I believe its the people that make a place worth living in and Magherafelt townspeople are, as they say themselves, “hard to beat.”
Four years ago the Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide for Northern Ireland, named the South Derry town as one of the top three places to live, alongside the likes of Holywood and Strangford Lough area.
The judges decribed Magherafelt as “surpremely practical.”
Well, I suppose it does have a bit of everything going for it: schools and colleges, shops, restaurants and the people get on well.
It’s a short drive to the main cities – a few miles from the natural beauty of Lough Neagh and it has the Sperrin hills as a backdrop.
It had a thriving manufacturing industry once but shirt factories like Peter England eventually closed and were never replaced.
Even our hospital was downgraded.
Here are 8 reasons I love living in Magherafelt.
1. Polepatrick Park and Cemetery
Polepatrick Park & Cemetery - probably the most loved public attraction in the town. It's wooded walks and flowers - dancing daffodils in the Spring - are always stunning and its well kept and maintained by Mid Ulster Council staff. Testimony of how much it is loved is reflected in the number of summer seats donated by local people who walked and loved the park while they were alive. At one point the site was earmarked for a hotel, but the pressing need for a public cemetery in Magherafelt tipped the balance in favour of a park/cemetery. Photo: National World
2. Old Library
I got my first books out of the old Library at Queens Avenue in Magherafelt. There were no computers back then, just books and if they didn't have the one you were after it was ordered in from Ballymena Central. The library was attached to the former Magherafelt District Council offices. Many long hours were spent reading and looking out over the long stretch of grass which reached down to the Primary School. Photo: Google
3. Meadowbank Sports Arena
I love this building. There was nowhere to athletes to train in Magherafelt and if they wanted track traning they had to travel. Then along came Meadowbank Arena. It a huge attraction for sportspeople as it is one of the best multisport facilities in the country and included an indoor and outdoor running track. Photo: National World
4. Play park
Many enjoyable times were spent kicking a ball around Stoney Park, as it was known locally, just off Queens Avenue. Nowadays it's called Spires Park and is home to Magherafelt Sky Blues FC. It was once nothing more than a field and before the Greevale housing estate was built, the cows would have watched the youngsters - many of them dreaming of being the next George Best - playing it out to all hours of the night. The embankment and wall beside the garages in Queens Avenue acted as the 'grandstand' for the spectators watching the Reds play on a Friday evening. Photo: Google