Lenaderg’s famous corner post office – also known as Roy Martin’s Post Office – has received a new lease of life with a tastefully rendered refurbishment led by a Banbridge native with fond memories of the site.
Situated near the Huntly Road junction with the Lurgan Road in Banbridge, lies the famous former post office premises. It’s red brick fronting, traditional red phone box and black and white hand-painted sign emblazoned with ‘H.J. Martin, Provisions, Grocers, Lenaderg’ has become a recognisable feature of the area for many generations.
The post office itself is connected to several townhouses known as Dandy Row and was first established in the 1800s as the former mill town began to expand.
It changed hands a number of times over the years but the most recent Post Master was Roy Martin, who passed away in 2020, in his 95th year.
Following a fire that gutted the building many years ago, it sadly lay empty in a state of near dereliction.
However, the former post office building and three units on Dandy Row have once again come under new ownership at the hands of full-time farmer and Banbridge native, Clifford Carswell.
Since purchasing the premises just over a year ago, Clifford – who now lives in Newtownards but has plans to eventually return to his hometown – has enlisted the help of a team of tradesmen and brother, Victor to restore the building to its former glory and put it back into productive use.
Like many in the area, he has fond memories of the building and this certainly had a hand in his decision making when it entered the property market for sale.
The red phone box and renovation works on the exterior of the property
Speaking to Armagh I, Clifford explained: “Three years ago it had been sold to another builder and I have houses on that road so I was driving past in July 2024 and it was back up for sale.
“I put an offer in and it was accepted.”
But it wasn’t really the buildings that swung the decision to buy. Rather, it was the red phone box that sealed the deal.
Coyly, Clifford added: “I was about 19 years old and going to New Zealand but I remember Bob Geldof and a lot of other musicians were doing a concert for Live Aid in Wembley in July.
“But I was getting ready to head off and I had left a local girl to the phone box in the middle of that night. She went her way and I went mine and we never saw each other ever since.
“When I saw the whole place was for sale I contacted the agent and I said, “Does the phone box come for sale with the property”, she confirmed that it did and I said, “Well I would have no interest in the place unless it has the phone box”.
“There are 1,000 people who have got wee anecdotes and stories relating to that post office and things that they remember.”
And renovation of the property has been as much a labour of love as the sentimental anecdote that sparked its purchase – despite all the inevitable hurdles and challenges that come with refurbishing a long disused and fire-damaged property.
“Everything about it was rotten,” said Clifford. “Someone from the Historic Environment Division came in and said I had to repair windows and keep as much as I could but there was nothing really repairable.
“You can’t repair rotten stuff. There was a leak. The whole ceiling had came down years ago. There was a robbery and a fire and it was never really repaired 100%.
“Where Roy would have stood in the shop was just inundated with water and water had come up through the wet ground and subsidence had taken place.
“It was just decaying and decaying but everybody was just happy to do nothing if you know what I mean?
“It was just standing on sticks and when I took the roof off on July the walls were just wobbling. All it is is two rows of bricks and it was one thing holding up another thing.”
However, Clifford attests he has done all he can to adhere to maintain the property to the specifications relating to its listed status, keeping the exterior of the building as is but with a “new lease of life”.
External and internal structural damage to the property that needed repair
The majority of the work has been structural and internal with the exterior largely receiving purely cosmetic enhancements, delicately handled; especially in relation to that famous aforementioned sign.
Said Clifford: “I knew the seller, who lives near in a quaint cottage nearby and she is the former postmaster’s niece so her opinion meant a lot to me.
“She said it was just beautiful, just lovely and she was more than happy with the improvements but I was so worried she wouldn’t be happy with something.
“She asked what I was going to do with the sign and lots of people had been asking me what I was going to do with it – telling me to stick with the same sign.
“It is listed too, so I’m happy enough to stick with the writing that was there.”
Together, the units have now been transformed into rentable living accommodation, with the post office unit refurbished with the intention of being leased as a commercial office space.
Once occupied, the farmer has plans to give the rental income from the properties to his son, Harry who has plans to study towards a PhD in the near future – once he has repaid his father’s investment, of course!
The project has not been without its hiccups and the romanticised red phone box – that came with an unexpected amount of red tape – certainly posed a few of its own.
But despite all the hurdles and managing a project of its magnitude alongside a 60 hour working week on a farm over 30 miles away, Clifford says it has been a “joy” to work on the property.
The post office prior to refurbishment
By way of an explanation of his passion for the renovation, he said: “I worked for the richest man in Northern Ireland, Lord Ballyedmond and lived in Rostrevor with him for many years.
“He had been renovating an old pump house at the time. One night he was out walking the dog, Kerry and he said to me, “I suppose you think I’m an old fool doing what I do?” and I said, “No, you’ve got the taste for it!” I don’t know – did that swing off him to me or not, I don’t know at all?”
And, while it’s clear to see he is delighted with the fruits of his labour, he’s not likely to start into any new projects of a similar ilk any time soon.
“Another man with an old building in Banbridge contacted me to see if I’d would be interested in doing another building,” added Clifford. “But I said I couldn’t at all, I’d be divorced!
“I haven’t got the time, one is enough. You have to have a love for doing it. The time is the money. It’s not the product it’s the time.”
And, while details remain unclear at this stage, Armagh I understand that His Majesty the King may have even been informed of Clifford’s endeavour. We hope to have an update on this in the near future.
