A Belfast miscellany

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Ghost sign: Murray Sons & Co Ltd. Part of a former tobacco factory, built in 1900, it has now been redeveloped as modern offices. It’s nice that they kept the original sign.

You might think that after 31 posts about Northern Ireland as part of May’s Squares Challenge I’d have covered it all, but there’s always more to say – photos which didn’t fit the theme, or which wouldn’t square, or both. For my own satisfaction I want to finish posting them, starting with this miscellany of sights in Belfast which didn’t make the original cut.

Albert Clock

The Albert Memorial Clock was erected between 1865 and 1869 in Gothic style to commemorate Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert. In the second image it can be seen from across the river with the old Custom House on the right.

Memorial to Prince Albert, completed 1869
Albert Clock and Custom House seen from across the river
Crown Liquor Saloon

First opened in 1884, the Crown has an ornate Victorian interior with stained glass, mosaics and cosy wooden snugs.

Exterior
Tiled floor at entrance
Interior tiling
Interior
Interior
Grand Opera House

We passed this several times on our way to and from the city centre. It dates from 1895.

By day
By night
Linen Hall Library

When I posted about meeting my friend Samantha, librarian at the Linen Hall Library, some readers wondered how it got its name. Belfast was a big linen producer and the library was previously in the old White Linen Hall where linen had been traded. That was demolished to make way for the Victorian City Halls. It’s now in an old linen warehouse but has retained the name. A very suitable building because it’s built for load bearing, whether bales of linen or books! Below you can see two illustrations of the original building, taken from information boards, and a couple of shots of the library exterior today.

Original library from information board on Maritime Mile
Original library from information board in City Hall
Exterior view
Exterior plaque
Maritime Mile

The Maritime Mile begins on the city side of the River Laggan in historic Sailortown before crossing the river and ending up in the Titanic Quarter. Many of my Squares came from this area: here are some more images of it. Further information about each can be found in the captions – click any image to open slideshow.

First the City Quays:

Sinclair Seamen’s Church: built 1857-8 to meet the needs of visiting sailors.
Belfast Harbour Commissioners – built 1847
General view of Clarendon Docks
Clarendon Docks: one of the old dry docks from 1820s
Dividers, Vivien Burnside, 2002.

Before crossing the river we met the Big Fish:

The Salmon of Knowledge, commonly known as the Big Fish.
Another view of the Big Fish. In the background, right, you can see the Samson and Goliath cranes.
Harland and Wolff’s Samson (1974) and Goliath (1969) cranes.

The Titanic Quarter:

SS Nomadic, last remaining White Star Line vessel
Titanic Belfast
Slipway where Titanic was launched
HMS Caroline – we boarded this ship
HMS Caroline – dining for sailors
HMS Caroline – dining for officers
Queen’s Quarter

A mishap with the camera meant that we lost the pictures of Queen’s University itself, but there were other aspects of the area that we did manage to capture. Of particular interest to two Glaswegians, especially the Engineering Professor, was the statue of Lord Kelvin who spent 53 years as professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and gave his name to the Absolute Temperature Scale. He was born in Belfast in 1824.

In the Tropical Ravine
Statue to Lord kelvin
Elmwood Hall 1859-62, formerly Elmwood Presbyterian Church.
Elmwood Hall 1859-62, formerly Elmwood Presbyterian Church.
Methodist College, 1865
Friar’s Bush Graveyard, first a Catholic graveyard then a cholera pit. Closed 1869.
Titanic memorials

A memorial to those who perished on the Titanic stands in the grounds of the City Hall.

Titanic Memorial
Titanic Memorial

In the Cathedral there is a pall commissioned in 2012 to mark the centenary of the Titanic’s sinking.

Titanic Pall
Information board

This post is organised alphabetically: when I started I didn’t realise this would mean concluding with the Titanic Memorials. To end on a brighter note, here are some random old buildings that caught our fancy.

Bank Buildings
Belfast’s oldest building?
Old buildings in Cathedral Quarter
Former National Bank building

If you’ve made it this far – thank you for reading!

Northern Ireland, UK

46 Comments »

  3. Just lovely! We’re hoping to do a cruise in a couple of years that stops in Belfast (with three stops in Scotland) and I really hope that works out. Your pics make me so anxious to see these places in person!

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  4. The last time I was in Belfast, just about 2 years ago for a conference, I was staying in the hotel directly opposite tye pub. It was jam packed every night!

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  5. Hi Anabel – I’m struggling to comment – not sure why … but I enjoyed all your pics – especially the big fish, the interior tiling and noting Lord Kelvin’s statue and the professor’s pleasure at seeing it. Cheers Hilary

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  6. So many beautiful and I’m sure iconic buildings in your post. I like the Crown, what a wonderful place to go for a Guinness? And the Big Fish is striking. X

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  9. I missed your original post about the Linen Library and renewing a friendship. Both posts were very enjoyable and I can read the enthusiasm about Belfast between the lines. The architecture is captivating.

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  11. An interesting round-up, showcasing just how much there is to see in Belfast – more than I’d realised! As a librarian myself I was interested in the Linen Hall Library, and I love the Big Fish 🙂

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  12. Nice set of photos, Reminds me of an old story about a church where the speaker had a very posh voice and the puzzled congregation thought he was repeatedly saying God Bless Queen Victoria… and All but… the Prince Consort each Sunday service he was on. Bob.BSS.

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  15. My original comment seems to have gone awol so I’ll try again. This is a great miscellaneous collection, I love the tiled entrance floor at the Crown, the Grand Opera House at night and the Big Fish 🙂

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