ex-merchant marine and ex-commercial radio operators were also provided with the means to listen for any illicit transmissions. Supporting this group were a number of hand- picked radio amateurs, small at first, but by the end of the war their numbers had increased to almost two thousand listeners. What will come as a shock and surprise to many, is the location from where all this additional listening was going on. Answer, within the homes of these men, working in absolute secrecy under the noses of their mothers and father, wives, families and friends. The excuse being that, although they were no longer permitted to transmit,t there was no law against listening in, and it was that smoke-screen that allowed the whole operation to continue in the shadows, so to speak. Unlike the professionals of the GPO, these retired and amateur listeners were unpaid and given the designation of Voluntary Interceptors (VIs). ‘Each of the VIs was allocated a frequency span which he was invited to trawl back and forward for a period of about two hours each day or night. Everything he could hear he recorded on to paper log sheets, and most of what he heard was sent in Morse Code. Nothing would escape his attention and all of this detail was sent to the RSS HQ where it was analysed. ‘As the process developed, VIs were instructed to concentrate their listening watches at specific times on specific frequencies. The Abwehr certainly didn’t make it easy for the VIs, regularly changing frequencies, times and days of transmission. ‘Assuming a VI had detected an Abwehr transmission from somewhere within the province of Northern Ireland, that detail would be passed to our full-time professionals at Gilnahirk who would then concentrate a 24/7 listening watch on that given frequency. Using various secret means, it wouldn’t be long before that individual spy would receive a visit from Military Intelligence. ‘This is where the brains of Ulsterman, John Herival, along with Alan Turing, Gordon Welshman and many others at Bletchley Park, would go to work to break that code and read the encrypted German message in the plain text. ‘In 1942, the civilian operation of the GPO was completely taken over by the RSS and, as a result, many of the former GPO staff finished one watch in their civilian clothes, but returned for the next watch wearing a Royal Signals Uniform. They were not in the army, but working for MI8c.’ ‘The Spies at Gilnahirk’ is available to purchase from Easons, Waterstones, Tesco and many other outlets across Northern Ireland. Alternatively, it can be obtained at http://www. cottage-publications.com/cgi-bin/ctg/ book/product.cgi?id=212.
New Waterways Heritage Centre in Toome Guests at the official launch of a new waterways heritage centre and café on the site of the former Lock Keeper’s cottage at Toome Canal.
Toome-based development group, TIDAL Ltd, has officially opened a new waterways heritage centre and café on the site of the former Lock-Keeper’s cottage at Toome Canal. The heritage centre is part of a regeneration programme, which focussed on the refurbishment of the cottage, quay and wider canal amenity area. It is also situated only four miles from the recently-regenerated Mid-Ulster village of Bellaghy, which has seen a resurgence in the number of visitors to the area thanks to the opening of Seamus Heaney’s HomePlace. The new centre houses a comprehensive interpretative display that covers the history of the canal and its importance as a gateway linking the north coast to the Lough, as well as information on the community, natural environmental and wider cultural and industrial heritage of the site. Conor Jordan, Chair of Lough Neagh Partnership and the Landscape Partnership Forum complemented all involved in the development and delivery of the Waterways Heritage Centre and Café. ‘This is an excellent example of how partnership working across the voluntary and statutory sectors can lead to the delivery of a new facility that helps promote a greater understanding of our landscape heritage whilst contributing to both the social and economic development of the wider Lough,’ he said. The Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland, Dawn Livingstone, praised the success of the partnership between the groups at Toome to bring this project to fruition. ‘Waterways Ireland, as the custodian of a number of unique heritage buildings along the waterways, welcomes opportunities to work alongside partners to give these historic buildings a modern and useful purpose,’ she said. ‘Today we see the outcome of one of these working partnerships with the beautiful restoration of this lockhouse to provide a hub for the community and an attraction for tourists to the River Bann and Lough Neagh.’ The new centre and café will be open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm and will be avail able for both organised group visits and day trippers.
82 Senior Times l September - October 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie
Lord Lieutenant of Antrim Mrs Joan Christie, Mayor of Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council Mr Paul Hamill and Tidal Chairperson Mr Johnson Laverty with Cllr Brian Duffin at the official launch of a new waterways heritage centre and café on the site of the former Lock Keeper’s cottage at Toome Canal.
Mayor’s Reception for local marathon runner Eugene Winters with Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Joan Baird, OBE.
A reception has been held in Cloonavin for marathon enthusiast, Eugene Winters. The 60-year-old, from Portstewart, completed his first marathon in Belfast five years ago. Since then, he has completed 300 official marathons in 300 weeks. The remarkable runner has taken part in all the ‘Marathon Majors’ including London, Boston, New York, Chicago and Tokyo. He has also been a regular ‘back to back’, ‘treble’ and ‘quad’ runner, running marathons two, three and four days in a row. ‘Eugene has achieved so much since he first took up marathon running,’ said Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Joan Baird, OBE. ‘His passion and enthusiasm is truly remarkable, and he hopes his success can inspire others to get active, no matter what age they are. ‘I would like to commend Eugene for his fundraising efforts, as he has raised vital funds for many worthwhile charities. I wish him all the best in his next marathon challenge.’