If anybody deserves to be known as "Croy's Poet" it must be Patrick 'P' Phillips. Over many decades he turned his hand (and his wit) to writing verses about the events and personalities of the community, as far back as life in the miners' rows at Auchinstarry. Amongst his many humorous masterpieces might be mentioned Old Croy Row, The Fingerpost Blues, The Auchinstarry Bootleggers and Croy Club on a Saturday Night. Frequently he illustrated his verses with extremely deft and appropriate cartoons, although his artistic skills went far beyond that form.
'P' was quite capable of turning from comic-epic poetry to elegies for departed friends and also the occasional nostalgic lyric. Across the years, even long after his death, his verses are remembered and referred to.
Inventiveness and horticultural skills were also part of 'P's personality. In his later years, around 1970, he directed his energies to the creation of a shrine in honour of Our Lady. This he built some distance down Nash's Road. The shrine, now referred to as The Grotto, is modelled in the fashion of a miniature Lourdes Grotto, incorporating a natural stream where it emerges from the rock. A statue of the Virgin presides over The Grotto and the predominating colours are those usually associated with Our Lady - white and blue.
Other local men who helped to maintain The Grotto over the years were Paddy Hunt, Matt Nash, Hugh Rae and Eddie Kerr. Despite inexplicable bouts of vandalism, The Grotto is still looked after and is worthy of a visit from those who pass that way and seek a moment's meditation on the rough track to Nethercroy.