From the pages of the Down Recorder, May 14, 1974

From the pages of the Down Recorder, May 14, 1974

14 May 2014

BALLYNAHINCH — The nationwide search for a 15 year-old Lancashire schoolgirl ended dramatically in a Ballynahinch restaurant.

The girl, Anna Szymanski, disappeared from her home in Preston, weighing only six-and-a-half stone. She had been on a crash diet and lost three stone in eight weeks “so as she would look as think as pop star David Bowie.

She left home a day after being taken to doctors by her worried mother and on a night when TV viewers saw a play highlighting the dangers of an illness known as anorexia nervosa caused by over-dieting.

The Metropolitan Police were immediately informed of her disappearance as it was thought she would make her way to London. However, Anna somehow made her way to Belfast. She hitchhiked to Ballynahinch and went to Dickson’s Corner Restaurant at about 4.30pm.

Several hours later when one of the waitresses was preparing to go home, she noticed the girl sitting alone and asked if she was alright. Anna broke down and blurted out her story. She said that she had had a row at home and had run away. She had a picture of David Bowie with her.

Mr. Billy Dickson, one of the proprietors, contacted police and Anna was taken to Downshire Hospital, Downpatrick. Her parents flew over from Preston and will return with Anna today.

NEWCASTLE — Scenes of crime experts will visit Newcastle this morning to try to find the source of yesterday’s blaze which destroyed two Main Street shops and caused damage estimated at up to £200,000. It was one of the biggest fires in the town’s history.

Four fire engines took more than two hours to control the inferno that engulfed Mr. Patrick Neeson’s electrical shop. Soon it spread to Wilson’s house furnishings shops and caused damage in adjoining properties, including Mr. Boyd’s chemist’s shop and Wadsworth’s Sneek-a-Peek boutique.

Two crews from Newcastle were helped by others rushed from Downpatrick and Kilkeel. They did heroic work in confining the blaze in the face of onshore winds reaching gale force. At one stage a dozen jets were at work. Difficulty was experienced in getting a supply from a hydrant near the Donard Hotel.

At the height of the blaze a large stock of gas cylinders in Neeson’s were exploding like gunfire. How it began remains a mystery. The use of incendiary devices has not been ruled out.

DOWNPATRICK — Shopkeepers’ resentment at the increasing presence of street traders in Downpatrick has come to a head with complaints being made to the police and to the district council.

The council have set up a sub-committee to investigate the situation throughout the district in depth and make recommendations on the constitution of a new market place.

For a generation or more the presence of one or two street traders in Market Street on Saturday mornings has not caused any ill feeling, but in recent months the granting of a few additional licences has created considerable resentment among shopkeepers.

Ballynahinch, Newcastle and Castlewellan have recognised market places where travelling traders are welcomed by the established shopkeepers in the belief that their activities attract more trade for the towns as a whole.

Downpatrick lost its recognised market place when the technical college was built on the fair green. But street traders can still operate in Market Street on Tuesdays and Saturdays for a licence fee of £1, providing they do not cause undue obstruction on the roads and pavements.

The complaints to the council and the police were made by Messrs J. & J. Haslett Ltd (Mace Supermarkets), controllers of Superite Prices’ supermarket at Downtown Shopping Centre. They have called for more decisive action in regard to the activities of street vendors who, they said, were selling a range of merchandise similar to that stocked by themselves.

ARDGLASS — If the 200 lb. car bomb which was defused outside an Ardglass public house had gone off, the Rose and Crown explosion in Belfast would have been a relatively minor incident, security chiefs said.

It was parked outside the Lecale House on Saturday evening and to the amazement of police was not reported until 7 o’clock on Sunday evening. During that time children were playing round it and its doors were opened by curious residents on at least two occasions.

When they learned of its lethal contents dozens of Ardglass residents expressed horror and shame that the security forces had not been alerted earlier. This weekend a meeting is being held in the village to consider local security.

Local councillor Mr. Dermot Curran said he shuddered to think what the scene would have been like had the bomb gone off. It was only the providence of God that it had not.

DUNDRUM — A wide ranging discussion took place concerning Dundrum’s future development when a deputation from the local development committee met the heads of various government departments.

Local councillor Mr. Jarlath Carey strongly the condemned the obstacle that a proposed through pass was proving to be with regard to the development of the coastal area of Dundrum. He was disappointed that a scheme initiated by local people and sponsored by a national body should have to be abandoned because of a proposed road that will not be built for ten years and possibly not at all.

Mr. Carey felt that Dundrum had suffered badly at the hands of the planners and thought that a comprehensive plan of the Dundrum area, including the bay, should be compiled.

CROSSGAR — Enterprise Ulster is to be asked to investigate the possibility of tidying up unsightly derelict ground at Crossgar’s Lislea Drive housing estate with a view to making a playground for children.

Local councillor Mr. William Cochrane said the area was an eyesore. It was 14 months since he had asked to have it cleaned up and now it was a breeding ground for rats.

KILLYLEAGH — A successful coffee party in aid of the USPCA was held last Thursday morning in Sir Richard and Lady Pim’s garden at Mullagh, Killyleagh. Organised by Lady Pim, chairman of the association and a member of the Downpatrick branch, it was the third successive year in which the coffee party was held. It was attended by around 200 people and raised £230.

KILMORE — Mrs. G. Moles, of Killinchy, was the guest speaker at Kilmore Presbyterian Church’s Presbyterian Women’s Association service on Sunday. In her address she talked of her husband and her own experiences as medical missionaries in Nigeria. She also spoke of the leprosy settlement in which she worked, which would be 100 years old this year. The Rev. W. D. Bailie conducted the service.

DRUMANESS — Mr. Dan Rice, the local councillor, has received the full support of Down Council in a protest about the delay in providing much-needed improvements to playing field facilities at Drumaness. The council has decided to write to the consultants, informing them that the rate of progress over a period of two years was unsatisfactory.

PIONEERS — The 75th anniversary of the founding of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association was marked by the celebration of a special Mass of thanksgiving in St. Brigid’s Church, Downpatrick, by Rev. Fr. McSorley, C.C.

Fr. McSorley spoke of the spirit of self-sacrifice which motivated those who became members of the Association. Pioneers did not condemn the use of alcohol and, indeed, were conscious of the fact that by abstaining from it they were denying themselves one of life’s greatest pleasures, he said.

They made this sacrifice to honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to make reparation to Him for all the sins committed as a result of overindulgence in the use of intoxicating liquor.