Down behind the Fountain

Fountain Street was an arterial route, which led from Bishop Street at one end, to Carlisle Road at the other, with smaller streets coming off it at right angles.

Some of those streets, Albert Street, Albert Place, Fountain Place, Victoria Street, Clarence Place and Hemptons Close are now gone forever with only parts of Hawkin Street and Wapping Lane remaining as a reminder of the way life used to be in the area.

Made up primarily of rows of two or one and a half storey terraced houses, it could not have been described as a prime situation for desirable residences, such as those developed nowadays.

It did however home the warm hearted, proud and extraordinary people who lived there and contributed to the character of the area, a character difficult to find in the modern day.

Whatever facilities existed there, and there were very few, were enough to allow for everyday existence and few found little need to stray from within its confines.

Five minutes walk from any given point there were three schools, First Derry, Cathedral and Carlisle Road, four shops, one butcher, a bakery, a fish and chip shop and five public houses.

Children had no play facilities except for the streets or, depending on their age, Riverview Park where they could fall foul of the "parkie", Mr McDermott, who did not allow any type of rowdy behaviour inside his domain.

There were of course the city walls where the children could play football without the fear of breaking windows but when the ball flew over the walls into the back yards of the residents the interest in the game often waned.

The slow summers when it always seemed to be sunny were relieved by the excitement of celebrating our heritage by recalling the exploits of King William III and the 13 Apprentice Boys.

Of course there were continual reminders of our historical past with the murals on the walls of Clarence Place and Victoria Street but despite these politics and religion were not burning issues among the young.

Activity

During the months of July and August there was a different mood in the area, a fever of activity that preceded the celebrations of the two main days within the Protestant and Unionist community. The Twelfth of July when the Orange Order celebrated William's victory over James at the Battle of the Boyne and the Twelfth of August when the Apprentice Boys celebrated the Relief of the city.

Everyone, old and young alike busied themselves preparing for the impending celebrations and old and young began their allotted responsibilities. For the young people, politics was about which street was going to have the biggest bonfire, and the main cause for excitement was that they could stay up longer in the evenings and even longer on the nights of celebration.

In Victoria Street where I lived and therefore biased, Maggie Temple collected sixpence a week from every household to pay for the bunting and whatever else was needed to decorate the street as grown ups too had their own competition to have the best decorations and we always succeeded in being the best. Every house gave their sixpence a week, except one, where the lady, a rather argumentative and disagreeable type refused to become involved, "a real bad un", as she was described. She paid the penalty by not having any bunting tied to her guttering.

During the weeks before the events the youth collected any old materials they could including furniture, types, wood or whatever was combustible and perhaps in ways contributed to today's greenhouse effect.

Protect

There were normally three fires in the area, one in the upper Fountain, the lower Fountain and one in Wapping Lane and any child that was allowed to spent their days clearing the neighbourhood of any unwanted waste while others stood guard over whatever.

they had gathered to protect it from pillagers from the two other sites. Many ran the gauntlet with their spoils as they had to pass a rival site to get to their own and all in all it was times of fun, sometimes we didn't laugh though if we were robbed by our rivals.

A week before the big day, the street decorations began to appear. For July there was red, white and blue bunting and for the August celebrations, which were more localised and so given special consideration the bunting was changed to Mitchelburn's Crimson.

Collected

The money collected throughout the year was used to have flag holders made in Brown's Foundry in Foyle Street and these were connected to the walls of the houses, except the "bad un" and these held either the Union Flag or the crimson one.

Lights were strung across the streets and for the summer months at least the area took on a resort appearance when the glow of the many colours overtook the bland grey of the rooftops and the dull redness of the brickwork.

Every house was given an extra cleaning from top to bottom in readiness for the many visitors who came to or passed through the little streets during the celebrations and the lights reflected in the glass in the windows.

At the top of Victoria Street where Albert Wright had painted a mural of William crossing the Boyne on Harry Ferguson's gable, a flood light lit up the scene to show it off to its best advantage.

In the upper Fountain a giant picture of the Queen was also illuminated on Maud Hunter's wall and could be seen from both ends of Fountain Street.

At the lower end as well, Bobby Jackson's famous murals also received a touch up for the big days and there too were the bunting and lights that had become synonymous with the area and attracted so many visitors.

The little street also had a replica of St Columb's Cathedral sitting on scaffolding from which hymns were played continually and beside it was a glass cabinet that held a replica of the Coronation crown.

Crown

A crown, atop an open Bible on a stand that was surrounded by religious texts was also a feature in the Lower Fountain, and owner, Billy Burton, made sure that the hymns being played from it reminded the residents and visitors of the religious implications of William's victory.

Many would have seen the spectacle, as a visit to the Fountain was obligatory on those occasions by many in the city, including those of the Roman Catholic religion.

On the eve of the Twelfth the salvage was dragged out into the middle of the street much to the chagrin of the Archibald family as every year, without fail, the heat from the fire melted the telephone cables to their home and they had to wait weeks for it to be repaired. Being one of the few families in the area who had a telephone it also caused difficulty for those neighbours who used the facility as well.

Exploded

By early evening, Tommy Martin's, Vincent Gormley's and Kelly's pubs were full and by closing time at 10.30pm the fires were already blazing away.

There was music and dancing till the early hours of the morning and the merrymaking was often punctuated by screams of the female residents as a squib, thrown by the youths exploded beside them.

Fireworks were readily available and any spare pennies that could be saved over the previous weeks were spent in James Gallagher's shop in Bishop Street to buy them.

By midnight everyone was tired and except for a few stragglers most people made their way home and to bed and the little streets, resplendent in their coloured lights and the arches that had been erected at their ends with their coloured bows, began to empty the residents preparing themselves for the day to come.

Of all the memories that remain of that time, smell of bonfires smouldering as the bells of St Columb's Cathedral heralding the next day are the most vivid.

There were of course the bands, the music, the laughter and the dancing but, in an area that was, in retrospect, socially deprived, the day was mostly an opportunity to revel in pageantry and escapism. I never saw a coat trailed or knew the word "triumphalism".

Graffiti

Wall paintings were few and by no means as military as they are today. Modern day graffiti is more violent from both sides of the community; it has taken away the character of the area. Is it not better to recall an historical fact that caused so much change in world history than an act that served little purpose in the great scheme of things other than bringing unnecessary heartache to an individual family? The redevelopment of the area was long needed but do high-rise maisonettes really substitute for the character of rows of red brick houses with grey roofs that had been the signature of the Fountain of old. While in many ways the residents that stayed after the redevelopment have carried on the traditions of old and show the same virtues their forebears did, hospitality, caring and pride in who they are, it seems that something has gone, something that only remains in many memories.

This being the case, the Fountain will always be "home" to the many who were born there, wherever they are in the world.