Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [506]
The latest stage is the 28-storey Obel (Map), Belfast’s tallest building, which dominates the waterfront at Donegall Quay. All 182 apartments in the building were sold in advance, within 48 hours of being released; it’s due for completion by the end of 2010.
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WALK: LAGAN TOWPATH
Part of Belfast’s Laganside redevelopment project was the restoration of the towpath along the west bank of the River Lagan. You can now walk or cycle for 20km along the winding riverbank from central Belfast to Lisburn. The Belfast Welcome Centre provides the Lagan Valley Regional Park – Towpath Leaflet, which has a detailed map.
A shorter walk (10km) that you can easily do in half a day starts from Shaw’s Bridge (Map) on the southern edge of the city. Take bus 8A or 8B from Donegall Sq E to the stop just before the Malone roundabout (where Malone Rd becomes Upper Malone Rd). Bear left at the roundabout (signposted Outer Ring A55) and in five minutes or so you will reach the River Lagan at Shaw’s Bridge.
Turn left and follow the cycle/walkway downstream on the left bank of the river (waymarked with red ‘9’ signs), passing a restored lock-keeper’s cottage and canal-side cafe at lock number 3. After 30 minutes you will arrive at the most attractive part of the walk: Lagan Meadows (Map), a tree-fringed loop in the river to the right of the path and a good place for a picnic on a summer’s day. Another half-hour will bring you to Cutters Wharf Click here, a great place for a lunch break. From the pub it’s another hour of pleasant walking to Lagan Weir (Map) in the city centre.
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A few blocks to the south is the brand new £320 million shopping mall, Victoria Square (Map; www.victoriasquare.com), whose centrepiece is a soaring atrium topped by a vast glass dome.
CLARENDON DOCK
Near the ferry terminal on Donegall Quay is the Italianate Harbour Commissioner’s Office (Map; 1854). The striking marble and stained-glass interior features art and sculpture inspired by Belfast’s maritime history. The captain’s table built for the Titanic survives here – completed behind schedule, it never made it on board. Guided tours of the office are available during the Belfast Maritime Festival in early July. It’s also open on European Heritage Open Days, which take place over a weekend in September or October (see the Events section on www.ni-environment.gov.uk).
Sinclair Seamen’s Church (Map; 9071 5997; Corporation Sq; admission free; 2-4pm Wed), next to the Harbour Commissioner’s Office, was built by Charles Lanyon in 1857–58 and was intended to meet the spiritual needs of visiting sailors. Part church, part maritime museum, it has a pulpit in the shape of a ship’s prow (complete with red-and-green port and starboard lights), a brass ship’s wheel and binnacle (used as a baptismal font) salvaged from a WWI wreck and, hanging on the wall behind the wheel, the ship’s bell from HMS Hood.
North of the Harbour Commissioner’s Office is the restored Clarendon Dock (Map). Leading off it are the dry docks where Belfast’s shipbuilding industry was born – No 1 Dry Dock (1796–1800) is Ireland’s oldest, and remained in use until the 1960s; No 2 (1826) is still used occasionally. Between the two sits the pretty little Clarendon Building, now home to the offices of the Laganside Corporation.
CUSTOM HOUSE SQUARE
South along the river is the elegant Custom House (Map), built by Lanyon in Italianate style between 1854 and 1857; the writer Anthony Trollope once worked in the post office here. On the waterfront side, the pediment carries sculpted portrayals of Britannia, Neptune and Mercury. The Custom House steps were once Belfast’s equivalent of London’s Speakers’ Corner, a tradition memorialised in a bronze statue preaching to an invisible crowd.
Looking across the River Lagan from the Custom House, East Belfast