Grannymar

Crown Entry connects Ann Street to High Street. I suddenly realise I have few photos for this one but the story holds even without them.

Each of the entries now has a sign like the one above, with a red marker to show where you are. As you can tell this poster belongs one entry over, at Wilson’s Court.  Crown Entry does not have such a sign.

Crown Entry

Robert Read started the family letterpress printing business at number 12 Crown Entry around 1840. His brother Patrick was at that time a writing clerk.

In 1843, another brother Daniel, joined in the partnership and as the firm grew so also did the premises and it soon extended into number 10.

They became Letterpress Printers and Lithographers, by 1850 they had become publishers and in 1855, they founded The Belfast Morning News a tri-weekly newspaper.

It changed title to the Morning News in May 1882 becoming the Morning News and Examiner two months later. In January 1883 once again became the Morning News and remained so until August 1892 when it was incorporated with Irish News.

The newspaper has continued to evolve and modernise with an online version today.

I wonder what Robert would think of the journey his dream has taken?

While researching for this post I found a link to The Criobh Ruadh Club, which was in Crown Entry, popular for more than Irish dancing classes and billiards!

I think I am headed in the right direction….

Not far to go….

I found it!

Anne ~ Slate resin figure on Mirror polished stainless steel
Sculptor ~ Lucy Glendinning

A 7m high mirror polished stainless steel column with internal lighting a laser cut pattern with coloured perspex insets and a life size figure cast in slate resin. The figure faces Saint Anne’s Cathedral.

On Lucy Glendinning‘s website, not alone can you learn about her but, see her commissions, exhibitions and read her poetry.

Anne is a commissioned sculpture for Saint Anne’s Square, the new city centre piazza behind Saint Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. The sculpture was installed in November 2009.

A multi £million leisure, commercial and residential development on redeveloped land in the Cathedral Quarter, it was partially open when I visited. This elegant scheme will comprise of ground floor bars and restaurants with turnkey offices at ground and first floor level.

Rising over four floors from the second level will be residential apartments. The focal point of the development will be a new 14,000 sq ft piazza creating a new public space with potential for performing arts and events. An hotel is already open on one corner of the scheme.

The Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) is set to open in early 2102.  The venue, will be six storeys high with two theatres, visual arts space and dance studios.

The writing is on the wall.

No. Not this time… I went back.  I hobbled along the cobbles

to the Grand old Duke of York

The writing is on the ceiling…

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

The lines are from ‘An Irish Airman Foresees His Death’ ~ by William Butler Yeats.

The other quote is by Oscar Wilde

And

And Flower of Scotland the Scottish Anthem - Elly could sing that one for you, she did learn something when she lived there!

Today I discovered that the owner of The Duke of York was responsible for the ‘wall garden’, He did approach the owners of the other premises off the entry, to encourage them to join in the venture, but they declined.  He went ahead and tidied his own area and has paid someone to look after the baskets and basins.  I saw evidence of this work on my latest visit.

The Grand Opera House, Belfast, first opened its doors on 23 December 1895. The first season included burlesque acts, musical comedies, farces and melodramas. Good job the Free Presbyterians were not invented back then or the house would have been pulled down in disgust! There was also a market for classical opera and drama with regular performances of Shakespeare.

Not many people know that an unknown Italian singer named Luciano Pavarotti made his UK debut on the stage of the Grand Opera House in the role of Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly.

Designed by the prolific theatrical architect Frank Matcham, the theatre was a huge success from the outset.

Standing almost next door to the Europa Hotel – once known as the most bombed hotel in Europe - the Grand Opera House suffered damage by bombs on several occasions usually when the nearby hotel had been the target.

The theatre was listed in the 1970s and has been restored extensively since.  The crush bar on the front of the building at first floor level, was part of the restoration work and it overlooks Great Victoria Street.

Ornate ceiling

When the opera house was being restored, Cherith McKinstry, a contemporary painter and wife of Robert McKinstry, the restoration architect, was selected to re-create the ceiling’s original scene in a sympathetic manner.

An image of the interior can be found here.
The theatre continues to thrive, hosting musicals, plays, pantomimes and live music.

It has been awhile since I attended a Performance in the Grand Opera House. I see Madame Butterfly returns in March…. maybe I’ll treat myself!

Sculpture ~ Penny for your Thoughts
Artist ~ Peter Rooney

One of several pieces entitled ‘Penny for your Thoughts’, by Peter Rooney, they act as dual purpose sculptures and at the corner of Gordon Street and Dunbar Street they are used as bollards. This first example depicts one of Belfast’s best-known citizens - Henry Joy McCracken

The work reflects the commercial activity that was at the base of the development of Belfast and the Cathedral Quarter.

Peter Rooney was born in Belfast in 1954. He received his BA (Hons) from University of Ulster in silversmithing and jewellery and then his Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Arts with particular interest in ‘Public Art’.

Monied bollards aid parking for monied cars!

This tile informs us that it is part of Laganside Art Trail.  It marks the location of the town ditch and gate into Belfast in 17th century.

I will return to this spot in the near future.

“The Duke of York” in big letters painted on the wall with an arrow is to be found close to the cobbled entry of Commercial Court, one of the oldest streets in Belfast. It is in the Cathedral Quarter, close to the John Hewitt Pub.  I hear they’ve got a great selection of Irish whiskeys - around 150 in total - including lots of smaller productions.

The couple in the picture were part of a photo shoot.

The white exterior is well kitted out with seats, hanging baskets and just the right amount of vintage knick-knackery, featuring old-fashioned metal adverts for whiskey and Guinness and hanging flower baskets.

One plaque informs passers-by that Snow Patrol played some of their first ever gigs in the room on the first floor, it has been used over the years for live music.

Snow Patrol was here!

Belfast sinks - The Group!

Another opening on the right… now I wonder what lurks down there?

That lady looks familiar.

Wondering what she was up to I followed and was in for a surprise……….

Just look at the walls of this covered walkway…..

Since the ‘No Smoking’ ban was introduced in all public buildings, most pubs provide an outdoor space.  Even the row of buckets with sand for the butts are colourful.

I wonder how many faces you recognise?

I was so busy looking at the walls, I never noticed the ceiling. :sad:  I may go back another day and check it out!

Spirit of Belfast ~ Stainless Steel
Sculptor ~ Dan George

Chosen by public vote, the Spirit of Belfast in Belfast City Centre was created by New York artist Dan George.
The seven metre high sculpture is composed of four curved stainless steel structural elements including programmed in-ground lighting and is installed on a granite plinth base.

In the artist’s words:

“The Spirit of Belfast is the manifestation of our energy as we look to the future as well as a meditation on our past. It is a timepiece that weaves together the strength of steel and the delicacy of light, ocean liners and linen, progress and peace”.

Dan George creates large scale installations and sculpture.  A couple at the roadsides in Southern Ireland and one in Cork City.

One piece will be familiar to drivers on the M7 near Kildare Town, called Race of the black Pig. It comprises A series of 60 aluminium and colour reflective sections in the form of an abstract St. Bridget’s cross, mounted along the west side of the carriageway.  I have driven by it many times, but until now, never knew the background story.

Passage of Time an installation of six double ring aluminium units is located beside the new realignment scheme, approximately half way between Wexford and New Ross. Fixed between the two rings of each of the six units are images covered with coloured highway reflective sheeting. As viewers pass by the installation, seventy-five meters in length, the rings and coloured elements appear to move or shift in relationship to each other.

Finally the Halo Project a theatrically lit corridor for Tobin Street in Cork, Ireland. The link has interesting detail of this project.

Most of my photos don’t do justice to this mosaic sculpture that I feature today.  It is owned by Translink, and housed in Europa Bus Station, Glengall Street ,Belfast.

If I were to get a bus to Dublin, this is where I would head to, for the second bus of that journey.  I have travelled from here, met friends and relations as they arrived and waved them off at the end of their stay.  Just to the right of where I stood to take this view is the focus of my piece today.

Waterfall of Souvenirs ~ Ceramic
Artist ~ John Kindness

This bus centre opened in 1989, and the sculpture was commissioned and completed in 1991. It was funded by Translink and the Arts Council of Belfast and recognised by an award from the Association for the Business Sponsorship of the Arts(ABSA now Arts and Business).

The sculpture is 5 metres high and depicts a waterfall, an avalanche of Irish memorabilia with a strong northern accent that represent the places linked by the Ulsterbus service (from this terminus).

The artist wanted to encapsulate a community feel so he requested donations of ceramic souvenirs from Ulster, some of which were than selected for inclusion in the finished piece.

The public response was considerable. These kitch items were then, along with specially fired ceramics, reassembled by the artist to achieve the overall design of the work. An Ulster Fry beside the Giant’s Causeway, presents from Bangor, Bushmills and Ballymena, Guinness (a favourite drink across the land), Whisky, shamrocks, public buildings, cathedrals, churches, beauty spots, wildlife etc are all portrayed. Some pieces were made from scratch.

John Kindness is well-known for his humorous and quirky visual commentaries and use of unconventional materials,  John Kindness is one of Northern Ireland’s best known artists, particularly in relation to the work he has produced for public spaces including The Big Fish at Donegall Quay in Belfast (1999) ( featured last week) and this piece at the Ulsterbus Station in Glengall Street.

His work has been is included in many private and public collections including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the AIB Bank.

John is an artist of international reputation. Previous commissions include ‘Romulus and Seamus’ Arts Council Northern Ireland Sculpture Park and ‘The Museum of the Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly’ in The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Belfast.  The latter I hope to explore at a future date.

The curved back which is mainly black tiles has photos and credits of John Kindness, Steve Raibl, Michelle Deignan & Peggy McKenna.  They all played a part in producing this work of Art.

Flying Cow Batman, do you see what I see?

A coffee shop, in Royal Avenue, Belfast.

A closer look

I didn’t have time to go inside and explore, and much as I tried, I found no info on the Interwebbythingy, so I have chalked it up for a visit on another day.

Not today since this is Magic Money Day, or so I gather from the radio… we are expected to believe that £Millions will be spent today on the last Saturday before Christmas.

Perhaps the traders will accept Monopoly money.  Don’t laugh. Go back and listen to all the newsreels for the past months.  Every hour we were told THERE IS NO MONEY anywhere in the Western World!

Winecellar Entry

Winecellar Entry is a small Entry just off Lombard Street, it is home to White’s Tavern, a popular pub founded in 1630. Whilst considered to be the longest serving pub in Belfast, it has largely been rebuilt after a fire in the 1990s.

Belfast has a series of historical narrow alleyways  they are mainly to be found in the vicinity of High Street and Ann Street. It is thought they date back to at least, if not before 1630, these entries are the oldest parts of Belfast city. In days long gone, they played an important part in the residential and business life of the then town – now city.

The names gracing these alleyways are almost romantic and I intend returning to them at a future date.