Honour for a man of steel

THE STRENGTH of family and community and a taste for Sth Lismore history was palpable at yesterday's dedication of Paul Jones Lane by Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell.

THE STRENGTH of family and community and a taste of the history of South Lismore was palpable at yesterday's dedication of Paul Jones Lane by Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell.

Starting on the corner of Casino St behind the Station Hotel, the newly named lane runs past the back of the old Paul Jones Steelworks.

The business the late Paul Jones began there 50 years ago was then one of just three welding shops in Lismore. Today many of Lismore metal workers can trace their apprenticeships back to that very shed.

Yesterday three generations of the Jones family alongside former employees and friends of the community stalwart gathered to watch the dedication.

Son Philip Jones, one of Mr Jones and wife Dorothea's seven children, said his father was a tireless worker.

"He always taught me don't ever knock a job back," Mr Jones said. "He was a very family-orientated man; he wanted everything for his children that he never had as a child."

Mr Jones recalled how his father worked every day from 6am to 11pm when he first started the business, with a break on just one Sunday a month.

But while a strict work ethic was part and parcel of life, he also knew how to rest, with the shop coming to a complete standstill for six glorious summer weeks from mid-December until February.

Former Lismore City councillor Peter Graham said he and his father both "did time" in Paul's shed at a young age.

"It was the place to be to have a bit of training in the metal trade," Mr Graham recalled.

Mr Jones was also closely involved with the community as a swim coach and held official positions in the local RSL, Workers Club and Lismore Golf Club.