Carr's Glen - City Hall

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Carrs Glen to City Hall

Bus Route 12

It seems a long time since Brian and I started this crazy idea of running all Belfast's bus routes.  Today was the last one and the day started at Carrs Glen overlooking North Belfast.

OAP problems - don't forget your glasses.

Before long we were down at the Waterworks, a place we all know well from running the excellent parkrun events held up there every Saturday.  The reservoir here once had swimming, diving, rowing, speed boats and was used for practice by the world champion model yacht racer.

Hard to believe that this really is Belfast.

Next stop was BRA school on the Cliftonville Road.  I'm a fan of quirky history and this place has plenty of that.  Did you know:

* In 1792 a group of pupils barricaded themselves in a classroom and, armed with guns, explosives and stolen food, they managed hold their position for a few days before being flogged and expelled. 

* BRA alumni include:

James Bryce - who claimed to have discovered Noah's Ark and has a Canadian mountain named after him.

Kate Hoey - MP, ex NI high jump champion and advisor to Chelsea FC.

Marty Smith - a poker world champion in 2008.

The next school on the route was St Malachy's College, home to many good local runners. 

Probably the best paid ex-student of the school had a very short university career.  Martin O'Neill spent about one week doing Law at QUB before going to play football in England and he has subsequently earned even more money than most of our legal beagles.  

Brian pointed out this interesting notice on Royal Avenue.  In Belfast, even marks on walls have a story to tell.

The final coffee on the final bus run.  This is the MAC cafe in Cathedral Quarter.  Like all the other places we visited, it was worth the effort in getting there.

OTHER BLOGS:
Belfastdublinrun.blogspot.co.uk
Coastrun2013.blogspot.co.uk
Bannrunning.blogspot.co.uk  (Currently underway)

Bellvue Zoo - City Hall

Route 2  Bellevue Zoo – City Hall

We started at the Zoo.   

In 1914 Belfast suffragettes burned down the tea house here but we passed through relatively peacefully.  

We struggled uphill, through dense bushes, alongside the Zoo’s boundary fence.  Things appeared to be going unusually well.  Then Ray noticed a lion on the other side of the fence.  From then on, Darren was given the job of going on ahead and checking for holes in the wire.  

We eventually reached the safety of Cave Hill and stopped to take some photos.  

The old house at Fortwilliam Golf Club was once the home of Edward Langtry who married Lily Langtry who, in turn, caused a few problems with the Royal family.  

Next, we visited Cavehill Tennis & Bowling Club.  The local suffragettes also burned down the clubhouse here.

Heading down towards Grove Park, we came across Skegoneill & Glendore Community Garden.   A group of people in the area are doing a lot of good work to brighten up this small area.  I hope we didn’t walk on any of their plants.

Brantwood Football Club has been around for a long time, it got its name from a street nearby.   Their £3:00 admission is certainly cheap. Would that buy a programme at Arsenal?

Grove Park was the first place in Belfast to have playing fields.  It was good to be back there again, I used to train around the grass oval area, which I think was an early cinder running or cycling track.  Almost next door is Alexandra Park – famous for being the only public park in the world with a peace-wall.  

Out on the Limestone Road, Darren showed us the school where he works.  The Currie Primary School building served as a morgue during the last war and this building is also where James Galway first learned about music.

Run over - everything's gone blue.

Back into town for a coffee at Cafe Nero in Great Victoria Street and that was another bus run completed. Only one more to do and then we are all abandoning healthy eating and having a celebratory bag of chips.

Braniel - City Hall

Bus Route – 5

Braniel to City Hall

All this running around Belfast has made me appreciate what a great place it is to explore.  Tourists, and even us locals, never see the half of it.

Today, thanks to our guide Brian, four of us got stuck into discovering Braniel and the Castlereagh Hills.

First stop was at Castlereagh Presbyterian Church, high up above the city.  I certainly never knew that there was a memorial here to a local man (George Watson) who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.

We then ran southwards a bit to visit the American Cemetery at Lisnabreeny.  A fascinating place - 148 US servicemen were once buried in this field.  See www.Lisnabreeny.com for the story and a video of the site.

Robb's Lane

I thought that I knew every rural path in Belfast but Robb’s Lane was a new one to me.  Just shows that, no matter how old you are, there’s always something out there to discover.

We finally got down from the hills and rather nervously entered the cafe at Orangefield Presbyterian Church where we joined the well-dressed congregation.  In fact, anybody would look ‘well dressed’ compared with us lot.  It was a surprise to meet with Mark Wright (a proper runner); a big thanks to him for making us welcome and providing the coffee.   Must go back there one day to revisit their nice wee cafe - it's open all week.

Lisnasharragh

Other attractions in Cregagh included the Colony (an usual group of houses and war memorial built just after WW1), Lisnasharragh School (where George Best went) and the birthplace of David McWilliams who had a hit with the song Days of Pearly Spencer (one of my favourite songs, check it out on YouTube).

The former Morrison homestead.

We then toured Orangefield Park, spiritual home of a running club which isn’t going to get free publicity onthis blog!  And did the usual tourist trail around Van Morrison’s homeland.

Avoneil boxing mural

To end the day, we visited yet another good (ie non-sectarian) wall mural and spent some time drinking tea and listening to the music at St George’s Market. 

Knocknagoney - City Hall

Bus Route - 3
Knocknagoney to City Hall

There was more eating than running today......

One of the joys of my childhood visits to Belfast city centre used to be smelling the coffee roasting at SD Bells shop - I think it was somewhere near Arthur Square.   They have now moved out to Knock and the fine cafe there was our first stop this morning. 

SD Bells (Est: 1887) 

We trotted over to Orangefield school, where the most famous pupil was a wee boy called Ivan Morrison.  I wonder if he wore a hat back then? 

Then down towards Grand Parade, with its collection of streets called after racehorses - Pommern, Cicero, Blenheim, Ardpatrick, Ormonde, Donovan, Manna and Trigo (who won the Derby in 1929 and was owned by Belfast man William Barnett).  

Sometimes you arrive at places a bit too late in life - and that was the case when we entered Aunt Sandra's on the Castlereagh Rd. They have a huge selection of hand-made candy in here. Brian, being a bit younger than me, couldn't resist the temptation and bought some - I settled for one rhubarb and                                                            custard  boiled sweet. 

The way it used to be - service with a smile at Aunt Sandra's

Waiting outside for pubs to open in the morning is never a good indicator of running ability - what about waiting outside chip shops at 11:50am?  When the doors opened at Spence's cafe on the Beersbridge Road, we were inside like a shot.  This is apparently the place where George Best used to eat.  It's also a good venue for the idle-retired, like Brian and me - they make great chips and have lots to read on the walls.

Conway - City Hall

Route 9

Conway to City Hall

On the previous Ligoniel run, we had fed a lot of pigeons with Liz Leitch's brownies (and only killed one).
So it was no surprise that one was awaiting our arrival at the station.

We took the bus to Conway (Dunmurry) and planned to visit a few historic graveyards on the way back.  But all were closed.

Malone Park - probably Belfast's most exclusive address.
I used to ruin the ambiance of the area by running intervals up and down the middle of the road.  Being back there brought back a few 1980's memories.

What's happened to Windsor Park?   No pitch and two grandstands have gone missing.

Joe Bambrick's house in Roden Street.  He once scored six goals for Northern Ireland - that record will last for ever.

Worrying message on a Donegall Rd mural.

Next mural - We men fight back.

Waiting for storytime at Donegall Rd Library.
A brilliant photo-mural.

Colin and Brian get lucky in Great Victoria Street.

The end at St George's market.  I've no idea who these two guys are but they sure play good music.

Ballybeen - City Hall

Route - 4

Ballybeen to City Hall

It was a slow bus journey up the Newtownards Road, we got stuck behind an elderly cyclist and the trip took ages – laws should be passed to keep old-age cyclists and runners off our roads.  

We followed the Comber Greenway (aka the old Comber railway) into town.  It’s a smashing route to run along and we had masses of cyclists and walkers for company.   Not much to report for the first few miles, we just trotted along happily looking for evidence of the old railway stations; it does not take much nowadays to interest Brain and me.  

I’m a bit of a Van Morrison fan, so we made a brief detour to St Donard’s Church which was immortalised in the song On Hyndford Street. 

Belfast loves heroes and close by was a street named after the Everton manager.

Today’s tea stop, Lindores at Holywood Arches, was excellent.  We (Brian especially) had a lot to eat and we meet up with Craig – another runner pretending to be at work.  After lunch we had more cups of tea in the tiny backyard of the cafe.  I particularly like their artificial grass.

Two men in hats.

Back on the road again, we had another Van the Man encounter.

Four men in caps.

Then it was into the city via the Lagan footbridge.  I’d never noticed the proliferation of padlocks here. Brian, who knows about these type of things, said it’s all something to do with love.  All I know is that flowers work best with women and one day a Belfast locksmith is going to get very rich when the hundreds of padlocks have to be removed to allow the bridge to be repainted.

We ended the day watching a real funny dog performance.  This is Riley who comes to the fountains at the Albert Clock to play.  He waits patiently for the water to begin spouting, and then goes bonkers when the jets start.  Brilliant entertainment, they could sell tickets for people to watch this.