St Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, Bryson Street, – situated just off the Newtownards Road, in loyalist Ballymacarret, – East Belfast.
I deliberately picked out the flag in colour. (I’d followed my usual practice of shooting in RAW/B&W Jpeg)
The Ulster flag, flying outside the church, and the wire fence between the road and the grounds perfectly illustrate the divisions and tensions that exist between the two communities that live in the area.
Westbourne Street in east Belfast is now hardly a street at all! A dead-end with no houses or buildings of its own, – now terminated prematurely by the railings of a local FE College.
Westbourne Street, Belfast
I stopped there and parked, on a day when I had a few minutes to kill before an appointment, and got out to make a few images, with the help of the Nikon FM3a and a roll of Ilford HP5 (ISO400)
An East Belfast icon, selling everything ‘from a needle to an anchor…’ Well, perhaps not literally! Photographed with the Nikon FM3a film camera on Ilford HP5 ISO400 and developed on Ilfosol 3.
So, I’ve visited a derelict pub in inner east Belfast, and made some photographs. Why? Well, because the site has been sold for redevelopment, it’s going to be demolished and a block of apartments built in its place. But more importantly, because this building has an ugly and gruesome history.
The Bunch of Grapes is situated on the Beersbridge Road / Castlereagh Road junction, formerly known as ‘John Long’s Corner.’ (In the 1950’s my Great Grandfather (Mr Robb) owned and ran a cobbler’s shop (a shoe repairer) at the corner, so I’ve been familiar with the area for all my life.) Continue reading The Bunch of Grapes→