From the pages of the Down Recorder, January 13, 1976

From the pages of the Down Recorder, January 13, 1976

13 January 2016

DUNDRUM — A village doctor and his 2,000 patients will have nowhere to go when the Health Centre “pulls out” of Dundrum at the end of the month.

The Health Service baby clinic in Dundrum is to be moved to Newcastle in February and that leaves Dr W J Montgomery without a surgery.

For the past six months his surgery has been a room sub-let from the clinic. Now the owners of the building which housed the clinic and the surgery no longer wish to lease the property concerned. That means Dr Montgomery has had to make plans to run his surgery from a semi-mobile unit as he says he has been unable to find suitable premises in the village.

The 17 mothers who take their babies to the clinic twice a month will be forced to travel to the Park Avenue centre in Newcastle run by the Eastern Health and Social Services Board.

A spokesman for the Board said they had tried to find alternative premises in the village with the impending expiration of the lease. This had proved difficult so they decided to integrate the Dundrum and Newcastle clinics for the present time.

Board officials are thought to have turned down a proposal to build a new clinic and surgery in the village on the grounds that it was not justified in the present economic climate.

BALLYNAHINCH — Ballynahinch townspeople met last night to decide if the town will have a civic week in 1976. The meeting was called by the organisers of last year’s popular festival weekend and was held in the Millbrook Lodge Hotel.

Last year the committee had hoped for a full six-day programme, but with time running out they had to fall back on a shorter version.

DOWNPATRICK — Police are still baffled by a shot fired into a crowded Downpatrick hotel on Tuesday night. As yet there appears to be no reason behind the attack on Denvir’s Hotel in English Street and it is thought unlikely that it was an attempt to injure or kill.

Forensic experts spent yesterday investigating and it became clear that a shotgun was used. One window was broken in the attack and no-one was injured.

The shot was fired at a time when the hotel was fully booked by various local community groups holding meetings. The shot was fired at the upstairs part of the building where members of the Downpatrick and District Community Committee were gathered.

If the shot had been fired through a downstairs window it might have brought serious results. In one room 20 members of the Downpatrick Youth Football League were holding their monthly meeting and at the other side of the building the hotel bar was crowded with night visitors.

PORTAFERRY — Cancer Research funds received a New Year’s boost thanks to a show put on by the regulars of a Portaferry pub. The cheque for a substantial sum of money was handed over to Mr Michael Woods by Mrs E Dumigan, owner of the bar.

The money was raised by customers of her Ferry Street bar who put on two variety shows in the town’s cinema before Christmas. They had rehearsed for three months, practising for three night a week at times. In the end their efforts proved justified when two full houses turned out to see the show.

CONEY ISLAND — The English mariner whose boat was beached at Coney Island over six weeks ago will soon be ready to leave Ardglass and sail for Southampton. Arthur Faulkner’s boat, Catriona, is now all ship-shape and at the first sign of fair weather Arthur will be pulling out of Ardglass harbour.

At first it was thought that the boat would not sail again and that it was going to lie on the beach waiting for the tides to break it up. But newspaper and television coverage of Arthur’s plight brought help from all over the county and his boat was freed from the rocks and sand which had held it captive for over a month.

“In many ways leaving Ardglass will be sad event,” Arthur said. “All the locals have been genuinely concerned about my welfare and have offered help and assistance of all kinds and I would like to thank them publicly.

“I shall be taking back to England a completely different picture to that which the English people get of Northern Ireland by watching television.”

It is highly doubtful that Ardglass has seen the last of Arthur as he is keen to return in the future for a holiday, though he says he will make his next visit by plane.

NEWCASTLE — Newcastle and District Round Tablers raised £130 from their pre-Christmas pub crawl round the resort’s pubs. Tonight the Tablers will present a plaque to the proprietor of the pub who collected most in the venture.

Tablers also presented blocks to senior citizens in the district and almost 50 households in Newcastle, Castlewellan, Annsborough and Dundrum received a bagful to brighten their Christmas.

At the last Table meeting, chairman Andy Methven was able to report that the membership had now reached thirty — the number set by the committee as being the most manageable to operate with.

The committee have decided to close the membership list and future prospective members will have to await vanancies.

ANNSBOROUGH — Under the guidance of their head teacher, Mrs Eileen Slader, the pupils of Annsborough Primary School are raising money to buy a guide dog for the blind by running a “guess the name of a doll” competition.

The doll and several sets of really lovely clothes were donated by Mrs Agnes Squires, past president of Newcastle Business and Professional Women’s Club. Several other sets of clothes were made by the staff of Annsborough school.

Mrs Slader explained how Mrs Squires “has chosen three names, just in case nobody gets the first one. We’re going to five five pence a guess. Whoever guesses the correct name gets the whole wardrobe of doll’s clothes, as well as the doll. For the boys there’s an Action Man as the prize because they wouldn’t want a girl’s doll.”

BOARDMILLS — A Boardmills family returned in the early hours of Sunday morning to find their house smoke-filled and on fire. Ballynahinch firemen were called to the scene at Brenagh Road and soon had the fire under control. It is thought that the fire was caused by an electric blanket that had been switched on seven hours earlier.

SAINTFIELD — There are fears that public toilet facilities in Saintfield may well be brought to an end as a result of a recent spate of vandalism. The toilets at the bus station have been sprayed by aerosol paint while the toilets at the New Line have had hand wash basins pulled from the walls.

On several occasions vandalism at the toilets has come under the scrutiny of Down Council, who were forced to pay heavy bills over the last 12 months. At one meeting it was expressed that no repair work should be carried out if further vandalism took place.

It was also felt that the toilets should be closed permanently. If this latest destruction is brought before the councillors the future of public toilet facilities may well be brought to an end.

ARDGLASS — Clem Digney, of Ardglass, is the Down Recorder’s man at work this week. Part of Clem’s daily job is to keep the streets of his native town clean and presentable. Outside his work Clem has a hobby. In his spare time he aspires to be a writer.

Few writers of merit hide their light beneath a bushel. They are always eager to hear another’s opinion and although criticism can be hard to take, the man with the pen can live with it and push forward so long as it is constructive.

Although Clem has had no great luck yet, he is labouring away with pen and mind to produce a play for radio or stage production. Good luck with your efforts Clem.