Potholes in the past

A letter in the Belfast Telegraph (13 January 1939) from a contributor who called himself Old Contemptible complained about the state of the Ardoyne Road and in particular the number of potholes.

As an 'old soldier' who had served in the First World War he compared the state of the Ardoyne Road to 'the dreaded Menin road in Belgium where we had to be watchful for shell holes.'

As to the residents on the Ardoyne Road in 1939, the following were listed in the 1939 Belfast Street Directory.

Ardoyne Road    off Crumlin Road

       Andrews, George, J.P. (back entrance)
       Edenderry National School - A. McClean, principal
       Edenderry Female National School - Miss Maclenaghan, principal
   1. Clugston, John, weaver
   3. McVeigh, W. J., weaver
   5. Beattie, R., weaver
   7. Conlon, John, weaver
   9. Shortt, Mrs.

Marmount Gardens - new houses in 1939

I lived for some years in Marmount Gardens, back in the 1980s, and was therefore particularly interested to come across this advertisement in the Belfast Telegraph from 13 January 1939.

MARMOUNT GARDENS - New Semi-Detached Villas for sale.  Deposit £20.  18s 9d per week including repayments, ground rent and taxes.

Thomas Henderson & Co, High Street.

Those old newspaper advertisements are a great source of information about old Belfast, in this case when the houses were built and the cost of them.