Our Belfast holiday

The religious and political history of Northern Ireland is complex and deep rooted but what is so impressive today in an area once torn apart by conflict is the ongoing peace process. The most striking for me was the ease with which I was able to wander the city and apart from a cursory security check at Stormont, there was an absence of bag checking and obvious surveillance at public buildings.

The flight from Bristol to Belfast City Airport, renamed George Best Belfast City Airport in 2006, took less than an hour. From there it was a short taxi journey to Benedicts, a 32 room hotel on Bradbury Place in the middle of what was once called the Golden Mile. Although today not quite so ‘golden’ Benedicts was ideally suited for our purposes and was a ten minute walk from, well just about everywhere it seemed.

My daughter Leah was in Belfast for a conference at the prestigious Queen’s University. Left to my own devices for two days I began with a visit to the Ulster Museum. Founded in 1821 and originally called the Belfast Municipal Museum and Art Gallery the museum underwent a £17.8 million renovation in 2006 and was closed for three years.

Among the treasures in the museum is the collection of gold jewellery recovered from the galleass Girona which sank off the north Antrim coast in 1588 and was excavated in 1967-8 by Belgian archaeologist Robert Stenuit.

The museum restaurant overlooking the Botanic Gardens offers tasty meals at competitive prices and I can recommend the Mediterranean soup and wheaten bread at just £3.50.

A visit to a graveyard might not be the highlight of everyone’s day but finding the Clifton Street Cemetery was definitely mine. Opened in 1795-6 the two acre site contains 14,000 burials, among them two founder members of the Society of United Irishmen. Radical Henry Joy McCracken, a wealthy cotton manufacturer and a Presbyterian was captured following an attack on Antrim on June 7, 1798. He was offered clemency if he testified against other leaders of the United Irishmen but McCracken refused and was hanged at Corn Market, Belfast on July 17, 1798. Because of his status he was saved the ignominy of beheading and his body was buried intact at Clifton Street Cemetery. Co founder of the United Irishmen, William Drennan died in 1820 and is also buried in the cemetery. The Belfast victims of the Great Famine in 1845 - 1851 when successive potato crops failed, depriving the poor of their staple diet, are buried in an unmarked grave. There is also a mass grave to victims of the 1846-47 cholera epidemic.

On a short stay holiday such as ours, the best way to see Antrim is on one of the many coach tours on offer. With Leah’s work commitments finished we chose to head off for the day and joined Allen’s Tour Company for a trip to the Giant’s Causeway. First stop was Carrickfergus where King William landed on June 14, 1690 to march south where he engaged the Jacobite army at the Battle of the Boyne. Tom, our driver, a fount of local knowledge, took us off the beaten track and through the picturesque villages of Cushendall and Cushenden, even driving through his own home town of Whitehead.

At Carrick-a-Rede we joined the crowds of visitors queuing to cross the infamous rope bridge suspended between the coast and a salmon fishery on the southeast side of the island some 30 metres above crashing waves.

I once famously baulked at walking on a wobbly bridge across the haha at Lydiard Park so didn’t hold out much hope of making it across this monster. But, caught up in the excitement of the moment I did. Unfortunately I do not have photographic proof; you’ll just have to believe me.

The high point of the trip was the Giant’s Causeway made up of an estimated 37,000 black basalt columns, the result of a massive subterranean explosion 60 million years ago. Sadly the effect of this patchwork of polygons was marred by the many tourists clamouring over it. I’m afraid I shared the opinion of Victorian writer William Thackeray who famously said: “I’ve travelled a hundred and fifty miles to see that?”

On our last day we boarded the Citysightseeing Hop on Hop Off open topped bus for our tour of Belfast. Our tour guide Brendan gave us an unbiased account of the impact of 30 years of conflict and the many changes still in progress. The formidable Cupar Way wall, constructed in 1969, still remains, but today is decorated with many thousands of messages and is one of the many peace lines across the city while members of the Ex Prisoners Interpretive Centre conduct guided walks along the political murals. Everywhere there are reminders of the past, but the atmosphere was one of hope and the joy of living in peace at last.

We concluded our short break with a visit to Belfast’s beautiful Botanic Gardens on graduation day at Queen’s. A bridal couple joined the throng of begowned students having their photographs taken against the backdrop of the Palm House. Designed by Charles Lanyon and built by Richard Turner the Belfast Palm House pre dates the Great Palm House he built at Kew. With two wings measuring 65ft long, 20ft high and 20ft wide the Palm House cost £1,400 to build and is the oldest surviving example of curvilinear iron and glass structure anywhere. The 49ft high elliptical dome was added in 1852, built by Young of Edinburgh. The Tropical Ravine, built in 1889, was the brain child of curator Charles McKimm. From an elevated viewing walkway the visitor looks down into the steamy jungle like ravine. Among the exotic plants are ferns, mosses and banana trees.

And did we get lost during our trip! Of course we did, but then it wouldn’t be a Bevan family holiday if we didn’t.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here