3. Planning and development

A survey of the Mourne area was produced by technical officers of the Ministry of Development, under the direction of Cecil Newman, in 1970. Illustrated by Cecil’s photographs, the survey reveals much of his thinking in terms of planning and development in the Mournes. Challenged by the need to increase living standards whilst maintaining the attraction of an area of unspoilt natural beauty, his main concern was that development should be carefully managed in consultation with relevant experts. He believed that successful improvements relied on the proficiency and integrity of the parties involved. While many of the proposals put forward under Cecil’s guidance seek to be sympathetic to this heritage, he made no attempt to preserve its entirety; his advocacy was for change, providing that change was not incongruous.

The distinction between rural and urban development is made clear in the work of Cecil and his team. While suggesting that existing rural buildings could be converted for modern use, they recommended that further housing development should focus on existing towns and villages and not be located in isolated or ribbon developments within the countryside. The plan for Newry resulted in major changes to the city, through road construction and improved housing.

Improving the quality of water for the people of Northern Ireland had been a major concern since the early twentieth century. The Silent Valley reservoir was opened in 1933, followed by Spelga and Ben Crom in the 1950s. A perhaps unexpected result was the increase in visitor numbers to see them.

Cecil’s concern for the environment is an example of his foresight at a time when there was limited environmental protection or awareness. He photographed numerous rubbish dumps and car dumps, recommending screening both to improve the look of the sites and to prevent wind blown litter. In the survey he completed with his technical officers, he also referred to the importance of reducing infestations, smells and seepage, from which the environmental consequences can be long lasting. Cecil applied similar principles to the growth of the mineral extraction industry, which he monitored closely and supported as long as the operations were well managed, efficient and tidy.

The extensive documentation, and especially Cecil’s photographs, which made all his points so clearly, can be seen as a benchmark for planners even today. These images of the built and natural environment are as relevant in the twenty first century as they were over forty years ago, when they were first used in the Mourne and Newry Area Plans.

3.1 Head Road Roofing Styles Sept ’68

The Head Road runs inland from the coast, leading to the Silent Valley. These two cottages in the foothills of the Mournes have a view across the flat land towards Annalong. One has a traditional thatched roof, in contrast to the corrugated iron of its neighbour. (N-336)

3.2 Arcon near Leitrim and farm dwelling

The ‘Arcon’ is a pre-fabricated house, a type being erected during and immediately after World War II, to provide emergency housing. They were more commonly used in towns, rather than rural areas (N-876)

3.4 Danes Bridge Road EBNI and PO Poles

This photograph shows the introduction of electricity and telephone wires along a rural road. Cecil was concerned about overhead wiring being put up without due consideration, particularly where the Post Office and Electricity Board worked independently. He often described such scenes as ‘wirescapes’ (N-390)

3.5 & 3.6 Ben Crom Dam Spillway 29.5.66

These two photographs of Ben Crom dam were taken almost a decade after it was built. It was designed to support a storage reservoir in the Upper Silent Valley that can hold up to 1,700 million litres of water. In the image above, Cecil has used a perspective resembling his later aerial photography to capture the dam’s spillway. (N-361 and N-359)

3.7 Slievenalargy Hill Farm & Quarry 17.7.65

The skilful manipulation of stone is inherent in the history and culture of the Mournes. However, an increase in demand for granite in the 1940s, driven in part by post-war reconstruction, necessitated the opening of larger industrial quarries, which was of particular concern to Cecil. The granite for a memorial stone to St Patrick was excavated from this quarry and placed near Down Cathedral in 1900. (N-064)

3.8 Sandpit, Attical

Cecil believed that abandoned sand and gravel pits could be successfully redeveloped with little effort. This photograph shows the sandpit at Attical shortly before it was converted to a Gaelic football pitch. A colleague with a sense of humour has written Thunderbird 1 along the side of his car. The car, an Austin A55 Cambridge 55IL, was provided for him when he was working on the Matthew Plan and appears in many of his photographs. (N-206)

A colleague with a sense of humour has written Thunderbird 1

3.10 Kilkeel Rd Rubbish Dump 13.4.66

This open rubbish dump is in stark contrast to the civic amenity sites provided today, where materials are segregated and appropriately contained. The kind of dump shown here was clearly a risk to the natural environment as well as an eye-sore. (N-222)

3.11 Car dump

Not only was household rubbish dumped in open tips but there were scrap heaps of old cars and other disused vehicles. This graveyard of old cars wasn’t the only one recorded by Cecil. His photographs provided a strong case for the introduction of protective legislation. (N-784)

3.12 Annsborough – Northern Ireland Housing Trust Development

Originally a nineteenth-century industrial settlement, the textile mills at Annsborough once employed over 2000 people but by 1970 that figure had declined to less than 200. Aware of the need for housing improvement in the area, Cecil kept a record of developments such as these. (N-091)

3.13 Foffanybane R. D. Cottages

These cottages, part of a rural development scheme, have been designed in sympathy with the surrounding landscape and do not detract from it. (N-119)

3.14 Kilkeel Council Offices April ’67

A typical example of 1960s architecture, the Kilkeel council office building on Newry Street has since been remodelled to some extent. The original architect was Major G W Reside, whose extensive historic archive is now in the Newry and Mourne Museum Collection. The building is now occupied by the Jobs and Benefits Office next to what was the Vogue Cinema. The district council was abolished as part of local government re-organisation in the 1970s. (N-221)

3.15 Kilkeel – Greencastle Street

The central building in this photograph is now the Kilkeel Campus of the Southern Regional College, the car park for which currently takes the place of this thatched cottage. However, the other thatched buildings forming part of that original site remain at the junction with Manse Road. Therefore the contrast between old and new that Cecil captured here still remains. (N-236)

3.16 Newry - Georgian & UTA architecture Oct ’67

The juxtaposition of late eighteenth / early nineteenth century and modern buildings – in this case the Ulster Transport Authority office on the Mall, Newry. – makes a clear point about appropriate and inappropriate ways of filling gaps in a street. (N-548)

3.17 & 3.18 Kilkeel Harbour – reconstruction NE and N

In the nineteenth century Kilkeel became an important centre for fishing and since then the harbour infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with the demands placed on it. There have been numerous redevelopment schemes including these major improvement works to ease congestion in the inner basin. The building used by McKee’s Cooperage can still be seen in the image above – compare this photograph with Pat Hudson’s views of the harbour twenty years earlier (see Part 1, Chapter 6) (N-325 and N-323)

3.19 Whitewater Bridges Old & New

These two bridges cross the Whitewater, where the Drummanmore Road meets the A2 Newry Road. The old bridge is intersected by the A2 and is no longer passable. (N-920)

3.21 and 3.20 Newry through-pass construction

Here, Cecil has recorded some of the extensive work carried out over the years to develop bypasses and arterial routes in Newry. The photograph above shows an area cleared of old buildings. The few remaining buildings in the centre are all that was left of North Street (see next chapter, N-519 and N-520). Below, the work is almost completed, for Abbey Way, which was designed to bring traffic through the city. (N-600 and N-602)

3.22 & 3.23 Old Bignian School 22.3.66 and New Bignian School, late 1960s

Cecil documented both old and new schools at Binnian (Bignian) in the 1960s. Since then the building has changed hands a number of times; once used as accommodation for groups participating in outdoor activities, it later returned to use as a primary school, Bunscoil na mBeann. (N-369 and N-370)

3.24 and 3.25 Newry Plan – Urban Area Plan and Launching by minister

As Superintendent Planning Officer in the Ministry of Development, Cecil had direct involvement with the Newry Area Plan. These photographs were taken at the launch of the Plan, by the Minister, Roy Bradford. Cecil’s photographs can be seen on the exhibition panels in the background. (N-635 and N-639)

4.1 Annalong Harbour 17.7.66

Cecil and his colleagues were concerned about the ribbon development taking place in Annalong and advocated a more clearly defined centre to the town and greater promotion of its traditional features. For instance they proposed that the corn mill and water wheel, the harbour, and the local expertise in stonework could be used to develop tourism. This image shows the harbour, with the corn mill in the background; the children in the foreground are Cecil’s daughter Pat and eldest son, John. The nineteenth-century corn mill was one of Northern Ireland’s last working watermills, still in use until the 1960s. It was acquired in 1983 by Newry and Mourne District Council, restored and re-opened in 1985. (N-301)