Poems stories and reflections of life in a small market town

By now most have been mentioned here, except two - one little and one large. Extracts from a lusciously illustrated, extremely comprehensive 600-page history of Clare village in County Armagh are soon to come.

But today, with its slimmer 75 pages, we’re turning to ‘Magherafelt Memories’ by John Woodward. This is John’s second ‘picture poetry book’, his first, published at the end of 2020 entitled ‘St Comgall’s, From Then to Now!’, celebrated Desertmartin Parish Church’s 200th anniversary and helped raise church funds.

In his introduction to Magherafelt Memories, John explains that the poems “are stories and reflections…mainly based on boyhood memories of life growing up in my hometown of Magherafelt in the late 70’s and early 80’s.”

With proceeds going to Muscular Dystrophy, the soft-back publication, illustrated with black and white photographs, is an entrancing mosaic of colloquial folk poetry about all-things-Magherafelt.

The author recounts the town’s monastic beginnings in a poem entitled The Bridewell, today’s historic setting for Magherafelt’s tourist hub and library.

The town’s famous Three Spires - “timeless towers of faith and love” are celebrated in poetry. John recalls turf cutting at Curran Moss and evocatively describes The Courthouse, an 1873 building “of striking architecture and gothic beauty,” he explains, “that I am very glad I have never actually been in!”

And he takes us to My Grannies House on Rainey Street, with its resident ghost.

Local shops of the 70s and 80s are a central feature though “most of the old shops of that bygone era have disappeared and are now just a distant memory,” John admits sadly.

The title poem, Magherafelt Memories, highlights some of them and their evocative names - Galway’s, Swiggys, old JC’s and Marys for “a nice pint of stout”; Conway’s and Browns for shoes; Tohill’s and Fulton’s were excellent butchers but Bertie’s bangers were “the best!”

For haircuts there was Ludlow’s, and John Murrays “would be open from six.” There was Agnew’s “for a chip and a chat” and Minnie Beggs’ establishment was “a kids dream store.”

It gets a mention in several and has its own exclusive poem entitled Minnie Beggs Magic Shop of Mystery and Wonder. Minnie, her premises and some of her wares adorn the book’s front cover. There were shops for newspapers, magazines, groceries, cakes, buns and biscuits, and Toners “for your music fix, your tapes and vinyl.”

“Too many shops to mention, but they hold a special place,

In the history of old Magherafelt, they all had style and grace,

They’re gone but not forgotten, and at times we will recall,

The memories of these special shops in the best town of them all.”

The author fondly remember his dad taking him to John Murray’s Barber Shop “when it was packed on a Saturday afternoon to get my hair cut, and the youngsters listened to the older folk.”

“They’d joke and craic and chew the fat and discuss the news today,

They’d talk about the weather and the folk who’d passed away.”

And they’d often mention the legendary Northern Ireland international footballer and manager Peter Doherty whose blue plaque is displayed outside on the wall and who is remembered in a poem called Peter the Great.

“A true Magherafelt hero, a king with no crown,

A local man born and bred in our town.”

And there was another important talking point, summarised by John as an “age-old argument” in a poem succinctly entitled Marafelt v Magherafelt!

“One thing annoys me, my biggest regret,

When someone I talk to calls the town Marafelt”

Collectively, the titles of John’s poems chronical life in a town that’s “slap bang in the middle of Ulster”. The Saturday Morning Matinee, where the film was usually “mundane to pure boring”!

The Old M.A.D May Fair where MAD stood for Magherafelt And District and “every street from the Diamond is chocker with deals, From household to fashion and even car wheels.”

The Wee Field of dreams - “our Windsor Park our Croke Park.” The Old Graveyard behind the Bridewell - “The old church gone….but still a sacred place.” Trimmer True commemorating Trimmer, John’s father’s Harrier Hound, which was severely frightened by a shotgun on its first outing and refused thereafter to hunt! Magherafelt Memories by John Woodward is available on Amazon.