Frank,
The EMB Hall was built by thr Barbour family and was used by many people.
It was primarily controlled by Railway St Presbyterian church who had I believe a Sunday School there, but had to be available to the children of the area during the week.It was used a lot by children from the park alongside if the weather was bad.
It was also the meeting place of Lisburn Boys Club on two nights a week.
The club originally started in the canteen of the mill in Hilden by Andy Brodie but moved to the EMB after the war.
It had no connection with any other organisation apart from the Northern Ireland Association of Boys Clubs who would have organised your adventure.

Lots of lads from outwith the Hilden area were members as it was the only non-denominational youth club in Lisburn at that time.
Newcastle was a favourite place for the club to camp at and I spent many happy years as a member and made many friends. The annual camps were occasions not to be forgotten (there is a picture in the gallery of some of the boys at Newcastle).
I also had the good fortune to work for a couple of years at Altona so our paths probably crossed.

Letitia,
RS probably keeps a low profile in life nowadays as, being so old as you say, he almost certainly sleeps most of the time and has given up trying to keep up with your hectic social life.
BTW did you ever go the socials in the EMB run by the Boys Club?
Your late, lovely, brother would probably have stopped you making a fool of yourself.

You are right, Low Roader regarding the Sunday School in the EMB Hall, all of us Wilsons were sent there each Sunday afternoon,I think it was primarily a ploy by our Mam & Dad to get us out of the way. I enjoyed that Sunday School I must say, one gentleman teacher I remember was a Mr McConnachie who lived opposite Hilden Park, also Gertie Bowman, sister of Artie and daughter of Arthur. Also a lovely lady by the name of Miss McKelvey. The highlight of the Sunday School year was our annual trip to Newcastle,by train in those days, sandwiches and tea was served for us all in the Central Ballroom, I can taste that tea yet, it was so dreadful, stewed to death! Never mind, we all loved these excursions. Sunday mornings we went to Lisburn Cathedral Sunday School and our Dad spent Saturday night polishing our shoes, army style, for the occasion. Their annual excursion was always to Bangor. Andy Brodie or 'Doot' as he was called used to live next door to us in Delacherois Avenue before he moved to the EMB, we used to love to visit him at the EMB as he would let us into the Hall where we could play with all the equipment and toys. Happy days

I faintly remember him he was a lot older than us boys and very strict to us
donald

Low Roader, I never, ever attended a social ANYWHERE.

As I said, looking back, my parents, especially my mother, was quite strict with me. The only place I was allowed to go was Sammy Osborne's Dance Studio in High Street. Lucky for me, I took to the dancing like a duck to water and just lived for Thursday nights. I must have been very naive in those days in not wanting to venture further afield.

I might add that I suppose my mother had my best interests at heart. However, it might have been nice to attend a Social.

Quite a while ago, when trying to drum up a bit of interest on this forum, I believe that I wrote about the 'break-in' at The Boys' school, led by Tommy Stevenson. Now that there are people around who see to know a bit about the school, does anybody remember the incident, during which stuff was hurled about, and canes hidden in the chimney breast?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I REMEMBER THAT TIME AND THE BOY WHO PUT THE CANES UP THE CHIMNEY WAS JIMMY SMITH FROM MILLVIEW,MCAVANNA LINED US ALL UP,WANTING THE NAME NO ONE SPOKE SO WE ALL GOT CANED 6 OF THE BEST FROM THAT BB,I SAW HIM YEARS AGO IN AN OFF LICENCE BUYING 3 LITRE BOTTLES O WHISKEY, I MENTIONED IT TO SOMEONE THEY TOLD ME HIS WIFE WAS A CHRONIC ALCOHOLIC

Low Roader, I have very happy memories spending a week under canvas in Newcastle with the boys club also climbing to the summit of Sleive Donard and if my memory serves me right we walked down to the Strand Resturant ? for Breakfast & Dinner every day I also remember being in the gimnastic display I think it was given in the Legion? and of course swimming in the pool @ the harbour I think it was the coldest water I was ever in, Andy ran a great club Fond Memories Ted

Hi Dabbler

Brendan (Barney) must be the same age, or maybe a year older than I am. I knew the boys and teachers, but, as I said previously, I started school late. In fact, I was never taught by Bertie, as I didn't even get that far up the ladder in school.
Some other priest, or it may have been macNamara, came to question us on the Irish language.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arn,t you lucky Dabbler never to have been taught by Beardy Fitzimmons, he would not have been out of place in Hitlers Gestapo a sadist if ever there was one,his own son Brian he beat him unconcious one day ,anothr pupil he caned till he fainted was Dennis McGurnaghan,the priest who was into Irish teaching was none other than Father Mullholland, another sadist he carried a blackthorn walking stick, and like Beardy would often have said i,ll beat the back of you, Mullholland slapped the jaws of me one morning at communion because i had my hands over the cloth at the alter rails,2 evil bestards if ever there was any,Leo Phillips would never go to school because of them

Hi Barney I remember Mullholand at the Crsaders one Sunday calling Devil Smith out of the seat and belting him in the middle aisle in front of all the kids, I am not quite sure but I think it was for mitching, after I moved here to Suffolk many years later I heard he was in a parish near to me but they had to move him, in later years he wasn't to popular. Ted

Ted,
The camps at Newcastle were something to remember.
You are right about the Strand. Later on we camped in a building beside the railway station in Newcastle and got potato sacks from a farmer near Tullynacross to use as mattresses. We got the straw to fill them at a stable further up the yard in Newcastle and had a whale of a time.We changed our eating to the Golf Hotel which was on the corner where Smiths the newsagent was (the hotel is now a chemist's shop).
I had the task of marching those juniors who attended chapel, down to the one on Main street, before they built the new one, then wating till they came out and marching them back up to the hall.
The best times of my life.
The gym displays by the seniors were considered to be the best of any club in NI and attracted huge crowds wherever they went.

Frank, Dominic mentions Russell Bell, Seamy Reynolds, Jimmy McMillen (Rimmel), Dessie Douglas, Ignatius Brown, Niall and Gerry Murray, Hugh Bradley, Geordie and Jackie Frazer, Francie, Denis and Gerald McGurnaghan, Gerald Stewart.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I knew them all, Shamus(small montana)Reynolds his brothers Dickie,Tony you remember him Frank im sure, Columb who lost half his hand in the spinning room Stewarts Mill, there was a sister Bridie i think her name was
they lived in the last house Brookvale Drive also in those houses were the ,Burns,McCormacks, McGanns, Dochertys,Bedfords,McKees,Roys,Turleys,Murrays those families all lived there then,happy carefree days indeed until the mornin when we all had to go to school

Yes,Ann,Ronnie was a Handsome young man,a very good athlete,and smart.I lost touch as I left Altona and went directly to Canada in July 1957...Frank

Frank,

Time makes grumpy old men & women of us all.


Pat

I attended the boys club at the EMB but was never allowed to go camping. I recall the gymnastic displays and the athletic races in Hilden park. I competed once wearing wellinton boots and came last and started to cry. My Da told me "dont worry son if you had gutties on you would have got the gold medal."

I got caned, and I wasn't even at the 'break in'. The teacher (rightly) thought I 'knew something', and wouldn't give names. I can't remember the other boys, apart from Tommy. I also knew Tommy's sister.
I know I keep asking daft questions about boys' names, and I may have asked previously, but did anyone know a boy called Sammy Cowan? His mother's name was May. For some reason, I think she may have remarried, as I think of both Sammy and his mum being called either Cowan or White. No rewards for replies. Just something niggling my memory.

Dabbler
1959 in Lisburn Tech Sam Cowan was a prefect then. He would be heading for 70 now, A very sporty type. Last I heard of him was he was General Sir Sam Cowan K.C.B. C.B.E.. Former Colonel Commandant, The Brigade of Gurkhas :
If I remember correctly " Basher " Cowan, who once served an apprenticeship in Hilden mill as a fitter and taught at the Tech was his uncle. Margaret may know more as she and her husband could have been in parallel classes. It,s possible he may be the same person.

Try this link

http://www.lisburn.com/History/memories/memories-2004/semple-freeman.html

Donald

Thanks, Donald.
Having read your earlier forum comments about 'Sammy' Semple, I found this link interesting.
No connection, I'm afraid, between Sir Sam Cowan mentioned here and the one I knew, who, (no offense Sammy, if you look in here), was more likely to have served time in a very different place.

How True Donald quite a few of my extended family existed thanks to Barbours and also Stewarts , Donald Im not sure how I arrived back at this old item, probably thanks to Barney but you make a very valid point ,Regards Ted

Hi Barney Thanks to our self I find myself browsing these old Forum topics from 2009 hard to believe its that long and the standard of the discussion I find brilliant , I thoroughly enjoyed your description of Fr McNamara with his **** to the fire it was then Brendan Fitzpatrick's room and it brings to mind one exam in particular if you remember there was a large picture actually it was more of a large roll that stretched along the back wall and it depicted great characters from the past, any how as Frank (RIP) described we were all lined up and my name was called for my question and of course I was gaping round at this mural and didn't hear my name called and of course Mc Namara give me a dressing down which was nothing to what McCavana give me when he got me back down to his class I had let the whole school down Etc Barney thanks for the laughs and the memories Regards Ted

After Posting the last article I browsed on down the list and I have found I have retold the same event Re the exam in question ! Definitely gives concern regarding the old memory please just give it a by ball thanks , Ted

Ted
I've had a very enjoyable half hour reading through the old posts. I now see that I was too cowardly to admit that several teachers were cruel *******s. The cane was much over-used. I wasn't present, but knew about Beardy beating his own son - Beardy was a nasty piece of work. I am less ashamed today to admit that when he left weals on my brother's thighs, my irate wee ma went up Chapel Hill and used foul and abusive language to the tyrant. There may still be a man or two alive who was there to witness that incident.
My brother Robert was a wee divil -he broke his thumb at the school break-in - but Beardy was over the top.