Bellaghy Historical Society held the first meeting of its fourth season as a society on Tuesday last, at its usual venue. The Old School Centre, Castle Street, Bellaghy.

The speaker for the evening was Mrs Muriel Bell from Magherafelt who spoke on A Look Back at Castledawson. A very large audience listened attentively as she displayed and explained the many slides of Castledawson as it used to be with some comparative pictures of the same sites and buildings as they are now.

Her material covered all angles of the streets, the village churches and factories and the houses of note which existed in and around the village.

Pictures of the bridges over the Moyola river were included with impressive slides of the large weir built in 1823. Mrs Bell gave most interesting information about families who had occupied the houses, and those who had given employment in the area.

She concluded her talk with a brief history of the Graves family of Gravesend, now the Club House on the Golf Course and the Dawson family who had built Moyola Park and the estate chapel, later to become Christ Church.

Thanking the speaker, the Chairperson, Mrs. Mary Breslin reminded members of the book life in the Past which the society had produced, and of which there are a few copies left and added that she looked forward to welcoming them all again on 11th November, when Mr. Alec Blair, the well known broadcaster, will speak on Past Diversions and Entertainments of the Ulster Countryside.

Guest speaker at the October meeting Mrs Muriel Bell from Magherafelt who spoke on A Look Back at Castledawson.   (Below) A few photographs that were taken at the meeting.