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.

Four Winds - City Hall

Route – 7

Four Winds to City Centre

Just two of us today; so more history chat and less fast running.

Brian and I travelled up into the Castlereagh Hills and started with a lap of the roads around Knockbracken golf course.  Soon we left the public highway and were on the delightful path down towards Lisnabreeny – in a few years this route will be part of the new Connswater Greenway, stretching all the way to Victoria Park.

We went through a tunnel under Manse Road and entered Cregagh Glen.  Another of Belfast’s hidden gems and great place to run, especially if you like going downhill.

This memorial on the Cregagh Rd commemorates William McFadzean who was awarded a VC at the Somme.  He apparently threw himself on top of a pile of exploding grenades to save his colleagues.

Next stop was 16 Burren Way, the former home of George Best.  Brian, a lifelong Man City fan, declined to be in this photograph.

We managed to get into Ravenhill undetected but decided against a lap of the pitch.   I only been there once for a match and got evicted, not for hooliganism but because of safety concerns about high winds toppling the old temporary grandstand.  My friend Paul and I lived to tell the tale. 

Then it was a run through Ormeau golf course – did you know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once played there?

Going down the Ormeau Road, we stopped at the site of the old North cricket ground.  I’m trying to research an early international match played there, in which the England team included the oddly named Julius Caesar and R Daft.

Next door is the old Belfast Gas Works.  My father, as a young boy, was once brought there to walk over beds of smoking coke to cure his whooping cough – it worked!

Brian and I finished with coffee at the busy Cafe Avanzo, also surrounded by fumes, this time from the new fad of electronic cigarettes. 

Ligoniel - City Hall

Route - 12

Ligoniel to City Hall

Five of us set off on a run which crossed the infamous Belfast peace-wall about 10 times.  We were armed with only a box of chocolate brownies, kindly supplied by Liz Leitch.

The bus brought us to the highest point in Ligoniel and, in the absence of a map, we simply kept running downhill trying to find gaps in the peace-wall as we went along.

It’s was wonderful to observe the diversity of Belfast’s murals and how crazy a bunch of guys become when they are allowed out for the day.......

I enjoyed going back to Somerdale Park, the starting point for the great Duncairn 15 mile races of my youth.  Few runners ever ran slower than 90 minutes for the hilly course along the Ballysillan Rd and up to Roughfort beyond Glengormley.  That wouldn’t happen in a race today.

We finished the day eating Liz’s buns outside Cafe Nero, assisted by local pigeons.

Forestside - City Hall

Route 6

Forestside to City Hall

This is becoming a grand tour of Belfast’s graveyards.  With our pending demises in mind, Brian and I are looking for suitable resting places.  Anyway, there was still a flicker of life left in us as we slowly plodded around Newtownbreda Cemetery and then over to the old Belvoir Graveyard. 

Newtownbreda Cemetery

Belvoir Graveyard

Did you know that Belvoir Estate was the home of the Duke of Wellington’s mum?  I assume that he gave his name to Wellington Place, Wellington College and the Welly Park.  His mother Anne gave her name to Annadale Striders (a big local running club of about 30 years ago).  The Duke was born in Dublin and he famously said: “Not everybody born in a stable is a horse”.  

We pressed onwards seeking the way over the fields towards Annadale Embankment.  When I lived in Stranmillis, I used to run through this wilderness every night but the place has now got even worse. The going got a bit difficult at times, we were lucky to survive.  After this escapade, there'll be no more complaining from us about the Thomas Patton

parkrun course.

Brian and I eventually emerged and headed for Queens PE Centre for a well earned cup of tea. If you ever want to discover what it feels like to be old, mix with students. From our prospective, everybody else in the cafe looked about 12 years old.  There was snooker on TV but no sign of our hero Darren Moffet. 

I like it in here - dry, warm and plenty of headroom.

We quickly drank our tea and left to do a tour of Botanic Park and Queens University (a good place to run out of the rain) before finishing, as usual, at the City Hall.  

Brian and a banana tree.

Checking out ideas for Valentines Day 2015.

Running gets you into some odd places - this is a QUB art exhibit.

Mossley West - City Hall

Bus Route 1

The Sunday morning bus to Mossley can never have been this busy before.  Eight of us bus-runners piled on-board.  Only three paid their fare which is a good indication of how old we all were.

John Glover wisely opts out of the first photo.

After half an hour going uphill by bus, I knew that this run was going to be wee buns.   We started at Mossley West railway station.

For half an hour, we ran continuously downhill through the excellent new Newtownabbey Way.  A footpath that originally was going to be called the Millennium Way but things ran a bit behind schedule and they had to change its name.  Never mind, it was well worth the wait.

A brief stop was made when we reached Glen Park.  Here we took photos of the impressive railway  

viaduct (am I getting old or can a concrete bridge look beautiful?).

I tried to scare the others with the story of Patricia Curran’s 1952 murder in the woods here.  The book Blue Tango by Eoin McNamee is a brilliant story based upon the incident.  I challenge anybody to read it and then go for a walk up the glen on a dark winters night.

LVAC stalwart unsportingly shoulder-charges passing girl off the path.

We reached the coast at Whiteabbey and a girl sped past us on the coast path.  Was she quick or were we slow?

Brian spots a pub on Duncrue Street.

The fun continued along Duncrue St and into the city via the paths at Clarendon Dock.   

Darren, who had been lying at the back of the group for most of the way, then made an impressive dash through the field on Oxford St to be first to reach the finish at St Georges Market.  Another win for the promising young Orangegrove AC star; I bet that goes down in his running diary.

A post-run snack.

Lagmore - City Hall

Bus Route 10 
Lagmore to City Hall

We arrived a bit late – the bus driver got lost and we hadn’t a clue how to get to the proposed start.

Brian spots a pair of buzzards.

The Derriaghy and Barnfield areas both involved long climbs, along surprisingly rural roads, and it was good to reach a downhill off-road section through Colin Glen Forest. 

 

We had a coffee at the cafe in the park, where they have imitation shops named after local people.   

Then it was straight down the main road to reach Falls Park.  Brian and I have both ran this parkrun, which has its HQ in the excellent pavilion; well worth a visit.

The Poor Ground.

The next attraction was just over the wall – Belfast City Cemetery.  Not a place you might expect to find runners but the only other living person we saw there was also running!   Some of my ancestors were buried here, including my great-grandfather who is buried, along with 
80 000 others, in the poor ground.  Another possible family member is recorded as having died aged 15 minutes!

The Cemetery is a fascinating place to explore.  Some graves record people who died around the year 5500 – can you work that one out?  I’m also intrigued by the underground wall that was constructed presumably to keep the souls of our different religious groups from mixing after death.  I wonder if that idea works?

We emerged from the Cemetery (sorry about that one) and ran down to the Bog Meadows.  Few cities have a wildlife oasis like this so close to their centre and it’s easy to forget where you really are.

Today’s run ended with calls at the former Christ Church (a good bit of restoration), the Maritime Hotel site - the birthplace of Van Morrison’s brilliant band Them, and Cafe Renoir (which is so good, I forgot to take a photo).

 

Back blogging in a couple of weeks.