Steeple Veterans flute band is a part-time band drawing on “veterans” or “old boys” of the Steeple Defenders (which used to have a board nearby). The “older but no wiser” tag-line is exemplified by the fact that they dress up in costume each 12th for the return leg of the day– in 2023 they adopted Jurassic Park as their theme, with members dressed as dinosaurs, park rangers, and explorers. The black ribbons in the bottom corners are perhaps in memory of member David Johnston, who died last year (2023) (Belfast Live | BelTel).
Also included (below) is a tribute to Elizabeth II on the occasion of her platinum jubilee, a few months before she passed away in September, 2022, added next to the Somme mural seen in Ulster Volunteer Forces.
‘Four Lads Had A Dream’ is the name of Rangers song (youtube) but here the dream is not “to start a team” in Glasgow but to start a flute band in Monkstown, Newtownabbey. The result of the efforts of the four men – John Black, Freddie Maltman, Brian Crothers, Trevor Wilson – was Monkstown YCV flute band (Fb), formed in 1974 and so celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, 2024. To mark the occasion, the band has installed the series of boards shown here along a low wall in Cloyne Crescent; it will also visit the Somme and play at the Last Post ceremony which takes place at eight every evening at the Menin Gate (web).
The information board is transcribed (verbatim) at the bottom of this entry. A Bo Kerr from Rathcoole is also mentioned in the creation of also mentioned in the creation of the KAI tartans in Rathcoole – see the IWM link in The Famous.
The board showing words from a soldier’s diary, along with an image of soldiers marching, also appeared in the Village, south Belfast – see May I Never Hear Such Cries Again.
“Four lads had a Dream. Back in 1974, a group of lads were having a card school in the old rent office in Abbeytown Square. One of the lads, John Black, asked they group if they would go with him to meet Billy Greer about asking for help to start up a band. Freddie Maltman, Brian Crothers and Trevor Wilson all agreed to accompany him. So off they went to see Billy Greer, who gave them a look of disbelief and replied “son, do you realise what it would take to do this?” John replied “no.” After a while, Billy Greer said “leave it with me, I will go and get back to you.” A couple of weeks later, the lads once again met with Billy Greer, and he introduced them to a man named Robert ‘Bo’ Kerr.
The following week, Robert had brought a book with him and the amount of names in it was amazing. A lot of the people in the book were from Rathcoole. At this stage, Robert also brought down his brother, Brian ‘Bo’ Kerr, to help. The band managed to get a lend of some old side drums, some flutes and a bass drum. Roberts father also repaired some flutes for them. A lot of fundraising followed, such as street collections in the Monkstown area, and the community was very generous to the cause of the band. Robert ‘Bo’ Kerr was due to get married that year and he gave up his wedding fund money towards the purchase of four new side drums from Matchetts in Belfast and a bass drum from Willy Hewitts over in Sandy Row.
The bands first parade was an invite to Glenarm where Hughy Brown was the first band captain. The band numbers were rising, but it didn’t take too long to see who was going to make it and who wasn’t, and therefore the numbers fell slightly. John Black for one learnt his lessons very quickly to never lie to the band captain. Hughy Brown gave all the fluters a tune to learn at home, the next week they all arrived at practice and Hughy went along and asked, one by one, “well lads, did you learn The Ducks for me this week?” And they all replied “yes.” He picked out John Black to stand on the chair and play it. That was him in the bad books straight away as he had told lies and hadn’t learnt it! Hughy went mad and told him “Blackie, never in your life waste my time again if you want to stay in this band, don’t come back next week if you haven’t learnt what I give you!” After that, the flute corps was second to none.
Throughout the years the band has had its ups and downs like every other band we lost quite a few members due to being incarcerated during the troubles or by passing away. However, over the past few years we have went from strength to strength! The hard work and dedication from our members is second to none, with some of our members travelling from various locations in Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Shankill, East Belfast, Scotland and Liverpool.
This year 2024 we will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary with the purchase of a new uniform and a pilgrimage to the Battlefields of the Somme, culminating in playing at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, this will be one of the milestones that Monkstown will proudly mark.”
“The Battle Of Messines June 1917. Men from the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and Royal Irish Rifles celebrating their victory at Wytschaete.”
“We surge forward. Bayonets sparkle and glint. Cries and curses rent the air. Chums fall, some without a word … and others … Oh, my God! May I never hear such cries again! There goes the YCV flag tied to the muzzle of a rifle. That man had nerve! Through the road just ahead of us we had crossed the sunken road. We could see khaki figures rushing the German front line. The Inniskillings had got at them.”
Queen Elizabeth II died, aged 96, on September 8th, 2022, and is now (according to this board) queen of the angels in heaven (Matthew 28:2), which perhaps allows her to send other angels to Earth (Matthew 24:31) to deliver messages to chosen people.
Also included (below) from the same street is a memorial tarp to British soldiers in the Great War and WWII, including Vickers machine guns, Spitfire aeroplanes, and a WWI tank (perhaps a Mark V (Tank Museum)).
Here is a survey of PUL boards (from left to right) at the shops in the centre of the village of Moygashel, just south of Dungannon.
First is a British Army soldier in a firing position. Compare this board to Now Is The Time To Kneel in Clonduff, Castlereagh, which suggested that the time for soldiers to kneel was in mourning for Queen Elizabeth.
The subject of the second image is obscure. Vanguard as a political and activist group dissolved in 1977 (WP) and the name and emblem have been taken up by the Vanguard Bears, a Rangers supporters’ club (see e.g. Defending Our Traditions).
Third is a children’s mural, produced (in part) by children from Howard primary school.
The ‘Time To Decide’ and UDR 8th (Co. Tyrone) battalion roll of honour were seen previously, alongside two others which are now absent, in Belfast Agreement Null & Void.
Beyond those is a tarp celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee, in 2022.
Finally, a Moygashel Youth Club (Fb) mural in disrepair.
153 men of the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (which included men from Ballymena and other Central Antrim Volunteers) died on the first day of the Battle Of The Somme, July 1st, 1916, as they and the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers attempted to take German trenches near Beaucourt railway station (Royal Irish). According to the account of the movements of the 12th Royal Irish Rifles by Des Blackadder on the Great War Forum, “they were cut down like corn before a scythe”. In all, more than 2,000 men from the 36th Division were killed that day (WP).
The new mural in Drumtara, Ballymena, was painted by Craig Gilmore, who also did the recent tribute to Elizabeth II (see The Crown) (Ballymena Guardian article on the mural, also by Blackadder). The cut-outs (in the third image) are on a wall at the bottom of the estate; the machine-gunner is unusual.
The corner at Limestone Road and North Queen Street has been finding a biblical passage to express the jubilations and tribulations of God’s chosen people since 2016, when Revelations 18:4 was cited on the gable wall in support of Brexit; in 2021 this was changed to Psalms 95:7 – visible in the images in the wide shot, below – in reference to the chosen people’s soccer team, Rangers.
The lower wall used Genesis 38:28 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (2017), along with Luke 1:31-33 and 2 Samuel 7:16 to proclaim the everlasting Christian order; then in 2018 John 15:13 was used to mark the centenary of armistice that ended WWI in 1918; and in 2020 2 Chronicles 7:14 was deployed as an exhortation to pray to the Lord for relief from Covid-19.
And this brings us to the newest quotation, which places an Israeli flag above Lamentations 5:1-2: “Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace./Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners” (NIV). The lamentation is for Jerusalem, which in 589-586 BCE was besieged and overrun by the Babylonians and the Jews exiled to Babylon. The present-day analogue would presumably be the Hamas attacks on October 7th, 2023, against communities and bases near the Gaza Strip, in which around 1,200 people were killed (Reuters) and approximately 240 people were taken hostage (NYTimes).
It is not clear whether a further analogy with the Protestants of Northern Ireland is intended. This one might be simply to express support with the Israelis.
“No sovereignty = no control”. Great Britain and the European Union combine to push Ireland through the grinder for American profit. This mural is a cartoon by Carlos Latuff (ig) reproduced by 32CSM (web) on Divis Street, Belfast.
“It is not for riches, fame or glory that we remain in the shadows of our community , but for its protection.”
These words are echoed on the central stone in the garden of reflection, with adjacent North Down UDA roll of honour: “‘Who shall separate us?’ Right up to the present day, these words have been the inspiration and motivation of numerous men and women to serve, fight and die for the defence of their homeland, its people and its heritage. This selfless action is not for riches, fame or glory, but is freely given out of a love of freedom, commitment to the faith and culture of our nation, and a desire that all future generation in all communities can live in peace.”
Movilla Street and Wallace’s Street, off Upper Movilla Street. “Loyalist Movilla” in Newtownards.
Carson, Crawford, and Craig are lionised as resisters of devolvement of Ireland to Dublin in the early twentieth century. Despite calling Home Rule “the most nefarious conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people” and vowing to fight it by “all means necessary”, including the Ulster Volunteers armed by Crawford’s “guns for Ulster”, Edward Carson “warned Ulster Unionist leaders not to alienate norther Catholics, as he foresaw this would make Northern Ireland unstable.”
Paddy Duffy Collection 