I took advantage of the dry weather to enjoy the dog days of summer on my bike. Today is the last day of late summer bank holiday weekend and I took the opportunity to ride into Belfast to visit the Titanic Quarter. Belfast was not as busy as I expected with the cycle paths seeing fewer cyclists and pedestrians than anticipated, compared to last week when the P&O cruise ship 'Arcadia' was in port.
I used the new pedestrian/cycle bridge at the Lagan weir to cross over the River Lagan onto what was once Queens Quay where the old Belfast & County Down Railway had it's Belfast terminus and Kelly's Coal Merchant had their offices and where coal was unloaded from their fleet of colliers into railway wagons on the quayside. A lot of old Belfast has been swept away in redevelopment and the Belfast Odyssey Arena and W5 Centre were the first of the new buildings in the area. Residential housing, the Titantic centre, and the new Public Records Office have all been opened in the Quarter, as well as the restored White Star Line SS Nomadic which was built as a tender ship for the RMS Titanic.
The Quarter is well worth a visit and the excellent Dock Cafe is popular with cyclists as the food and coffee are to be recommended. The cafe also has a display of memorabilia about the Belfast Port and RMS Titanic. There is a large public artwork in the communal area outside the cafe featuring RMS Titanic. It is easily reached by bicycle for the visitor to Belfast by using one of the bicycle hire scheme bicycles.
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