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§ February 19th, 2012
Belfast’s Jaffe Fountain
There is a round plaque at the front of the fountain canopy in remembrance of Daniel Joseph Jaffe.
It was first sited in Victoria Square before being moved to the Botanic Gardens, south Belfast in 1933 and lay there for almost 70 years in poor condition. The fountain had to be painstakingly restored due to its condition and to study its original colours underneath the years of neglect.
It has been returned to the original location outside the new Victoria Square Mall.
It is a great link to Belfast’s history and the role of the Jaffe family. Daniel Joseph Jaffe was born in Mecklenburg, Schwerin, northern Germany on August 19, 1809. He laid the foundation stone of the synagogue in Great Victoria Street. He died in Nice on January 21, 1874, and was buried in the Jewish plot at Belfast Cemetery.
Daniel Joseph Jaffe and his older sons formed Jaffe Brothers, linen manufacturers, bleachers and merchants, at Bedford Street, Belfast. Otto a younger son, took over from his older brothers when they retired in 1877 and managed the business they had started with their father. In 1880 the business had moved to 9 Donegall Square East and 10 Donegall Square South.
Otto Jaffe, was elected as a city councillor in 1894, and was elected as Belfast’s first Lord Mayor in 1899 (the first incumbent of the title ‘Lord’). He was knighted after his first term and re-elected as Lord Mayor in 1904. Sir Otto died in 1929, and was cremated in London.
The narrow triangular building is Bittles Bar. If you need a winter warmer you could try:-
§ February 12th, 2012
I wonder if I will find some place like this
or this
I’m sure to have fun…. and might tell you about it when I when I come back.
You never know I might even find some interesting sculpture to share with you.
§ February 7th, 2012
When the mist cleared yesterday, I went for a walk. For a few hours it was like a Spring day.
Look what I found. A little out of season
An Orange March! 
§ January 29th, 2012
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.
§ January 28th, 2012
Joy’s Entry – What a lovely name.
It is very narrow and connects Ann Street to High Street.
Home to several pubs, such as McCrackens Cafe Bar.
The Entry takes its name from the Joy family who were prominent 18th Century residents of the city. Francis McCracken, shipowner, married Anne Joy, daughter of Francis Joy. The Joy family made their money in linen manufacture and Francis Joy McCracken was founder of the Belfast Newsletter in 1737. It was first printed here in Joy’s Entry.
Henry Joy McCracken, a grandson of Francis, became interested in radical politics and joined the Society of the United Irishmen in 1795. He was court martialled and hanged at Corn Market, Belfast, not many yards from Joy’s Entry in July 1798, on land his grandfather had donated to the city.
The best view is from the Ann Street end.
§ January 18th, 2012
I saw soft colour
and a sharp spike
The Spire of hope atop St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.
More anon…
§ January 11th, 2012
Before the drop in temperatures that are promised over the next while, I am off to air the camera.
I wonder if they have harvested the leaves yet?
§ December 31st, 2011
It was the colour that drew me to this entrance.
A colourful doorway in Belfast that holds a surprise:
A Doorway to learning Circus Skills!
My New Year Toast
May the year ahead open doors
to interesting and heart warming experiences
for all my readers.
§ December 17th, 2011
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!
§ December 10th, 2011
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.
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