'Stars of the County Down’
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Today 82 year old John Newell looks over his numerous publications on Mourne History.
"WATER" he says, "Sustains and nurtures, it bends if you give it purpose. It reshapes itself if you give it reason. It is needed, wanted, feared, praised and prayed for. . .
“And Ballymartin man John Newell, should know as he worked first in constructing an airwell at Spelga Dam with McLaughlin & Harvey, to holding a high level position within Northern Ireland Water Service for almost 18 years.
For his 82 years, John appears fairly switched on and has a lot to recall about his home parish of Ballykeel over the years and has written several books on the history the greater Mourne area for posterity too. In fact, even today he is recording and logging anything from great civil engineering feats, to the history of the old Mourne Hospital. And that's just for starters.
Today there are tens of thousands of homes in the Mourne area that enjoy a mains water supply thanks to him and his civil engineering plant works company who was responsible for the laying of more than forty miles of Council water mains. Add to that, the excavation work for hundreds of septic tanks and the laying of many thousands of yards of sewers, and you soon get the picture. How do we do it?
His story begins back in 1942 at the age of 14, shortly after leaving school and continues when he decided to swap his working boots and hard hat for a suit and brief case, to settle into his new role within the Department of Environment's Water Service in 1975. A role in which he enjoyed for 18 years until his retirement in February 1994.
Apart from this John, who tells me he is the last surviving pupil from his Ballykeel School, is responsible for bringing Tug-O-War to the area and setting up a team with his good buddy Ned Cunningham. Eventually every town could boast a team and he tells me that during the 1970's competition was fierce.
He recalls that growing up money wasn't as free flowing as we have come to know it in recent years, and explains that "many-a-time" he and the other school lads would walk along the track were the coal cart would pass every day on it's way to Silent Valley. He would gather the pieces that fell and take them home to his mother to throw onto their fire.
However, later in life prosperity began to look up for John. He went from working a 44 hour week for £4.4s 0d, building the bungalows at Ballymartin with P Taggart & Sons, and the evenings he spent sowing over five acres of potatoes, before gathering them to sell, to becoming a sharp shooter with the Water Service.
John who is married to his wife Nora, for over forty years, recalls that he became his own boss in 1952, after having worked with Charles Brand & Sons at the Silent Valley and Ben Crom Reservoirs. His chance came when he spied an advert in a local paper inviting a labour only tender for the laying of 500 yards of watermain at Ballyveaghbeg, which he was awarded. He explains that he completed the job within three weeks of manual labour with picks and shovels. The Council kept him on, at first to do small jobs carrying out maintenance work, and he says he accepted everything that came his way. Until several years later he found himself making roads through council property, undertaking small sewage schemes and private contract work on caravan sites, hockey pitches and bowling greens.
Manual labour soon gave way to mechanical excavators and tractors. Additionally a compressor and drilling hammer took the place of ten men cutting or splitting granite boulders and work became a less arduous task.
In 1975 all that changed and John found himself donning a new suit and associating with other suit clad fellows within his role with the DOE. He was involved with major water and sewage schemes in this region, enjoying both the practical and office work which came with the role.
The week following his retirement in 1994, John and his wife Nora, presented their anniversary cake and a cheque for £100 to Slieve Roe House in Kilkeel, while part of his retirement cake donated to Moneydarragh Lodge, Annalong and Mourne Hospital. A gesture which seems extraordinary in today's standards.
Looking out of his window from his home in Ballykeel, John views Slieve Binnian. "That's why I named my house 'Slieve Na Mara" he said, "it means Mountain in the sea." He contemplates all the changes he has witnessed in and around Ballymartin, and smiles at fact he has never strayed too far from his roots.
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