Impact of flooding at railway tops meeting

Impact of flooding at railway tops meeting

19 June 2024

THE impact of last year’s floods on the Downpatrick and County Down Railway was the topic at a recent meeting of Downe u3a.

The guest speaker was Robert Gardner, chairman of the railway, who showed a video which demonstrated the extent of the disaster.

It showed the impact on the engines and electrical works as well as the mounds of rubbish which came down the Quoile river.

Mr Gardiner said drying out the engines required ingenuity and a lot of patience and hard work by the volunteers.

He expressed his thanks to the many community organisations which had supported them and which continue to raise funds to get it all back in order.

The meeting was also the AGM. New committee members, John Moore and Ashley Ray, were elected, while Hubert Curran was re-elected and Edwina Marr, Dougie Marr, Carrie Teggart, Audrey Douglas, Jane Lindsay, Brendan Mulhall and Sheila Magee continued in their roles.

The chairperson, Edwina Marr, presented a report on the year’s activities and thanked the committee members and group leaders for their contributions.

There are now around 24 regular interest groups, new ones including an Ardglass book club and a walking group for the more adventurous walkers.  The activities on offer have attracted a rapidly growing membership, now numbering almost 300, of whom some  participate in just one group while others dip in and out.

She reflected on the diversity in the list of speakers at the monthly general meetings during the past year, ranging from iconology, the joys of bee-keeping, holidaying in Mongolia and viewing slides from NI Screen and Digital Film Archive, to secretary Carrie 

Taggart being dressed as a Georgian lady and walking the Kerry Way.

Anyone interested in finding out more about Downe u3a can call 07367 122765 or check https://downeu3a.org.