Do you pay £900 for a pair of boots or shoes? Do you know anyone who does? And we're not talking here of female film stars with exotic tastes, just you and your circle. Well, there is a man who is kept busy supplying the same to home clients, to Japan, the United States and Australia. All made by hand in his workshop in Rostrevor, Co Down. He is Gerry Brady. We find in the magazine Omnibus that "His is the achievement of tradition. He spurns the cheaper, mechanised methods of mass footwear to make only bespoke orders. With many repeats. There are some unusual questions of taste: such as a pair of long boots made from giraffe skins with hairs still sticking out. Bristles from wild boars are used as needles (honest ?) and linen hemp for sewing thread. After 25 years in the business, Gerry says "Fashions come and go in footwear, but my style is classic, made the traditional way to last a long time." Indeed there is a famous Belfast journalist who always had his shoes made in the city and, though long retired, he is still wearing his favourite pairs, all in fine condition. Boar hairs were mentioned and so (still with Omnibus) on to Jilly Acheson and her boars at Moyallen Foods near Lurgan, Co Armagh. She farms them along with other animals and declares she is in the business of "ethical farming," for "intensive farming is horrible; we try to keep everything as natural as possible." And, with another 1,000 family acres in Fermanagh at her disposal, she has plenty of room. Veterinary inspection every day. She admits to being a carnivore "but I have a weakness for raspberry jam on toast with melted goat's cheese." The magazine, very glossy, very colourful, is published by The Northern Ireland Information Service at Stormont, edited by Maggie Stanfield.
It has a longish, well-illustrated article about Derry "A Bitter Choice" with a line saying that if you haven't visited the city in the last 30 years there are major surprises in store. The article ends. "Now it seems the tide is turning. Derry, the last walled city to be built in Western Europe, is undergoing a renaissance, bringing vivacity and life onto its streets, and excitement into the arts and culture." Much else: The Friar's Bush, about a remarkable graveyard; an amazing pub. Go and see, Portaferry, Belfast, Lurgan, Derry, Rostrevor. (The pub is Bittles, near the Law Courts.)