25 things you only know if you grew up in Cookstown

Whether it be the 'Pink Pussycat' or Hamilton's walk around store, plenty of memories were made by those growing up in the Cookstown area over the years.

The Co Tyrone town has seen some stark changes over the years, with many of the old shops you'll remember no longer around.

Plenty of local businesses remain in the town to this day however and also serve as reminders of days gone by.

READ MORE: Co Tyrone women on how they battled through their recoveries after strokes at just 15 and 30

To evoke a bit of nostalgia among our Cookstown readers, and with the help of local residents past and present, we've come up with a list of some of the things you only know if you grew up in the town:

• You went to Sheehy’s for your school books

• You used to love going in to Intersport to look at the football jerseys

• You know where and what ‘Monkey Lane’ is

• You know what the ‘Pink Pussycat’ was

• You remember Cookstown once being the nightlife capital of Ireland

• The machine that measured your feet in Thompson’s shoe shop

• Hamilton’s ‘walk around store’ was a staple

• The town was alive with market stalls every Saturday

• You played the jukebox in Barney’s chippy

• You used to get fireworks from ‘Johnny Onion’

• The ‘pub with no beer’ beside the chapel

• You had your lunch in the Mistletoe cafe

• You swam in the ‘wee Crummy’

• You remember the factories where Tesco now sits

• You got a wave from Raymond Gates on his bike

• You went to Raymond Crooks’ music shop

• Going to Jo Mac’s for a milkshake

• ‘Ultimate’ was the only place to get your clothes for a night out

• You know what Blast Off was at Clubland

• Going for ‘laps’ around the Fairhill

• You remember George Best doing an ad for Cookstown sausages

• Sunday nights in the Glenavon were the best night out

• You braved ‘the iron swing’

• Saturday afternoons in ‘Rockafellas’ cafe

• The smell of MacMahon’s and Hutton's butcher shop as you walked down the street

Have we missed anything out? Feel free to get in touch through our MyTyrone Facebook page.

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