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September  2009

The old Railway Bridge Regular readers will know that we like to show some old photographs of Limavady, if we get the chance. Here is one of the old railway bridge. To the right of the bridge one can just make out the railway station. Younger readers may like to know that this area is now known as lower Main Street.

Strange planes over Limavady Our editor happened to point his eyes skywards the other day, when he spotted  two planes flying  by. It looked suspiciously like two people were standing on the wings enjoying some fresh air. Instant doubts of his own sanity crossed his mind, when it suddenly dawned on the poor man, that the Portrush air show was opening the next day. Two of the participants had obviously decided to walk to work.

Airbus A380 over Limavady The people in the Roe Valley could take a real good long look at the Airbus A380 - the biggest passenger plane on the planet, even before it made an appearance at the Portrush air show. The huge plane flew over Benevenagh and headed to towards the City of Derry Airport. The landing gear was extended, because the plane made a simulated landing approach at Eglinton, before turning  and heading along Lough Foyle towards Portrush. This was the first appearance of this type of plane in Northern Ireland. We have to apologize for the poor quality of the photograph on the left, but visibility was terrible. A video recording of the historic event can be seen                                              via this link

Famous fighter ace stays in Limavady Meet June and Neil Eddins, who live in Las Vegas and stayed in Limavady at the beginning of the month. June has ancestors who came from Limavady and is keen to find out anything about the McCaugheys of the Roe Valley. If any reader would like to share information about this family, please contact the editor for June's address. Retired Major General Neil Eddins served with the US Air Force and at one time commanded the famous Thunderbirds, the aerial display team of the USAF. Both enjoyed their stay in Limavady very much.

The Limavady air space The air above the valley is quite busy most of the time - planes coming in to land in Eglinton, a major air corridor filled with intercontinental air traffic and lots of gliders being towed all over Benevenagh. But during the time of the Portrush air show it has been particularly active up there - pilot-wise. For those who have missed some of this excitement, we have prepared a little video clip showing some of the planes. Just click on this link  to watch the Roe Valley Air Display.

The 1911 census returns Some of our readers may be interested to know that the National Irish Archive has made the returns of the 1911 census available on line. As you can examine scans of the actual return forms, it is quite possible to study the handwriting of your great grandfather in close detail. Below are links to both the Limavady urban townlands and the Londonderry townlands, giving access to the rural townlands of the area. Limavady urban area Londonderry townlands

Major development at the edge of town This photograph was taken from the balcony of the rugby club building. We amused ourselves with guessing what the purpose of this expansive activity might be. This is what we have come up with so far: Just another housing estate. An extra large rugby field The economic climate being what it is: A large field for emergency spuds. A level cricket field A close to town caravan park. We have rejected the idea that this might one day be the City of Limavady airport - the site is far too big.

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