The day things got ugly at the Old Bleach...

THE year was 1963 and the ladies who worked in the hand painting section of the Old Bleach in Randalstown were getting ready for their close-ups.

A film crew from Rank - the English studio whose movies opened with the iconic shot of a greased up man striking a huge gong - were in town to shoot scenes for a forthcoming release.

The excitement was palpable as the small army of production crew arrived. There were lights, there were cameras - but just as they were ready for ‘action’ things got ‘ugly’.

It seems the staff had discovered a stranger in their midst. A conspicuously striking stranger, who had been placed slap bang in the middle of the local workers.

And the indignant Old Bleach workers were having none of it, and they threatened to walk from the ‘set’.

Strike

But Alex McIlroy, a director at the linen mill, moved quickly to end the strike.

He insisted that the film makers had not set out to mislead the viewers - and offend the local ladies - by planting a starlet in their midst.

“There was no question of bringing in an outsider because our girls weren’t pretty enough,” he said.

“The girl chosen had to provide a link-up between different features of the film.

“This particular girl had connections with farming, which was what the film makers wanted.

“After the situation was explained to the girls they were happy.”