WAR IS OVER 3446
The First World Was is over but it still takes time to bring back all the troops and then demob them. This is why it's May 1919 in this photograph and William Houston McNeice in his Australian Army uniform is still waiting in England to be shipped home to Australia. So William with time on his hands decided to come over to Ballymena to visit his Aunt Agnes Porter nee McNeice and thus the reason for the photograph. Why William is wearing an Australian uniform is that Agnes's brother and Wiliam's father Richard Houston McNeice emigrated to Australia in 1883. Richard and Agnes were two of twenty children to Henry McNeice and his wife Jane McNeice nee Houston, some of the children moved to Australia while others went to America.

PENNY BRIDGE 4170
The photographer has picked a lovely place to take a photograph here in the early 1900's. Some of the occupants of the thatched cottages have come our to pose for the photographer, now over to the right is a small bridge who's name will live on enternally, it's called the Penny bridge.If you were travelling to Ballymena from Kells, you would have had to cross Penny bridge. The bridge once stood where the Pennybridge industrial estate is now located. Once over the bridge, the road carried onto the Moat road and into Harryville. I’ve been told that inbetween the Penny bridge and Harryville was a lane known locally as “Gypsy Lane”. It was here that the gypsies (Travelling People) lived in their old style horsedrawn caravans. Sadly the the bridge was removed in the 70s or 80s as a young boy we used to walk this way to Harryville School.

PENTAGON 4081
Well here we are looking at the Pentagon from Mill Street in the centre of the road is a gas lamp post with signs on it. It still amazes me who the photographer got all these
people to stand still for a few minutes. On the left are two young ladies arm in arm in front of the horse droppings. Behind them is a horse and trap with two men in it, halfway
up the street behind them is a little girl pedaling her bike down the slope. To the right is a driver with his horse cart and in front of them is a young lad in a white shirt
and dark trousers, he is carrying a large paper bag filled to the top and in the other hand he is holding his hoop and guiding stick, the hoop was usually a bicycle wheel
with the spokes taken out. If you were lucky the blacksmith might make you one.

PENTAGON 4189
This is the Historic Pentagon in the early 1900's and the reason for its name? It has got 5 roads meeting there. In the foreground is a Jaunting car with two men in it while over to the left is the Ulster Bank, behind the Jaunting car the house on the right is Dr Jones house and held his surgery in the right side of the house. When his son grew up he too became a Doctor and practised with his father.

PENTAGON 4190
We are looking down towards the Pentagon in the early 1930's and the street lamp that marks the centre of the roundabout where the five roads meet and a man and a woman with a bicycle having a yarn before crossing the road. On the left there are four windows and the two dormer windows you can see the stores and in the doorway is a little black & white dog. The bus is parked next to the depot which then belonged to HMS Catherwood this was before Ulster Transport Authority took over. coming up the road is a lorry while in front is a hand cart being pushed by a man and young boy. Coming on up the road is another hand cart parked beside a bicycle next to a horse trough. Where the other bicycles are parked eventually became Jim Kernohan's Triumph car agency.

PENTAGON 4191
It's early morning 1900's here at the Pentagon in Ballymena while the sun is creeping over the sky while three men on the left are heading towards the railway station the reason I think they are is the sign on the lamppost pointing to the left. The lady who looks like Mary Poppins and holding a milk pail and talking to the driver of the laden cart. On the back of the cart it says' Aerated Water ' that's like soda water then below that it says ' Lancashire Chemist Ballymena. The chemist's name was Lancashire and they also had a bottling store at the rear of their shop which was on Church Street and the entrance to the bottling store was in Castle Street that is mineral bottles on the cart. Their shop was where Nicholls shop is now Connie Lancashire worked in the shop and she lived off the Ballymena road A girl from Princes Street worked in it for years her name was Georgie Thompson. In front is another cart with a little boy watching what's going on and his mother behind him. To his right is a cart laden with bags of flour being lead by the driver and further right is the first car on the streets of Ballymena and it was bought by a Ballymena man. Part of the registration reads 427 while people on the pavement look on in amazement.

PEOPLES PARK 4192
This is the People's Park in the 1980's and is set in the heart of Ballymena as the railings were not there in 1975. The mature setting was donated to the town by Sir Robert Alexander Shafto Adair in 1870 and extends for 45 acres around a lake.

- - - -- - -- - - -- - Here are some of the memories of the people of Ballymena: - - - - - - - - - -- Used to love feeding the ducks.
Went to the County Primary in the 60’s. Teachers used to take us to the park, to roll our painted - - - - - - - - -- - eggs down the hill at Easter and to collect things for our “Nature Table”.- - - - - - - - -I remember coming home from County primary and I popped into the park I fell into the duck pond and the weight of my bag on my shoulders kept dragging me down a woman pulled me out I was about 5 or 6 at the time.

PARKMORE RAILWAY 4193
This Narrow Gauge train Number102 is just beside Upper Princes Street. There was a narrow gauge line that ran from Ballymena to Larne passing close to Kells.
Station masters house and station house are on Kilgad Road.

PARKMORE RAILWAY 4194
This narrow gauge railway engine Number 111 owned by the northern counties committee is waiting patiently to be off as the engine driver checks everything is ok. I have been told that because of the wicker baskets on the front of the engine that it is going to Ballycastle.

PARKMORE RAILWAY 4195
It's 1930 and we are in Ballymena Station while this narrow gauge train Number 111 is getting ready to leave for Parkmore station just past Cargan village. The line stopped there at the head of Glenarriffe Glen, the high embankment on the left is where Balmoral Avenue is now.

PHEONIX WEAVING Co.4072
This is the Weaving department of the Pheonix Weaving Company which was situated in Railway Street Ballymena.
James Bates was one of the managers there, the six weaving machines in the photo are not operating, you can tell by the shuttles sitting on the linen.
James G Brown remembers working there filling magazines," If the noise didn't get you the weaving Shuttle would..you took your life in your hands walking between the looms and dodging the flying shuttle when it decided to leave the loom and take flight, at finishing time you walked home with your ears ringing....my old mate Joey Cully worked with me."