Mainland Brits, how many of you have been to N Ireland?
Discussion
Been quite a few times, mainly flying into/out of Derry, occasionally Belfast.
Flying into Derry the first time was an experience - you get closer and closer to the sea, telling yourself that presumably there is a runway ahead, then at seemingly the last second the briefest flash of grass and down onto the tarmac. Had one landing in a snowstorm that was quite sideways, skiddy and bouncy - I was all but reaching for the release handles on the overwing exit; I suspect the piloys would have needed their hotel's overnight laundry service.
Flying into Derry the first time was an experience - you get closer and closer to the sea, telling yourself that presumably there is a runway ahead, then at seemingly the last second the briefest flash of grass and down onto the tarmac. Had one landing in a snowstorm that was quite sideways, skiddy and bouncy - I was all but reaching for the release handles on the overwing exit; I suspect the piloys would have needed their hotel's overnight laundry service.
citizensm1th said:
ellroy said:
The Vambo said:
Went to view a lovely old linen mill just outside Newry, liked it so much I stayed 6 months....
Not much of a nightlife there, as I recall.I spent a few months wandering round a Maze.
long kesh was my favourite maze in NI
Overall spent 3-4 years in total during the nineties, Omagh, Belfast, Lisburn, Londonderry and stints at various bases across the Province.
Although military, at some points had quite a bit of freedom so got around a lot so saw quite a bit of everywhere.
Belfast as said above is a cracking night out, Antrim coast stunning but really not a lot else going on in the countryside. Always had the feeling of stagnation to me.
NW2000 worth a visit, loons the lot of them!
It also feckin rains all the time
Yipper said:
NI is one of the poorest places in the developed world. Violence and terror and bombs are still very common. An attempted bomb attack on Charles and Camilla was foiled just a few days ago. It is easy to see why many mainland folk see "over the water" as unexoctic or risky.
This is a joke post right? I used to deliver to Bombardier (Shorts) in Belfast , and also a few exhibitions at the Waterfront in Belfast. The people are very friendly on the whole , laid back and helpful , spent days in the new services on the M1 .
A vast improvement on mainland services , free parking , free showers ,a choice of food at normal prices , free wi fi that actually works .
Also been to the south a fair bit .
All the Irish are fond of a good chat and if you chat for more than 10 mins the next time you see them you tend to be treated as long lost family .
My sister spent many months just outside Balfast caring for her father in law who was terminally ill , the local people really looked after her , meals , shopping , lifts to and from the hospital and hospice and almost a revolt when they discovered that she had used a taxi from the airport .
A vast improvement on mainland services , free parking , free showers ,a choice of food at normal prices , free wi fi that actually works .
Also been to the south a fair bit .
All the Irish are fond of a good chat and if you chat for more than 10 mins the next time you see them you tend to be treated as long lost family .
My sister spent many months just outside Balfast caring for her father in law who was terminally ill , the local people really looked after her , meals , shopping , lifts to and from the hospital and hospice and almost a revolt when they discovered that she had used a taxi from the airport .
Went there on 3 or 4 occasions for 2-3 days at a time for work in the early 90s.
Work (IT based) was at Downpatrick Hospital and we generally stayed in Newcastle, County Down at the Slieve Donard Hotel, which was very nice and not that expensive, although on one occasion stayed at a somewhat random B&B in Belfast due to an admin person taking it upon themselves to save a couple of pounds.
The countryside was really beautiful around Newcastle with the mountains/hills in the distance.
The team at the Hospital we worked with were all very welcoming even though of the 2 key team leaders there, one was very definitely Catholic and the other very much Protestant.
I really enjoyed it, despite the obvious presence of the military.
One evening, myself and my colleague went out for a walk in Newcastle after dinner. On the way back up the drive to the hotel (it was almost dark), there was a rustling in the bushes to the right, and the next thing we knew, an army patrol carrying machine guns stepped out of the bushes and in front of us. We just froze, they asked who we were, we said we were guests at the hotel, and then they crossed the drive and disappeared into the bushes on the left.
We were also treated to some local hospitality going to a BBQ at one of the team leaders' house. It was all pretty civilised with some good food and wine, until the team leader's husband broke out the whiskey, then when the bottle was gone, sent her out to the offie for another bottle. Next day at work was not a lot of fun. My colleague (and boss) only had to do some coding, so sat quietly working at his PC, whereas I struggled in the same room to run a training course for trainers on the system we were implementing.
Also went for a meal with the other team leader one time on the way to the airport. I was getting increasingly worried about the time, despite them assuring me there was plenty of time to get there. Needless to say, we only just made it, with me having to rush through security - who stopped me due to the strange shaped "rockets" in my bag. When I told them they were just juggling clubs, they insisted I juggled them before then telling me to run the rest of the way to the plane - the doors of which were closed immediately I got on.
I've not been back since, but was talking to Mrs C&C only a couple of weeks ago about possibly going back, also visiting the Republic (never been), and taking the car this time.
Work (IT based) was at Downpatrick Hospital and we generally stayed in Newcastle, County Down at the Slieve Donard Hotel, which was very nice and not that expensive, although on one occasion stayed at a somewhat random B&B in Belfast due to an admin person taking it upon themselves to save a couple of pounds.
The countryside was really beautiful around Newcastle with the mountains/hills in the distance.
The team at the Hospital we worked with were all very welcoming even though of the 2 key team leaders there, one was very definitely Catholic and the other very much Protestant.
I really enjoyed it, despite the obvious presence of the military.
One evening, myself and my colleague went out for a walk in Newcastle after dinner. On the way back up the drive to the hotel (it was almost dark), there was a rustling in the bushes to the right, and the next thing we knew, an army patrol carrying machine guns stepped out of the bushes and in front of us. We just froze, they asked who we were, we said we were guests at the hotel, and then they crossed the drive and disappeared into the bushes on the left.
We were also treated to some local hospitality going to a BBQ at one of the team leaders' house. It was all pretty civilised with some good food and wine, until the team leader's husband broke out the whiskey, then when the bottle was gone, sent her out to the offie for another bottle. Next day at work was not a lot of fun. My colleague (and boss) only had to do some coding, so sat quietly working at his PC, whereas I struggled in the same room to run a training course for trainers on the system we were implementing.
Also went for a meal with the other team leader one time on the way to the airport. I was getting increasingly worried about the time, despite them assuring me there was plenty of time to get there. Needless to say, we only just made it, with me having to rush through security - who stopped me due to the strange shaped "rockets" in my bag. When I told them they were just juggling clubs, they insisted I juggled them before then telling me to run the rest of the way to the plane - the doors of which were closed immediately I got on.
I've not been back since, but was talking to Mrs C&C only a couple of weeks ago about possibly going back, also visiting the Republic (never been), and taking the car this time.
Robertj21a said:
Been about 6 times over 30 years, generally Belfast and Londonderry/Derry. Parts of Belfast are now a bit better than before, but it's still a worrying place once you are in the more suburban areas. Derry was a depressing place and I couldn't take more than 2 visits - with no desire to return.
The issues involving religion are ever-present and unlikely to change in my lifetime. It makes for a very poor impression of the whole of N.I even though the more rural areas can be very scenic and enjoyable.
Similar - three times across twelve months a couple of years ago. The locals all seemed to get enjoyment out of complaining about each other and if you weren't in Belfast centre or way out in the sticks it felt like a very large council estate. The issues involving religion are ever-present and unlikely to change in my lifetime. It makes for a very poor impression of the whole of N.I even though the more rural areas can be very scenic and enjoyable.
Irish Republic, on the other hand, is great. Dublin city centre is a hole, full of leprechaun-themed s
te for the tourists; suburbs and outside Dublin is just a great place. Would go more often if the € wasn't quite such a horrific rate.In 1979 I was 11, my dad came home from work and announced we were all moving to Holywood. I was quite pleased until I realised it's about 10 miles outside Belfast. I asked if he'd seen the news recently, and was he mad.
We stayed for 4 years, Holywood is a great place. I made new friends and adopted an Irish accent very quickly. I passed my 11+ and went to the gammar school. The level of education over there was much higher than back in Manchester and it did me no harm at all.
Yes we heard bombs go off in the night and I actually witnessed one go off in the centre of Belfast. That was then this is now. I've been back many times, Belfast is a great city with some great countryside around.
We stayed for 4 years, Holywood is a great place. I made new friends and adopted an Irish accent very quickly. I passed my 11+ and went to the gammar school. The level of education over there was much higher than back in Manchester and it did me no harm at all.
Yes we heard bombs go off in the night and I actually witnessed one go off in the centre of Belfast. That was then this is now. I've been back many times, Belfast is a great city with some great countryside around.
splodge s4 said:
I've been, back in 90/91. I lived there for 6 months, a lovely des res called Bessbrook mill down in what was known then as bandit country. We often went for long walks in the country, spoke to lots of locals, some friendlier than others. Often we would go for a walk & then jump on a chopper to come back, sometimes a chopper would take us out for the day & we would walk & come back a few days later. Great times, I miss my GPMG with 300 rounds, the first 50 were armour piercing, even got a medal at the end of the holiday.
We possibly bumped into each other if you had been walking through Camlough. Was always quite the sight when the helicopters landed beside our house.Me & some mates went once to go to a wedding in Belfast. The day before the wedding we strolled into a pub for a few beers and a few games of pool. Unfortunately we weren't aware that this particular pub was an IRA friendly pub. We opted to leave quite quickly minus any drinks or games of pool
Steve H said:
I've been over a couple times visiting friends in the Bangor/Newtonards area, what I understand was proper bandit country back in the day (this was after the Good Friday Agreement etc)
Attended a (catholic) wedding and couldn't imagine a more welcoming friendly group of people. It wasn't hard to spot clues from the history of the area but it was hard to imagine how it happened
.
Bangor and Newtownards were very far from Bandit Country. It was in and around South Armagh, a good hour and a half/2 hours from Bangor/Ards. Back in the day you would have had a comparatively peaceful life living in Bangor or Newtownards.Attended a (catholic) wedding and couldn't imagine a more welcoming friendly group of people. It wasn't hard to spot clues from the history of the area but it was hard to imagine how it happened
.surveyor said:
PS no one calls it Londonderry apart from us English. It's Derry... even most of the signs say this.
Not true. Protestant Northern Irish refer to it as Londonderry, Catholic North Irish refer to it as Derry. It's a bit of a nightmare really as you're constantly trying not to offend. Most people like myself who don't really give a st refer to it as either "Derry Londonderry" or "Stroke City". Wish they would just rename it completely to Foyle City or something.Also, almost all signs still say "Londonderry", with the odd one having the "london" scored out. Like along the Glenshane Pass for example.
I've visited several times on rugby tours when I was younger. The tour was based in Ireland but we crossed the border for a few games.
Can't remember the name of the club now, but we played a team in a very impoverished area back in 1997 where the opposition could barely afford a kit. Clubhouse was an old wooden shack which had seen better days but they tried very hard to make us welcome. Some of us donated our kit (including jerseys, shorts, boots, socks & training balls/kit) before we left
Can't remember the name of the club now, but we played a team in a very impoverished area back in 1997 where the opposition could barely afford a kit. Clubhouse was an old wooden shack which had seen better days but they tried very hard to make us welcome. Some of us donated our kit (including jerseys, shorts, boots, socks & training balls/kit) before we left
Ructions said:
It had a for sale sign on it the last I heard. It would be an ideal location for a pub.
I doubt it will have a pub inside the village for a long time! I believe it wishes to retain its Quaker inspired model village moniker and the two on the outskirts could be argued to be enough.There were rumours a while back that the old army complex was to be turned into a branch of Ulster University but it's currently used as storage for what looks like the electricity board.
Paddymcc said:
We possibly bumped into each other if you had been walking through Camlough. Was always quite the sight when the helicopters landed beside our house.
Most probably, just looked up the estate we often used to have a wander around, oliver plunket park! We often used to gaze down from camlough mountain, ah those were the days!surveyor said:
PS no one calls it Londonderry apart from us English. It's Derry... even most of the signs say this.
Hmm. Not quite.http://tinyurl.com/m2jdp86
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