Members of Omagh Probus Club have taken part in a range of visits and talks over recent weeks, including a trip to the Ulster Aviation Society Museum at the Maze.

On June 16, the group’s annual outing began at the museum, which is housed in a former Second World War RAF hangar and holds more than 70 exhibits. Among the aircraft on display are a recently acquired Harrier jump jet, a Buccaneer, a Jaguar, a Tornado and a Phantom. After lunch at Hampton’s Restaurant in Culcavy, the members went to Lisburn’s Linen Museum, where they heard about the history of flax growing and linen production. The visit included demonstrations of spinning and handloom weaving, and the group viewed a piece of linen said to date from the time of Tutankhamun.

Earlier, the club visited the former Governor’s House at the old Omagh Gaol. Owner Rodney Hamill gave members a guided tour of the 1831 hexagonal building, which once stood at the centre of the prison complex and allowed the governor to oversee the site from a first-floor balcony. Mr Hamill described the building’s derelict state before he acquired it and the extensive restoration work carried out to preserve it. Club members also recalled the property’s later use as a private residence, with some remembering families who lived there in recent decades.

At another meeting, Omagh Rotary Club president Ronnie Oldcroft addressed the group, outlining his organisation’s charitable activities. He detailed plans for fundraising efforts to support the Rotary Foundation, Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, and research into childhood cancer, polio and motor neurone disease.

Omagh Probus Club will resume after its summer break on Wednesday, October 7. Membership is open to retired and semi-retired men aged 55 and over.