“Japanese prisoner of war and inventor of the portable defibrillator” – Frank Pantridge was born and died in Hillsborough, outside Lisburn and there is a statue of Pantridge with a defibrillator – his key invention – at the Lisburn Civic Centre and he is now remembered by this pair of printed boards on the Shore Road, unveiled on August 16th. He is also included in the nearby gallery of Great Ulster-Scots.
“Major Frank Pantridge, MC, ‘Ulster Hero’. Around the world tens of thousands of people have survived cardiac arrest, this would not have been possible without Professor Frank Pantridge surviving almost 4 years in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp. On the outbreak of WW2 Frank and colleagues at Belfast Royal Victoria Hospital enlisted in the British Army, taken prisoner in 1942 he endured horrendous conditions and deprivation. Frank won the Military Cross. His citation read “Frank was absolutely cool under the heaviest fire, completely regardless of his own personal safety at all times.” Returning to the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1945, basically as a walking skeleton he dedicated his life to treating heart disease, going on to invent the worlds first portable defibrillator in Belfast in 1965 saving the lives of countless men, women and children including Lyndon Johnston. A portrait of Frank initiated by Dame Many Peter’s hangs in Queens University and a statue of Frank sits proudly in the grounds of Lagan Valley Civic Centre.”
Latharna House – the last remaining of three tower-blocks in Larne – is still standing, despite plans to demolish it in 2022 (Belfast Live) and in 2024 (NI World) and in 2025 (NI World). While awaiting its ultimate demise, it serves as a canvas for writers (including AKSEL and ANCO) and an advertising hoarding for the recent Hit The Coast festival – full gallery here.
Work on the “New Life” (New Life City church – Fb) concrete relief on the Cupar Way “peace” line (war wall) at the North Howard Street gates has been completed – with brightly coloured paints and a pair of plaques below the cross that read “The first 3D cement peace fresco on a Belfast dividing wall. Created by local artist Debbie Hutchings ‘Irish Angel’. The for the amazing help of ECC Builders. Created on behalf of New Life City Church. Dedicated by Pastor Johnny McKee with young people & others from New Life City Church from both sides of the wall. Thursday 14th August 2025. ‘He is our peace who has destroyed the dividing wall between us’ Eph. 2.14.”
There are in-progress images below from August 3rd and July 6th. For images from May 11th and May 1st, see The Wind Blows As It Chooses.
This is a colourful new mural painted by Cha Cha (Carla Hodgson) (ig) and local children at the Bankmore end of Maryville Street (BBC). Local landmarks (from left to right) include Nuala With The Hula (a.k.a. Beacon Of Hope), Broadcasting House, Samson and Goliath, the Albert clock, and the Big Fish, all in a garden of grass and flowers.
This board in Donegall Pass mashes together not only Linfield and Rangers, but a Union Flag and Ulster Banner, and soccer with WWI soldiers making their way through barbed wire.
This image of King Billy crossing the Boyne in 1690 is on the No Surrender lodge (LOL 241) in Donaghadee. King William III’s victory in Ireland is celebrated annually on July 12th, with parades and gatherings of fraternal lodges and flute bands.
William’s victory is joined here by a number of small boards commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory In Europe, on May 8th, 1945, “remembered with pride” by Orange lodges 241 and 836 (Brother Henry Ferguson Memorial), Royal Black Preceptory 768 (Ulster), and Flutes And Drums Donaghadee (Fb).
Manor Street, Donaghadee, replacing two Platinum Jubilee boards.
These two boards in the West Winds estate, Newtownards, were removed by the NIHE in May (BelTel) but restored in August (News Letter). One (above and immediately below) is from the First Newtownards Somme & Historical Society (old Fb page) and the other from the “East Belfast And North Down Veterans’ Association”, which does not appear to have an on-line presence.
The original NIHE statement cited in the BelTel piece mentions both the removal of paramilitary imagery and boards being placed on NIHE properties without permission. A meeting took place between the NIHE and the Somme Society which secured the return of the pieces (News Letter) and in August they were mounted again.
Blenheim Drive, Newtownards. Also included is the Society’s board on the Dakota Avenue shops.
West Winds received its first residents back in 1970 but celebrations of the estate’s fiftieth anniversary were made impossible by the coronavirus lockdown (Supporting Communities). The long board shown here – official title “West Winds Through The Decades” – was launched in 2022 and recounts the development of the estate and the institutions that support it.
Here (from the Fb group 50 Years Of West Winds) is an image of the area before development, which began with Canberra Gardens and the houses along the bottom of Blenheim Drive. The streets are named after RAF aircraft, as illustrated by the second panel.
The third panel gives “A Brief History Of The Estate” (included below) while others describe West Winds primary school, First Newtownards Somme & Historical Society, Scrabo Presbyterian church, West Winds Community Centre, Towerview adult care, Little Doves childcare centre.
In Shackleton Walk, with support from the Housing Executive and West Winds Development Association (Fb).
“The first sod cut early 1969 and the initial tenants hailing from the Oldpark, Shankill, Ardoyne and Newtownards Road areas, arrived under Scrabo Hill to the new West Winds Estate in January of 1970. With the close location to Ards Airport, the street names were derived from RAF military aircraft which were used in WW2 through to the early stages of the Cold War. With the initial streets being Blenheim Drive and Canberra Gardens, this eventually developed into the wider estate as it is today with the help of a Residents’ Association and the Estate being taken under the wing of the newly formed Housing Executive, the street designers’ road layout provided a clear flight path to the airport in the growing roads. The Estate was planted with trees to reduce the strong winds prevalent in the area. Hence the name. Early tenants of note included the parents of Sir James Galway, ‘The Man with the Golden Flute’ and Lt Col Simon Nichols MBE, who instructed our future King, Prince William, and his younger brother Prince Harry at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. The Tenants’ Association, formed by John McClelland in 1972 as Chairman and Miss Ruth Irvine as Secretary and assisted by other members including Miss Pat Shirley, Deaconess of the local church and Mr James Ingram began work in earnest with the development of the community centre, a sports complex with two football pitches, a tennis court, a hockey pitch, a playground, improved street lighting and a bus service for the growing number of tenants. There was also the West Winds Roadhouse Hotel, initially a part of the Officers’ Mess during the Second World War. It wasn’t long before the Towerview Resource Centre and Loch Cuan Nursing Facility were built. Both are still in operation today, with The Apex Housing Association taking over Loch Cuan, which now includes a supportive living complex on the grounds. In 1997 the West Winds Residents’ Association became active working with the local Housing Executive and various other statutory bodies to continue upgrading the Estate. Funded by SPOD [Small Pockets Of Deprivation] They are now now known as the West Winds Development Association and have been involved for the last 25 years, in Youth Clubs, Pensioners’ Clubs, upgrading of the park, formation of a ‘MUGA’ pitch, fun days, addressing housing problems, community gardens, teenage drop in, girls’ groups, boys’ groups, raised beds, Christmas Parties and numerous other activities and events to mention but not forgetting, the day to day striving to make the Estate a better place in which to live.”
Paddy Duffy Collection 