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.