With Rod On Our Side

Break out the banjos…

ne of the Guide faithful, Roderick Carlyle had been sending us snapshots and memories for a few years before we finally decided to pull them all together.

Having spent much of his early years in Greystones, young Rod was always coming up with the odd nugget from the town’s past.

And then, in October 2019, the man has delivered something of a goldrush of snaps.

Having lived “back in the day” in Alberta – that white house on the North Beach (with pop Stanley running The Anchor before the mighty Joe Sweeney) – in later years, Rod spent his summer holidays staying with his aunt, Mrs Olive Ledwidge, at Kenmare on Trafalgar Road. And during that time here, luckily, the Carlyle boy liked to take his camera along as he explored the town.

It was Pat Mooney who asked Rod to take some snaps of that year’s Greystones Rowing Club Regatta, even if, recalls our snapper, “he looked a little camera-shy once I started taking shots“.

The Suttons

The bulk of those shots were taken in 1974, a few in the two years before – including catching local fisherman Harry Sutton at The Beach House, on a night out with the missus and their daughter, Gladys.

Shots taken “whilst just out for a walk”, all daily Greystones life is here, most of those captured here now stuck in a moment that most of them would happily return to forever and ever.

We were gutted to learn of Rod’s sudden death in his adopted home, Sleaford, on June 30th 2025, and deeply saddened by the apparent disrespect shown by his very-possibly-dickhead landlord, as this fundraiser for the funeral highlights.

So, feast your eyes, you lazy fecks, on these Kodachrome crackers…

You can check out these shots in hi-res here, and go explore our Old Harbour archives right here. But only if you’ve got six hours to spare.