeting in Armagh Orange Hall with a view to asking Mr. Powell, the guest speaker, to make a parliamentary comeback through Ulster.
Mr. Powell was MP for Wolverhampton South West for 24 years, but resigned in February. It is thought in some Unionist circles that if he accepted a South Down invitation he could swell the majority which was reduced in the last election.