Hit the North

Our last day with Sarah and Orlando arrived, a warm Sunday morning, and we had agreed we'd drive them to Belfast and combine this with a short exploration of the city, but first we had to feed Peggy and Sue (the donkeys) and have our own breakfast. I rustled up a traditional Irish cooked breakfast (basically the same as any other cooked breakfast but with added potato bread). We were able to sit outside eating and drinking coffee soaking up the views and enjoying the morning sunshine. The smell of sausages attracted another neighbour, a rather timid sheepdog with different coloured eyes, who climbed over the stone wall and waited expectantly nearby. We didn't know his name so he was given the temporary name of Bowie. We eventually relented and gave him a bit of sausage....and from that point on he became a regular visitor - always at meal times.

Did someone say sausages?

Belfast was about an hour away from our cottage and our drive took us through the mountains on winding roads before getting onto dual carriageway. Parking was free (always a bonus in a city centre) and we aimed to be near to our first destination, St Georges Market. This is an old Victorian market, that specialised on Sunday mornings, in food and crafts. Had we not had a good cooked breakfast I would have been very tempted by the food on offer. Less so by some of the crafts - but I've never been a person who likes craft markets, unlike Mrs B, who normally lingers far too long looking at what she would describe as the output of creative minds...and I would describe as 'tat'.

After the market we headed towards the Cathedral Quarter - a gritty rather than pretty area of Belfast but home to lots of street art and a lively pub scene. I knew about the political murals of Belfast but didn't realise the city had a vibrant street art culture. We used an app to get started in finding some of the art but soon abandoned it as there were interesting and sometimes thought provoking murals around every corner. 

Belfast Street Art

I detoured to take a quick look at a metal sculpture overlooking the Lagan, called Beacon of Hope although its been nicknamed irreverently as the 'Thing with the Ring'. 

Its a striking piece of public art and I went under the road via a graffiti covered subway to grab a photo - the subway has had a starring role as a location in 'Line of Duty'.

 

The 'Line of Duty subway'..but nobody around for a clandestine meeting!

Before really getting stuck into our hunt for street art we had a quick drink in a hotel and bar called Bullitt that brewed its own beer - a pleasant and drinkable IPA. Mrs B opted for a Guinness. Suitably refreshed we walked around finding some striking art and large murals at almost every turn. 

Some striking examples of Belfast's street art

The area was slightly run down, probably on the cusp of regeneration and gentrification so chances are that a lot of this art will be transitory in nature. Interspersed with new buildings were fine old Victorian and Edwardian buildings, many in quite poor states of repair but providing an insight into a time when Belfast Port provided fortunes for the lucky few and was a prosperous merchant city.

Belfast City Library and the Belfast Telegraph 
reminders of a prosperous time in Belfast's past.

We found ourselves in a maze of streets dominated by bars and independent shops and businesses, wandered down an alleyway that was lively and busy with Sunday lunchtime drinkers.

Around the corner more street art caught the eye - including a striking mural on a gable end wall of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions building, celebrating the work of trade unions across Ireland.

Another few steps that took us to the edge of the Cathedral Quarter brought us to the entrance to a street art festival called Hit the North. It has been running since 2013 and we just stumbled across it by chance. It attracts international artists and this year aimed to create over 500 pieces of new art. As we walked through cordoned off streets artists were busy with spray cans creating new and very colourful works. It transforms this part of the city from an area that's rather run down and dingy into one that's full of life and colour.

'Hit the North' Festival 2021 

All the walking had given us an appetite, and it was quite late for lunch - but fortunately we found a restaurant around the corner called the Spaghetti Arms. Despite its name it was serving Sunday roasts - and good ones too - so Sarah treated us all to some tasty food, eaten outside on tables set up in the street, allowing us to listened to 80's music being played at the pub on the street corner, overseen by an exuberant drag queen. 

After a very filling lunch we headed towards the centre of Belfast, but still coming across more striking art and more run down buildings including a former Bank of Ireland building, one of Belfast's few art deco buildings that, sadly, has been empty for more than 10 years. I found out later there are plans to restore the building (inevitably)as a hotel and shopping complex. It would be a shame if Belfast lost some of its architectural heritage so I hope that some investment can be found, but one that balances preservation of heritage with retention of the cultural vibrancy and edginess of this part of the city.

More street murals and the empty Bank of Ireland building

Finally we reached the centre of the city, dominated by the imposing building of Belfast City Hall.

Belfast City Hall

We'd walked miles and it was time to say our goodbyes to Sarah and Orlando, so we wove our way through the commercial shopping centre to collect their luggage detouring for a quick trip to Poundland (I'd broken my reading glasses the day before and Poundland sell perfectly good glasses for just, you've guessed, £1.00). On the way back to the car we passed another building of note, the Freemasons Hall.

Belfast's Freemasons Hall

Belfast had provided some very unexpected visual treats and it had been lovely to share our experiences with Sarah and Orlando for a few days. After saying our goodbyes we left them to check into their hotel and made our way back to our rural cottage, tired, but excited by the prospect of more discoveries to come in the days ahead.