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Margaret Graham
"You felt as if you were being watched constantly...every time you moved..."
The Story
It was 1984 and Margaret Graham and her husband John were on their way to visit friends in what was then Communist Czechoslovakia. However, their trip didn't go completely according to plan. Their luggage went missing and they found the officials they dealt with less than helpful. When she saw what it was like to live in an unfree system, Margaret was prompted to think about her own society and how she took certain freedoms for granted...
The story continues...
We were keen to find out why Margaret had gone to Czechoslovakia under the old regime. It seems that Newtownards has strong links with the Czech Republic and the owner of the Crepe Weavers factory, Milan Mladek, was a Czech who had left his homeland in the 1940s. In the 1980s, he installed a new loom system which was produced in Czechoslovakia and Helen and Vladimir Vosicka came over for three years while Vladimir worked on the installation. Their son Tomas was born in Newtownards and the friendship of the Grahams with the Vosicka family has lasted for twenty-five years. Not surprising, according to Margaret, "The Czech people are great. They are very similar to us - they have the same work ethic and the same sense of humour."
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