John Anderson was a man of music to his fingertips, he taught in Methodist College before taking a chance on entertaining the world of theatre and becoming Mr. Music to thousands. His funeral last Thursday was warm and genuine, friends gathered with relations and there was such love for the man. Musicians, BBC and UTV colleagues gathered. The Ulster Actors Company talked about the early days when John and Roy Heayberd produced the first offering from the company – Jesus Christ Superstar in St. Anne’s Cathedral then moving to the Arts Theatre and the two worked on musicals that brought thousands into the theatre. He produced records, formed The Big Band, remember Jive Bunny, and was famous for the excellent musical On Eagles Wings and played a mean piano. We also said goodbye to David Capper journalist and BBC newsman. David was an outstanding reporter and broke many an outstanding story. He was also a mentor to young people taking their first steps in broadcasting.
SHAME
Have you noticed how Northern Ireland is being sidelined. All the colourful offers of flower bulbs and shrubs in the national newspapers look so tempting. However read on to the small print and you’ll see ‘sent to English and Welsh addresses only.’ Read down the venues for top stars touring over the coming months and it’s so noticeable that Belfast, let alone Derry, rarely figures. I think we are going to hell I a handcart. There is supposed to be hope on this Easter morning, reach out for it, grasp it and keep positive.
Baltimore Bridge. What a terrible thing to happen to this major port, people getting from one side of the river to the other and the families who are left without their loved ones and those who will inevitably loose their employment and there connection with friends.
Used to be a street directory was part and parcel of most households in Northern Ireland. I loved these bulky red books telling the tale of who lived where and what their occupation was, they were a window on the world from 1840s util they ceased publication in 1996. There was so much information, historical facts and figures, details of public buildings, lists of parliamentary dignitaries and fulsome adverts. May dad was in insurance and this was his bible, now they are a rare commodity and fetch big prices on the resale market – 1973 edition is on sale for £89.99 plus 7.99 p&p.
This all came pouring back from deep in my memory at an excellent lecture part of the very successful iMAGINE! Festival. Martin Magill has the same fascination with street names as I have so it was a must to listen to his talk on the 4,178 names he has research from BT 1 to BT 15. For the last four years he has walked the street making notes and photographing townscapes. He has raided Googol, visited Queens, PRONI, the Central Library and the Linenhall where he was speaking to a house full audience last Wednesday. Twitter now X has carried his messages far and wide asking for information, as he said, even small memories help him build his jigsaw. It was the shipyard poet Thomas Cardiff who in 1939 said that the history of a town isn’t in a book but in the street names.
Why Go To All This Trouble?
It’s a project that has taken hours and hours of work all over and above being priest at St John’s on the Falls Road, a campaigner, community leader, festival organiser, author. “It’s important to record the history of the city both for young people and those who have lived through a time of change. Everyone is involved if they wish to be, one little piece of information opens doors and allows a bigger picture to emerge. I’m a sort of detective,” he laughs and adds that research is everything.
“For instance, the Boyd Partnership proposed Galgani Crescent for a new street being developed on the former site of St Gemma’s School in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. Galgani Crescent is being proposed as Galgani was the surname of St Gemma.
“In the shadow of Divis mountain is Black Ridge Gardens, Black Ridge Way and Black Ridge Heights off the Mona bypass in the west of the city where 650 new houses were built and the roads installed had to be named. The developers worked with St. Teresa’s primary school principal and, with the assistance of a local historian, they organised a competition involving Primary 6 pupils for the street naming of the site.”
They came up with ‘black ridge’ derived from the Irish Dubhais.
And what of Susan Street in East Belfast?
The minutes of a meeting on 29th September 1886 indicate that on the application of Messrs Fraser and Son on behalf of Mrs Henderson, the wife of the proprietor of the Newsletter James Alexander Henderson, two new streets off Newtownards Road were named Susan and Trevor presumably for personal reasons. Susan Street is still there, Trevor gave way to Tower Street. In the same neck of the woods Hemp Street is an easy one as it is beside the long gone rope works. Martin challenged his audience and the public in general to send any information they remember about streets they have known and to visit the website www.belfaststreetnames.com to join in the collection which some day will become a 21st century directory.
A Famous Past And Present
So after 38 years, Casualty nurse Charlie Fairhead survived being knifed in the stomach and lives to return to his native Northern Ireland to star in Blue Lights as retired police officer Robin Graham. He came to prominence in 1986 with the BBC hospital drama but in Northern Ireland he hit the headlines long before that. Back in the early 60s Tommy James had a TV programme called Teatime With Tommy, he was legendary. Every Saturday we’d hold auditions and anyone with a voice could come along and Tommy would accept or decline them depending on their talent. One Saturday morning a little girl and boy appeared, they were about 13 years of age, fair haired twins who presented themselves well, beautifully dressed and modest. Everyone was thrilled with Derek and Elaine, the Thompson Twins and they contributed to Teatime all week. One night they sang Yellow Bird Up High In Banana Tree and to set the scene, props man Isaac climbed a ladder and dangled bananas tied to a branch. It looked quite natural as he was laughing so much the bananas trembled as if in a topical breeze. What a joy it was to eventually see Derek move onto great things and It will be grand to see him re-emerge in Blue Lights.
So there you are, another Easter comes and goes the clocks have leapt forward so brighter nights, lent is over and Hellmanns will now take its place on the table. You wonder what the coming weeks holds, beware of April Fools but fact is often stranger than fiction.
