Monday 13th April. Having been to Belfast for the
RIBI 2015 Conference, the DG and I decided to spend a few extra days exploring
Northern Ireland, somewhere that neither of us had been to before. We had
treated ourselves to a luxurious hotel, the Roe Park Resort in Limavady, and
had a superb room, with sitting room as well as a four poster bed, and windows
on two sides. The Hotel was only 10 minutes
drive from the Giants Causeway, one of the major attractions in Northern
Ireland (or Norn Iron as the locals pronounce it), and about 20 minutes from
the city of Londonderry. However this morning hadn’t got off to a very good
start, as we needed to drive all the way back to Belfast to collect my laptop,
which had been left behind at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast.
Roe Park Resort
So, just after breakfast we drove the hour and twenty minute
journey back to the Hilton (we had already phoned and they confirmed the laptop
had been found). As I pulled up outside
the Hotel, I noticed a designated disabled parking space outside. The thought
occurred to me that I could probably have left my car there during our 4 day
stay in Belfast, rather than the £60 we were charged for the car park. I nipped
in to the foyer to collect the laptop, and kept bumping in to Rotarian friends
who hadn’t checked out yet. Jenny Muir was just checking out, and Tim and Linda
Cowling were in the foyer. Tim reminded
me about his Rotaract sub-committee which I seem to have found myself on.
State-of-the-art Visitor centre at the Giants Causeway
A few minutes later, I was back in the car and we were
heading North again, going the direct route this time rather than the scenic
route we took yesterday. We drove straight to the Giants Causeway, which I was
delighted to discover was a National Trust property, and we had our membership
cards with us. After stopping for lunch in their excellent café, we had a quick
look around the visitor centre, before heading off to see the Causeway. There
was a half mile walk downhill to the site, so we took advantage of the bus,
which took us all the way down. And there it was! One of the most famous
landmarks in Britain, and we had finally made it here.
The Causeway
The Giants Causeway is an area of shoreline covering several
acres, made up of six-sided basalt columns of varying sizes which appear to
march into the sea. It really is extraordinary to see them close up. These
columns are so precisely created, and fit together so exactly, that it seems
impossible for them to have been created naturally. I strolled along a cliff
path to a place where there were tall columns in front of a cave, or so it
appeared. When I got there I realised that there was no cave, it was just a
series of light and dark pillars, referred to locally as the organ.
Like a giant jigsaw puzzle
On the way back, I was amazed to see Doug and Rosemary Price
walking towards me. It seems that DGs who stayed behind in Belfast had decided
on getting a bus trip to the Giants Causeway, at the very time we had arrived
there. What are the odds of that happening, I wonder? Following them were Stan
and Sheila Keller and several other Rotarians, including one chap who was a
keen photographer of birds, and showed me some super pictures he had taken of
gannets and rock pipits. He was devastated when I told him about the black
guillemots outside the Hilton Hotel in Belfast, which he had missed.
The place was full of Rotarians
The DG and I spent some time at the Causeway, soaking up the
atmosphere of the place. We were both very glad we had made the effort to get
there. At one point I went for a clamber among the columns of rock as they
disappeared under the waves. I wondered how far out to sea they went, and
whether they would be fully revealed at low tide. I didn’t find any information
to tell me that.
The Causeway disappears under the waves
The following day was the DG’s birthday, and at last I had
an opportunity to give her presents and cards that had been hidden in the car
ever since we left home almost a week ago. She had chosen to celebrate her
birthday by visiting Londonderry, just a few miles along the north coast. So
off we went about mid-morning, following signs to the city. The DG decided to
use the Sat Nav to make sure we got parked at or near a shop she particularly
wanted to look at (you will surmise from this that it wasn’t a purely
sightseeing trip today). We were just driving across a new-looking bridge sweeping
majestically over the river Foyle, which is very wide just here, towards the
city on the other bank, when the
co-ordinates were put in to the Sat Nav. Sean immediately took control of the
situation, made me go right round the roundabout ahead, and soon had us heading
back across the bridge we had just been on, and seemingly away from the city.
The pedestrian Peace Bridge curves across the Foyle
I thought that maybe the shop was in an out of town mall,
but no, we were taken to a modern housing estate, in the middle of which Sean
declared that we had arrived at our destination. So having been just about to enter Londonderry, we were now several miles away,
and lost. We thought we would give Sean one last chance to redeem himself and
tried again with some co-ordinates to the City Centre. This time he directed us
faultlessly into the centre of town, across another bridge further upstream . We
parked near the Peace Bridge over the river Foyle and quickly located the shops
the DG was looking for. Londonderry is a fairly compact city and nothing is
very far away. It is, however quite hilly, and one or two roads were a bit of a
challenge for us to walk up.
The DG on the Peace bridge
After the birthday girl had indulged her retail therapy
habit it was time for a little tourism. We walked across the Peace Bridge, a
beautiful newly built pedestrian bridge, which curved across the river to
Ebrington, where there is a huge open space on the site of the parade ground of
the former Ebrington Barracks, and a lot of modern sculpture. We had lunch in
this pleasant area served from a mobile café
overlooking the Ebrington Clock Tower. Nearby, on the bank of the river, was a
famous art installation, called Mute Meadow, which comprises 40 pairs of narrow
columns. These are lit up at night, with accompanying sounds. I’m sure it is very
impressive after dark, but it didn’t do much for me in daylight.
Ebrington Clock Tower
Sign of the times - Rotary Foyle food bank
A notable period in the history of the city is the siege of 1688
– 1689, when a few apprentice boys shut the gates to the city, saving it from
being entered by an invading Jacobite army, who then laid siege to the city.
The apprentice siege heroes are commemorated throughout the city, and there is
a memorial hall and Museum dedicated to their memory. One of Londonderry’s
claims to fame is that it’s the only city in the British Isles with an unbroken
City Wall, which survives today, subject to a few minor alterations to allow
traffic to flow through. The wall was accessible to us from St Columbs
Cathedral, and so we made our way there up some pretty steep roads.
St Columbs cathedral
St Columbs is a beautiful cathedral and well worth the
effort getting there. The Cathedral was built in 1633, and was fully restored a
few years ago. It boasts some fine stained glass, and some very old regimental
flags hanging near the Chancel. The very helpful volunteers there told us a lot
of the history of the building, and also showed us how we could get on to a
section of the City walls via a ramp from the cathedral grounds. Some of the
cannons used to defend the city during the 17th century siege can
still be seen on the walls. One of the most famous, called ‘Roaring Meg’ is
just outside the Cathedral.
Roaring Meg
Our short time in the City was coming to a close, and we
decided to be very brave and drive through the Bogside area of the city, which
became famous (or infamous) during the Troubles as a hotbed of Republicanism. A
week ago I wouldn’t have considered such an undertaking, but we had come to
feel very comfortable in Ulster, where we had encountered nothing but kindness
and friendliness from local people. The
Bogside was surprisingly difficult to find, as the City is full of narrow
one-way streets which kept taking us back to where we started, but eventually
we hit on the right road. The Irish flags of green, white and orange flapping
in the breeze indicated that we had found the right place. Admittedly, I was
driving and watching the road ahead most of the time, but apart from a few
murals, there wasn’t much sign of the Troubles on the roads we drove along, and
we didn’t find the atmosphere intimidating at all.
Free Derry corner - Bogside
As we headed back to our Hotel for a slap-up birthday dinner we reflected on our Northern
Ireland adventure, which had been hugely enjoyable. We had seen some wonderful
sights and spent several days in the company of good friends. Tomorrow we would
be heading South West, to Sligo, where I would be going back to my roots, in
the care of my cousin Padraig and his lovely wife Margaret.
Ebrington sculpture
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