The Ham Nomads

4 Jul 2014. <GB-NIR> Belfast; <GB-SCT> Cairnryan, D&G; Ballantrae, & Girvan, & Kirkoswald, S Ayr —

Craigshill start again. This time the day was somewhat wetter. We knew where to take the van to park for the Crumlin Road Gaol, so we drove across, getting there by 9.40. Our plan was to have a cuppa in the tea room while we waited. No such luck — the tea room opened at 10am! Oh well, coffee in the van is never a bad option!

Crumlin Road Gaol Entrance

Crumlin Road Gaol
Closed section

Got into the waiting room just in time to meet up with our tour guide, Sarah, and the other three tourists — also from Australia! This turned out to be a most enjoyable tour. Firstly, Sarah was a delight. She loves her topic with an intensity that would put a lot of Australian students of history to shame. Secondly, with such a small tour group, we were able to have a lot more interaction, and also for the tour to penetrate to parts of the gaol that are not normally presented to the public. So we got to see sections that had had little or nothing done in the way of cleaning up or sanitization — and it really gave the whole tour an immediacy and a reality that the parts set up for the run-of-the-mill tourist don't really give you.

Crumlin Road Gaol Hub

Tunnel under road
to Courthouse

The Gaol was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, who was also responsible for many of the buildings around Belfast, including the Belfast Castle we saw the other day. It was based on the cutting-edge (for its time) Pentonville Prison in London. It was opened in 1845 and continued right up to 1996. It was designed with a central hub, and the four wings (A, B, C and D Wings, each of three storeys) radiating from this hub so that a warder in the hub could see right down all the wings at once. Built from black basalt and red sandstone, it was at once decorative and intimidating. Designed for single occupancy, the 550 cells were at times housing 2 or more prisoners. Children as young as five were housed here, as were many women — notably the suffragettes.

Sarah took great delight in taking us to the condemned man's cell, then with a great flourish, pulling aside a wardrobe to reveal a door, which she slammed open, taking us directly into the execution chamber, complete with noose, trapdoor and, beneath it, the 'drop cell' where the victim was left hanging for up to 45 minutes to ensure a successful execution. All rather barbaric — and within living memory!

Crumlin Road Gaol was a fitting companion in our travels to Kilmainham Gaol. Kilmainham was prominent during the Irish Rebellion / War of Independence and its Civil War. Crumlin Road was heavily used during the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland — particularly in Belfast — since the partition.

Amnesty International
(note barbed wire above!)

Anyway, somewhat edified and distinctly sobered, we left Crumlin Road and decided to go to the Stena Line terminal to book our passage to Scotland tomorrow. Didn't make it — yet! On the way, we were in Shankill Road and Agnes Road and noticed a swag of murals. Warren decided to get out and photograph them, as they were an interesting series of documents regarding the political situation here in Northern Ireland at the moment.

The van gets a bath

While taking these photos, Warren noticed a car washing service in Agnes Road. Approached the man there, and asked if we could get our van washed. "How soon could you get it here?" "It's parked only a hundred yards up the road" — so we got our van washed!! While this was being done, our Irish helper asked if we had seen the Peace Wall, which had a lot of other murals. He pointed out that it was only a couple of streets away, so when the van wash was done, we went round to Cupar Way and the Peace Wall.

Before we go any further, a little history. July 12 is the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (July 1, 1690, old calendar), where William of Orange effectively defeated James II and put an end to the Catholic Jacobite rebellion. In Nothern Ireland (where Loyalist = Protestant = Orange, and Republican = Catholic = Green), the Protestant/Loyalist/Orange lodges — The Orange Order — have a tradition, in 'marching season', of marching in Lodge Uniforms, with Union Flags flying, right through Catholic areas of the city, effectively thumbing their noses at the defeated parties of that war of over 300 years ago. This has caused out-and-out warfare between the parties that the police and the army are hard pushed to contain. To help resolve the situation, huge barricades were built to keep the feuding factions apart. One of these barricades has been covered with artworks, and graffiti of people who support the sentiments — this is encouraged! It is this, the Peace Wall, in Cupar Way, that we went round to photograph.

Peace Wall

Peace Wall Mural

Flags in Crumlin Road

We must say that the walls in Shankill Road are more restrained, have for the most part more artistic merit — Cupar Way has simply become a graffiti artists' domain — but the whole thing simply appals! We were asked a couple of days earlier whether we approved of flag flying. At this stage, the only flag flying we knew of was purely patriotic, or at times to make sure you aren't mistakenly taken for another nationality. But as we were driving along Crumlin Road in the Shankill District (a strongly Protestant section of town) the way the flags were being flown left a really sour taste in the mouth. How can people be so pig-headed over something that, in the long run, simply needs to be put behind you? July 12 is almost upon us, and the Belfast newspapers are full of it. This, from the Belfast Telegraph, July 4...

"It is hard to believe that a dispute over a group of men walking half-a-mile threatens to bring Northern Ireland to a halt and plunge political talks into chaos. The policing bill will run into millions and, without proper leadership, it could cost lives as well as money."

Enough said!! — Especially as Derry, with the same history, has been able to replace enmity with mutual respect!

After doing this we finally went across to Stena to book our passage. The weather was wet and miserable, and when we got there to find a super-fast service was leaving in about two hours, we took the decision to be on it! So we booked our passage, went round to the vehicle boarding queue, left the van there and went in to the cafeteria to relax until called to take our van on board.

Entering the ferry

The crossing was incident-free (although our departure was delayed as a crippled bulk-carrier was brought past us and into port). We left the boat only abut 10 minutes late in Cairnryan, in southern Scotland. We immediately hit the road, driving up the A77 towards Ayr. On the way, we pulled in to the perfect viewing point overlooking Ailsa Craig, a spectacular island just north of Ballantrae.

Went to cook tea and found that our second gas cylinder, which we had recently changed over to, was not putting out any gas! Gave up on the viewing point, and drove a little further north, to Girvan, in the quest for gas. Found a very pleasant garage proprietor who helped us out, and then we decided to continue further north on the A77, through the hinterlands to the seaside, and in a forested area just past Kirkoswald found a secluded layby, well off the road and hidden by vegetation. Another good place to spend the night!

Distance driven — today, 50 miles ( 81 km ); to date, 3,567 miles ( 5,741 km )