11th July 2018. Portadown (population 31,000) is only about 5 kilometres from my home. A very short bus journey. Portadown and neighbouring town Lurgan are only 10 kilometres apart.
In the 1960s, there was a controversial plan to create a new city (controversially named Craigavon) which would bring in Portadown, Lurgan, some new communities in between and some villages.
It never really worked out and identities were largely kept.
Church of Ireland.
Some memorials show Portadown as a strongly unionist town.
Support for Soldier F (the name is not publicly known) who was facing murder charges for his part in Bloody Sunday in 1972.
“Simply the Best”, a reference to loyalist paramilitaries.
The River Bann.
Bridge over River Bann.
Loyalist Bonfire which is lit on Eleventh Night.
Orange arch at Garvaghy.
Orange arch at Edenderry.
I am maybe being unfair to depict Portadown as an “orange” town but certainly for a few weeks leading to the Twelfth, it is the dominant feature of the town.
Ireland: The Final Frontier 