Mill statue plan - what do you think?

Local man Johnny Macrory thinks it's time that a fitting memorial to Ballymena's millworkers should be erected in the town. Read on and tell us what you think of his idea.

Johnny wrote:-

SIR - In these changing times in Ballymena, are we in danger of losing contact with our history?

Sadly, we can no longer show visitors the famous Seven Towers and, as development continues, as it should do in any town with progressive attitudes, we are sure to lose even more of our local landmarks.

As the son of a 'Mill family' - one of a huge number of such families who still reside in this town - I am perplexed that we do not have some meaningful monument to those whose labour truly built the foundations of the town we have today.

The Braidwater Mill, for all its faults, was a bedrock insititution of Ballymena. It brought hundreds, maybe thousands of people to live in this area and their descendants have played a vital role in business, education and industry over the years.

The men, women and children whose toil and sweat generated the money on which the shops and services of this town were initially built, are, in my opinion, worthy of memory.

They lived in cramped conditions, working long hours for wages which, to the mind of a member of modern society, would be a pittance. But without the work offered by 'The Mill', things would have been so much worse.

I would propose that a monument, perhaps a bronze statue of a man and woman dressed in the clothing of the early 20th century period when the Mill's workforce was at its peak, should be erected in the vicinity of the modern day retail park which now stands on the old Mill site.

There is a patch of green grass just at the traffic lights which would be an ideal location for such a monument. The addition of a few flower beds, pots and paths would enhance the overall picture.

With so many people now interested in family history and the concept of 'cultural tourism' now coming to the fore, such a monument would provide an ideal focal point.

I would like to see how other readers of your newspaper respond to this suggestion and I would encourage them to write in with their point of view.

Yours etc

Johnny Macrory

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