From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 10, 1976

From the pages of the Down Recorder, August 10, 1976

10 August 2016

NEWCASTLE — A row over Tourist Board spending and the promotion of Newcastle has led to bitter accusations this week from the resort’s town committee chairman, Mr Bill Martin.

He has disputed expenditure figures given by the Board and has claimed that they are trying to steal the “little bit of thunder the town committee have worked for.” The row has been simmering since television and radio broadcasts made by a publicity officer of the Board.

Mr Martin said this week that they did not receive “one rotten penny” from the Tourist Board. “Every penny we have spent here has come from local people with faith in the future of the town.

He claimed the Board did not have “the slightest bit of interest in the town” and that the committee felt they were doing “absolutely nothing” for the resort.

The Board were also charged with failing to promote the resort properly. Mr Martin claimed that in the recent Homes and Holidays exhibition at Balmoral, only one brochure telling of attractions in Newcastle was on show.

Mr Martin said the committee had spent thousands of pounds on this year’s events and would have to dig more deeply in their pockets for 1977.

A spokesman for the Board said they had promoted Newcastle in brochures, posters and other publicity material throughout the world. Regarding expenditure, he said that in the last three years they had recommended schemes for Newcastle costing £23,000 to the Department of Commerce.

BALLYGOWAN — A 23 year-old Ballygowan man died on Saturday when he fell more than 200 feet down a rock face in the Mournes. Mr Martin Walls was a member of a three-man team who had spent most of the day on the north face of Eagle Rock, one of the toughest climbs on the Newcastle side of Slieve Donard.

The accident happened as Mr Walls, a single man, broke loose from his tackle at the top of the climb while he was preparing an abseil for the descent. His two friends watched helplessly as he fell on to rocks at the foot of the cliff.

Both the Mourne rescue and RUC mountain rescue teams were called, but by the time the civilian team reached the scene the victim had died. A member of the Mourne team described the operation as one of the most tragic and difficult ever mounted in the range.

BALLYNAHINCH — The Ballynahinch Civic Week Committee is to double up as a pressure group in the forthcoming year, seeking facilities for the young people of the town. The decision was taken at this week’s annual meeting of the committee when the lack of facilities was discussed.

The committee is also to press for a community hall for the town. This has been a thorn in the side of the townspeople since the scheme was axed some time ago, but the committee will have no hesitation in reactivating the idea.

The secretary, Mr Hugh Miskelly, who is to write to Down Council, said: “The time is now ripe for representations to the authorities.

An open-air disco for teenagers in the Windmill Street car park on Tuesday night showed the committee don’t intend to become a “paper tiger.” The disco was organised by a fringe group of the civic week committee.

CASTLEWELLAN — A Castlewellan couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a reunion in the Avoca Hotel, Newcastle, this week. Mr and Mrs Archibald McIlroy, of 63 Mill Hill, were married in Bannside Presbyterian Church, Banbridge, on August 17, 1926.

More than 20 friends and relations attended the party. The couple have three daughters, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.

DOWNPATRICK — A £1,500 standing crop of barley was swallowed up by fire at the Old Course Road, near Downpatrick, on Sunday. The blaze lasted less than 15 minutes. After intensive investigations by forensic specialists, malice has not been ruled out.

The nine-acre crop was owned by Mr John Napier, of Marlborough House. As he was about to sit down to lunch he heard a strange noise, not unlike a combine harvester, about 500 yards away. 

He looked out and saw the fire beginning in the middle of the field. When he phoned for the fire brigade he found they had already been alerted by one of his neighbours.

The outbreak spread rapidly. At one stage it was feared that it would cross the fence and swallow the crop in an adjoining field.

Afterwards Mr Napier paid tribute to the Downpatrick firemen. “We are very fortunate to have such a splendid crew who jump in at the deep end,” he said. “They made an excellent effort to save as much as they could of my crop.”

COMBER — The owner of a garage near the spot where three Comber people were killed in a car crash last week is campaigning to have the black spot removed.

Mr Fred Witherow, whose service station is near the dangerous Ballymacbrennan crossroads on the Lisburn-Saintfield road, is organising a petition to demand that the junctions should be staggered.

Mr Witherow launched the petition after the crash in which a Comber couple and their young daughter died. They were on their way to Fermanagh for their holidays when their car was in collision with another vehicle.

PORTAFERRY — Portaferry householders and businessmen can sleep a little easier in their beds at night than some people — because their fire brigade is reputed to be one of the fastest in the Province. The 13-man brigade is known to have had a machine on the road 60 seconds after receiving a call-out.

The brigade have come a long way since their formation in 1948 when they operated from a station near the present sailing club with an Austin tender and a trailer pump. At the moment they have two modern machines operation from a station in the Square.

Usually the brigade operate in and around Portaferry, but their biggest fire was the bomb blitz on Bangor two years ago when they joined 12 other machines in fighting the blaze. Occasionally they are put into service in the Downpatrick area using the Strangford ferry service.

SAINTFIELD — A group of people living near Saintfield have fought the Post Office over the problem of changing rural addresses — and won. The two dozen residents of Ballycloughan took exception to having to address their mail to Ravara Road.

They felt their official address was wrong as Ravara is an adjacent townland to Ballycloughan. Now they have won their small campaign and can be reached at Ballycloughan Road.

The reshuffling of postal addresses in most parts of the Province after local government reorganisation in 1972 has caused a great deal of controversy.

DERRYBOY — A 14 year-old Derryboy angler, on holiday in Donegal, surprised more than 50 adult entries when he won an open sea angling competition in Portnoo. Jim Thompson, caught four species of fish to gain the huge McColgan Cup.

Jim, a member of the Crossgar Anglers and Wildfowlers Association, had doubts about entering the competition organised by Portnoo and Rossbeg Angling Club. It was a sea angling contest — yet Jim had spent his previous five years fishing in fresh water.

However, Jim took his chance and caught red gurnan, skate, pollock and dogfish to take the first prize. The cup was presented to him by former Irish cabinet minister Joe Brennan.

CROSSGAR — Almost 100 senior citizens from Crossgar and the surrounding district were taken on a trip to Cultra on Saturday by the village’s community committee. Community singing on the buses was led by Denis Cahill and Ann McCarthy.

On the return to Crossgar the ladies’ committee provided a meal which was followed by a concert. In a short speech, Mr William Cochrane, chairman of the committee, expressed thanks.