The Mill Street Journal

The era that we live in has everyone needing their Instagram to be perfect, spending hours getting the right 15 seconds of the song for a story or endlessly flicking through their photo albums for the right photos to add to the carousel post. I have recently found a few little gems that still exist to brighten our day. You know what? The websites I’m about the share with you are so bad they’re incredible. I’m not a graphic designer but sometimes less is more and these guys have taken that to the extreme… and they don’t even know it! Character is the word I’d use.

East Antrim Hockey Club / https://www.eastantrim.co.uk

A deceased sporting institution that still holds strong online. The logo when Google search looks like an arcade game from the 90s and when you click contact us it gives you a very blunt message. Also, a link to a book called ‘Short Corners Long Memories’ which is interesting, but unfortunately, it is currently unavailable.

Timoney’s / https://www.timoneysicecream.co.uk

I do like my gelato and this ice cream parlour in Newry (among other locations) is definitely up there with Ulster’s finest. I intend to do some ice cream journals soon so I imagine Timoney’s will feature again but for now it’s because of its online presence, sprinkle background, the slideshow of ice creams. this IT-homework-looking website has it all. It does have the new X logo so someone must be keeping on top of things.

Timoney Windows / http://www.timoneywindows.com

Another Timoney entry, but this one is unique in that it features its very own SoundCloud link to an advert which makes you want to buy a lot of windows. Just click and listen to the advert in all its glory and you will understand why it has made the list. I also love the obnoxious yellow colour.

Urban 75 / https://www.urban75.org/watchcam/

I’ve flicked through this website a couple of times but I still can’t figure it out. It looks to be some sort of online journal/scrapbook. Most importantly, I want to highlight the photos taken on a Casio wristwatch which was released back in the early noughties and I find that pretty cool! There’s a drugs section and a punch section and if you click on blogs there’s articles posted in 2025!

Tyrone Boats / http://www.tyroneboats.com

My mate Woodsy found this one so props to him! Woodsy was also a customer of this company and the story of that transaction is also quite funny. This one is boat manufacturer in Portaferry and I hope he can make boats better than he can make websites. It looks like a screenshot on Microsoft Word but you know what simplicity in this world is a forgotten art, and retro is in, isn’t it? He has his resignation letter top right of the home page and a reassuring note of his current stock levels, which is good to know.