Summer has (suddenly) arrived here in Shropshire, and that’s great news for the organisers of the County Show. We can walk to the showground, and we met Sarah on the way. There’s lots to see.
Daredevils.
A band, called Second Wind.
Lots of food stalls, we enjoyed a sausage roll for lunch.
And of course, lots of livestock.
The animals are judged. A win will enhance the value of a herd or an individual animal.
Vintage cars and traction engines.
Morris dancers.
And everyone’s favourite, the Shrewsbury Rock Choir of which Sarah is a member. These guys and girls are so good that when they open their set with Guns ‘N Roses ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’, it literally gives me goosebumps. They had a good turnout today – we reckoned around 200 of them.
This morning we were collected from our hotel by a taxi. We had booked a ‘Black Cab Tour’ of the areas of west Belfast that were most badly affected during The Troubles. In fact our taxi wasn’t a black cab at all, but a rather nice Mercedes minivan. We start at the Protestant area along the Shankill Road.
The Protestants celebrate King William who defeated Catholic King James.
At the start of The Troubles the Loyalist and Nationalist residents divided their areas with barricades, usually made of burnt out vehicles and scaffolding. The British army replaced these with Peace Walls – 30 feet high with gates to allow passage through during daylight hours. A few photos.
The Peace Walls were very effective, and many more were built. Some 32 kilometres of the walls still remain, and the residents would not want to be without them. The walls have actually increased in height and number since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The gates between the different sides are still locked at night.
Our tour guide Danny was a mine of information having grown up in West Belfast. He showed us some of his trophies – rubber bullets.
Tourists are encouraged to add messages to the graffiti on the Peace Walls.
Next we were off to the Catholic area along the Falls Road. The street names are in Irish as well as English.
The Bombay Street area saw some of the worst atrocities. Hundreds of homes were burned down and many people lost their lives.
We move on, and find one of the most photographed murals in the world.
Nearer to the city is the Europa Hotel, once known as the ‘most bombed hotel in the world’. In all it was attacked 28 times.
Danny dropped us off at the Botanic Gardens which was on our list of things to see. We grabbed a Belfast Bap from a cafe and had a wander around. The Palm House.
We enjoyed our tour immensely, and I’d recommend it to anyone visiting Belfast if you can spare a couple of hours. The sheer amount of information is intense, and nothing is diluted or sugar-coated. At the end of the tour Danny gave us homework to do – a big list of books to read and documentaries to see.
Tomorrow morning we’ll be back off to Shropshire. We’ve enjoyed Belfast immensely. The people are friendly, the pubs and restaurants top-notch, and there’s lots to see and do. I’m sure we’ll be back.
We found a nice pub around the corner from our hotel last night.
And I got a better shot of the alley with the umbrellas after dusk.
This morning we’re off to the docks again, to learn all about the building of the Titanic. Here’s the museum.
A view of the slipway where the liner was built.
The museum is excellent, we spent a couple of hours seeing everything, with an obligatory photo at the end.
On our way back we noticed that the seamen’s church was open, so we popped in. It’s full of interesting maritime artifacts, including the ship’s bell from HMS Hood which was sunk as a blockship in 1914. I gave it a ring.
The pulpit.
Tonight we have a reservation at a well-known seafood restaurant called Mournes.
Yesterday we drove to Liverpool and caught the afternoon flight to Belfast. There’s lots to see here. I got this snap of the Goliath gantry at the Harland and Wolff shipyard from the taxi on the way to our hotel.
We’re staying at a hotel in the Cathedral Quarter. It’s a compact area with lots of bars and restaurants.
This morning we had a wander to the docks on the river Lagan. There are some fine buildings. This is a splendid old hotel.
The ‘Big Fish’ on Donegal Quay.
The Harbour Office.
The Albert Memorial Clock Tower. It is sometimes described as Belfast’s answer to Pisa’s leaning tower, its tilt caused by the fact it is constructed on reclaimed land from the River Farset and its weight of over 2,000 tonnes. To halt the worsening lean and repair damage caused by the elements and heavy passing traffic, a multi-million pound restoration project was completed in 2002 which restored the clock tower to its original glory.
The Seamen’s church.
Much of the docks area has now been redeveloped into shiny offices and apartments. Here is Ireland’s tallest building, the Obel Tower. It is 289 feet tall, with 28 storeys.
Despite all the redevelopment, a few artifacts of the area’s past remain. Clarendon dry dock, which was completed in 1800.
And an old chandler and sailmaker.
The Cathedral Quarter has lots of passages and alleyways between the main streets. Some of them are really nicely decorated.
Needless to say, as a port city Belfast is foodie heaven, particularly if you like fish. We had a lovely dinner in a bar around the corner last night, and we’re looking forward to another this evening.
The weather is cold but sunny. A Sunday afternoon walk in the park seems a good idea. There’s a regatta going on at the rowing club. Dozens of boats are here for the weekend.
A brass band is playing on the bandstand. These musicians are from Wellington near Telford.
The park is called the Quarry. It has been a public space for recreation since the 16th century. There’s a big hole in the ground where stone was extracted in ancient times, and this has been transformed into a sunken garden. It’s stunning.
It was nice to be out in the sunshine. A little later we headed out for a beer. Here’s the view from the Boathouse pub on the other side of the river.
Shrewsbury town centre is enclosed almost entirely by a loop in the river Severn. There’s just a piece of land occupied by a few buildings and the railway station that prevents it being an island. We live in the loop.
This weekend we had an event called Loopfest. 250 live music acts performed around the town, and we were lucky enough to see some of them. Here’s the Shrewsbury Rock Choir in the town square.
Our friend Sarah sings with this choir, and they were really good.
A band in the cafe around the corner from our house when we went for lunch.
And another in the pub.
Our mate Elaine has been staying for the weekend. Lovely paella at a nearby restaurant.
Another choir in the town square. Very happy-clappy.
Great weekend. Couldn’t go anywhere without bumping into a live music act.
11 months ago we made an offer for a nice flat we’d found in Shrewsbury town centre. After a somewhat protracted buying process we finally moved in 3 weeks ago. It then took BT another 3 weeks to connect us to the internet, so finally I can share some stuff. Here’s our new home.
We’re 100 yards from the river, right in the town centre. We’re still getting to know our way around, so here are a few snaps of our surroundings.
It’s a very nice town, popular with tourists, and there are so many bars and restaurants we’re spoiled for choice.
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