Wednesday 21st August
This was a day for general sight-seeing
around Belfast, via the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus that we've used in other
cities. Robyn had some definite plans for what she wanted to do –
when does she not? – which included a visit to
Queen's University
and the
Crumlin Road jail. But the biggest, or maybe longest period,
we aimed to spend at any one place during the day was at the
Titanic Museum. So we hit that one first.
 |
| Titanic Museum |
In some ways this exhibition reminded
me of the
Vasa in Stockholm that Robyn and I saw in 2017. The major
difference being, of course, that this one didn't have the main
object of interest, namely the ship, taking up the bulk of the space.
But it certainly shows what you can do with some thought, some money
and some inspiration. You get taken through the building process, the
impact the shipbuilding industry had on Belfast in the early
twentieth century, the fit-out, the launch, the journey, and
naturally, the end. Getting in early was a good choice. You could see
that it was extremely popular and would be packed in summer by
lunch-time.
 |
| Queen's University main building |
A couple of hours there and it was off
to Queen's. One of Robyn's great-grandfathers, on her mother's side,
Patrick Doyle, had studied medicine there in the 1860s and 1870s
before signing on as ship's surgeon for a trip to New Zealand,
returning to Belfast and then deciding on immigrating to New Zealand
permanently. We hadn't expected very much for the visit, a few
photos, a bit of a walk around and we would have been happy. As we
were walking out through the main building I happened to spot a sign
pointing upstairs to the University alumni office. “Might as well
give it a try,” I said. We had a very informative chat to the staff
and were shown a book listing the students in the university from
1840 to about 1910. And Patrick Doyle was there, across all the years
as an undergraduate that we expected to see him attend. Though we
didn't find him listed as graduating, which we found a little odd.
The office said they would check with other parts of the university
to see if there were any other Patrick Doyle records available. We
didn't hold any a lot of hope for this especially as we had been
pleasantly surprised by the information we had already received.
It was raining by the time we got
outside to catch the bus again. The first one went past and did';t
stop as it was full. Seems that people get on the buses and then stay
on them if it rains, which made a bit of sense. The next one had a
few seats available so we jumped on and one stop later ran into Rose
Mitchell again. She had started later than us and did not seem to be
having a happy time of it. She'd been stuck in the rain while 3 buses
went past and the day was turning into a bit of a disaster for her.
The thought of the Crumlin Road jail seemed too depressing for her so
we got off and left her to continue on with the arrangement to meet
up for a beer and dinner later.
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| Crumlin Road jail yard |
The jail was, well, as expected. A bit
depressing, but a important piece of the Belfast historical puzzle.
Neither Robyn nor I were interested in the hanging cell so we stayed
back from that part of the tour. Our tour guide used to live in the
area as a child and had first visited the jail as an eight-year-old
when he was part of a church choir. He was allowed in to sing Christmas carols one year and could clearly remember what the
building was like in the 1960s which added a lot to the background.
It was too wet to go for a walk around
the
Falls Road for a look at the murals so we just jumped back on the
bus and headed back the apartment for a bit of a rest. Shortly after
that we met with Rose to visit White's (the oldest pub in Belfast,
supposedly), and the Duke of York, a small pub in a small laneway,
before dinner.
With plans made for the next day we
headed home.
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