Lifford in the good old days
Still writing this memoir for my sons I wonder how I could bring the town alive for them as it had been for me in the 60s.
Different things came to mind; walking across the old stone bridge, the fishermen standing up to their thighs in a pair of ‘waders’ casting a net in the hope of catching a salmon.
The Customs Post with the cattle Lorries lined head to toe as the drivers waited for their documents to be stamped before they could cross the border. And the cows lowing forlornly – the smell of mature as you passed wafting up your nose.
The hum of voices and the clink of glasses when you passed the window of Bannigan’s bar .And the men holding up Harte’s corner, smoking and putting the world to right. Or the music drifting out into the street as the door in the Central as the door was momentarily push open.
The shops with their sweets, Peggy legs and stock of rock ‘a present from Lifford’ blazed through it.And a ‘poke’ of ice-cream smothered in strawberry topping dripping down your chin before you could get it all wolfed down.
The Ritz Cinema with its Sunday matinee and the thunderous stamping of punters feet and wild cat calling when the film broke down halfway through just as the Indians were about to scalp the cowboys! And all the youngsters were screaming at the top of their lungs, ’He’s behind you. He’s behind you”
The tempting aroma of fish and chips as it drifted out from Katy’s and Canning cafes and the quiet ambience of Barney Boyle’s tearoom.
The stories about Lifford goal in the bad old days and half hung MacNagthan and present day tales of smuggling the fags and tobacco and maybe a wee bit of butter, tea and sugar if the Custom’s man had a heart and didn’t disturb the sleeping child knowing full well it was hidden behind the baby’s pillow.
And I must not neglect to tell my boys that it was in Lifford I met their father. The first time I clapped eyes on him he and his friend Henry were firing money into the jukebox in our café and snapping their fingers to Buddy Holly’s ‘ love you Peggy Sue…:
Peggy Sue hadn’t a chance. A few twirls around the Orchid Ballroom in the Diamond – as they say – the rest is history.
Gemma Hill June 2018
Gemma Hill Writeyou Writeme 