A NEW exhibition about the story of Downpatrick’s shops and businesses over the last 120 years has opened at the Down County Museum.
This entertaining journey back in time coincides with the launch of a second book of photographs, Down Town 2, which follows on from the success of the first book in the series last year.
The exhibition and book tell the story of how Downpatrick’s commercial history has developed
over time and how the mercantile heritage of the town has contributed so vitally to the wider life of the community.
It is a story which includes radical new developments such as the arrival of the motor car and the railway — and later its loss — television, the computer and the supermarket, as well as the gradual changes that have taken place as businesses become established over time.
It is a story which is still unfolding as commercial enterprises face into the challenges of these difficult economic times. The aim of the exhibition and book is to show how the county town has developed over time and the contribution made by businesses to the town’s heritage while showcasing the museum’s collections and archives related to this.
The exhibition and book have depended on the generosity of the local community, in donating objects and photographs over the last 30 years, which help to illustrate the theme. Both also depend on the work of important photographers of the town through the decades, some anonymous, and some well-known, such as D. J. McNeill and Bobbie Hanvey. The museum is grateful to them for their generous efforts to record the everyday life of the town.
The Down Town project has been in existence for two years now and the subject has caught the imagination of the community and led to a constant flow of new photographs coming in to the museum, which has helped the archive to grow, and the pages of its second publication to be filled.
The new exhibition opened to the public on Friday and will run until November 2012. Admission to the exhibition is free of charge and the museum is open daily.
Copies of Down Town 2 are available at the museum priced at £4.