Pork and Football

George V was on the throne and the Great War was still raging when this photograph was taken. Was the Commercial League a precursor of Londonderry's current amateur league? Perhaps so.

For most of the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century Londonderry's pork trade was the main provider of male jobs in the City, certainly on a consistent basis. The majority of the pork stores were concentrated along Foyle Street. At the tine this photograph was taken the largest of these were Buchanan Bros, Mark Roulston & McLaughlin and Biggers Ltd. The individual second from the left on the back row, (W Carruthers), hailed from Culmore and was an employee of Biggers Ltd.

A Victorian Childhood.

When I look at this photograph I always think that there is a huge age difference between the subjects. Is it an old father or a young grandfather with their son or grandson? Tis neither. The occasion of the photograph was the tenth birthday of the young schoolboy and his fellow subject is his elder brother (by sixteen years), William. I suspect that today's twenty six year olds would be slightly concerned if they looked as aged! It is almost one hundred and thirty years since this photograph was taken in the garden of, "Church View,"  Ballyshannon. The certainty of nineteenth century values has withered away. Brexit was not an issue for my ten year old grandfather.