Memories of Bridge Street, has been produced by the Bridge Street and Mount Crescent Residents’ Group and Down County Museum to bring the story of their community to a wider audience in Downpatrick and beyond.
This booklet was produced during the course of a community history project organised by Down County Museum and the Somme Heritage Centre.
The Bridge Street and Mount Crescent Residents’ Group took part in this project and participated in a number of activities including multi-cultural awareness workshops and a study visit to the Ulster Museum. They also gathered material and information for this book and some older residents took part in oral history interviews to record their memories of life in Bridge Street in the past. Bridge Street is one of the oldest residential areas in Downpatrick and has seen many changes over the centuries.
Lilian Horrox, Chairperson of the Residents’ Group, said she was delighted with the production of the booklet and the overall project. She added, “We received a lot of useful help from Down County Museum. The education officer Linda McKenna started off by interviewing my late grandmother, Mary Young.
[caption id="attachment_26152" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="At the launch of the Memories of Bridge Street booklet at the Down County Museum were from left, Pastor Joe White with his wife Joyce, Jamie and Marshal Casement, Reverend Stuart Burns, St Margaret's Church, Annie Horrox, Mike King, Down Museum Curator, Liliam Horrox, Chairperson of the Bridge Street and Mount Crescent Residents' Group, Ards Councilor Brian Wilson, Danielle Smyth, Peace III Co-ordinator, Ards Alderman Ann Wilson, and Carmel Horrox."]
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“I helped forward the names of local residents to Linda who then recoded this oral history. The voices in the community project really started last February  and the committee has been involved in moving it forward. We held a street party two weeks ago to celebrate theend of the project. We’d like to thank the many peole who helped us including Michael Bohill and Kenneth Rea. Our local children have enjoyed this project to and it will be something for them to look over in the future,” added Lilian.
One of the biggest changes in the Bridge Street area came in the 1960’s when many old houses were replaced with more modern, up to date dwellings. The rebuilding of Bridge Street changed the original layout of the street although old photographs show how the street would have looked. Other changes are similar to those experienced in many neighbourhoods as people travel to Belfast and other towns for work and leisure and the modern pace of life combined with new technology transform the way people relate to their neighbours.
However, residents in Bridge Street still retain an enormous pride in the history of their area and are delighted to have produced this book to remind younger residents and neighbours in the wider Downpatrick community about that heritage.
The booklet includes a section on the history of the area showing how it changed from from Fryar’s Lane to Bridge Street and which contains information on trades, businesses and schools in the street as well as lists of residents present on census night 1911. This is then followed by a section on memories of the street in the more recent past. This details how the street has changed from the days when water had to be fetched from the pumps and half doors were the norm, to the rebuilding of the street in the 1960s.
Along the way are fascinating accounts of the characters who inhabited the street in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, how resourceful residents managed to get a
[caption id="attachment_26155" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Delighted with their booklet are, back row, Kelly Thompson, Rebecca Casement, Carmel Horrox, Lilian Horrox, Residents' Grpup Chairperson, with Anthony Horrox, Riana Casement, Brooklyn Horrox with Jamie and Scott Casement."]
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living for themselves and their families, and how neighbours looked out for each other and enjoyed special occasions together. All in all the booklet is a great read and is sure to bring back memories for those who continue to live in the area and those who have moved away.
The project, which ran from February 2010 to June 2011, was funded by the EU’s PEACE III Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body and delivered by the North Down, Ards and Down Councils Cluster and was designed to enable community groups from across Down, Ards and North Down to explore local history and culture to gain a greater awareness and appreciation of shared history and cultural diversity.
The book,  launched at the Down County Museum on 21st July, has been funded by the EU’s PEACE III Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body and delivered by the North Down, Ards and Down Councils Cluster.
Free copies of the booklet are available from the museum from 21st July. Just call in and pick up a copy.]]>
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