Monthly Archives: May 2016

Belfast Leg 8: Documentation and Restoration

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In a previous post Clare wrote about our trip to the Titanic Dock and Pump House as part of the European Heritage Open Day (“EHOD”) in Northern Ireland. This post though focuses on our next EHOD outing to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (“PRONI”) and the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices. To PRONI first. As the name suggests, PRONI houses public records, but it also has a large collection of private documents. According to an exhibition at the centre, PRONI began collecting private records to fill the archival gap left after the Public Record Office in Dublin was destroyed in 1922, taking with it most of its records. The exhibition goes on to note that these private collections “add colour and texture to the official records, creating a wide-ranging and varied archive”. Types of records included in the archive are government and court papers and documents deposited by individuals and businesses.

The first thing to note about PRONI is that its website is exemplary. An odd thing to highlight you may think, but go check it out here. We had a look at the website before we went on our tour and it literally answered every question we had, from clear opening times and days and how to register as a member, to what to expect on your first visit and information on their archives. The second thing to note is that the centre itself is beautiful. PRONI re-located to Titanic Quarter in 2011, and as soon as you enter the building, you can see that a lot of focus has been placed on making it fresh, modern and relevant. White walls, huge windows and open-plan floors invite you in, while modern art pieces adorn the walls and capture your attention. A particularly striking piece by Felicity Straker Graham, a tribute to those who have contributed to PRONI, is a display of porcelain sheets, finely moulded to form intricately-designed pieces of paper. The photos don’t do it justice, but the sheets of porcelain are so delicate that you can see the light shining through them.

On to the actual tour itself, our group got a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the research areas, labs and archives. We were given tips on how to search for documents in the computer room, and then led to the reading room where you can peruse your chosen document at your leisure. Our guide pointed out that, perhaps unexpectedly, you don’t wear gloves when reading old documents, and that she would tell us why later in the tour. She never told us. We forgot to ask. Cue several months of being sporadically plagued by this question. As you might expect, old documents can suffer major damage. We were told about one particular document that was completely saturated and in the process of being dried out. Fortunately PRONI has a conservation lab to try to restore these documents so readers can enjoy them.

The lab took us right back to third form Chemistry. Suppressing an urge to fire up a bunsen burner, we moved on to a cool reprographics lab where one of their projects is to merge old and new photos to show you what an area looked like then and now. Finally we made our way down to see where all the archived documents are kept. These rooms contain shelves and shelves of hundreds of boxes and the temperature is noticeably lower than in the rest of the building to help preserve the documents. Most of the documents in these rooms are accessible to the public, however there are also a large number that have to remain confidential either indefinitely or for a set amount of time. We left the tour inspired to hunt through old documents, maybe to learn more about our family history, or perhaps to read through some historical documents on the Titanic.

As mentioned in a previous post, I will be writing a post on my Grandas’ careers in the shipyard, and we thought this would be the perfect topic to research in PRONI. Hoping to find some sort of mention of them in relation to the shipyard, we chatted to a member of staff who reckoned our best bet would be the archived Harland & Wolff personnel papers. Alas, these papers aren’t available to the public for confidentiality reasons, and we hit a bit of a brick wall. If you have any suggestions for where else we could look please leave a comment! Not the result we were hoping for, but we’ll definitely find another project so we have an excuse to go back. Plus, it’s free to become a member and look at the documents, and your card lasts for ten years. It would be a great place to spend a grey, rainy day, engrossed in old personal diaries of world war veterans or investigating your family tree. The centre isn’t open at weekends, but you can go during the day Monday to Friday, and Thursday evenings from February to November. Make sure to check out the cafe too. It does a pretty decent scone with jam and cream.

After our tour of PRONI and a talk in its lecture theatre on the SS Nomadic during the EHOD weekend (see our next post), we made our way to the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices. Titanic Foundation’s tourist brochure notes that these offices, built around 1885-1917, are the oldest remaining structures of the shipbuilding industry on Queen’s Island. It was here that great ships such as the Titanic, Olympic and HMS Belfast were designed, perhaps by the draughtsmen you see in the black and white photo above. According to Titanic Foundation, the building “is the most critical and authentic physical and emotional link which connects the Titanic and Olympic Slipways, SS Nomadic, HMS Caroline and the Thompson Dock into a sustainable world class heritage destination”.

It was, therefore, with particular sadness that I learned that the Drawing Offices are to be converted into a boutique hotel. True, the offices have been vacant for quite some time, and the funding will not only help restore the building, but also create jobs and help attract more tourism to the area. However, as I stood in the high-ceilinged shell of a room, surveying the layers of colourful peeling paint, a hint to the building’s long-standing history in the area, and following the streams of light directed through the multitude of windows onto the long drawing tables, helpfully laid out as a visual aid, I could almost see the rows of draughtsmen hunched over their desks with rulers and sharpened pencils, meticulously mapping out every rivet and stairway of one of the many innovative ships proudly conceived in the Belfast shipyard. I generally support and see the value in restoring and re-purposing buildings. But I can’t help but feel that this experience, this unique opportunity to stand between the crumbling walls and wooden desks and reflect on our city’s maritime heritage, would be somewhat out of our grasp with the presence of a hotel lobby and brightly coloured suitcases.

That being said, the hotel will reportedly have “heritage at its core”, and I still hope to be pleasantly surprised by (perhaps even enthusiastic about!) the restoration work. It’s true, after all, that just because it will be a different experience doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a worse experience. Please do let us know your thoughts on the re-purposing of the Drawing Offices and other historical buildings. By the time we learned that the Drawing Offices would close to the public in their current state for good, we almost missed out on accessing them. Thankfully, in a last-minute miracle, we discovered that they would open once again during EHOD 2015. Access was limited, however, so we only got to see a small part of the Drawing Offices. Helpfully, though, many of the documents from the offices are available to view in PRONI, so we, and future generations, will still have extensive access to the building’s history and legacy.

We are incredibly lucky to have, in this small area, access to not only educational talks and discussions, through which we can explore Belfast’s shipbuilding past in its economic, social or political context, but also to authentic documents, artefacts and actual historical buildings. To re-purpose the PRONI quote in the first paragraph, these facets combine to add colour and texture to the black and white photos we so often see of the docks and their workers.

-Rachel

Belfast Leg 7: Dunchers, kites and coffee snobs

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Now off to the crowning glory of the Titanic Quarter, ‘Titanic Belfast’! Well, not quite. Having both been before, we decided that at £17.50 for a standard ticket, it was just too expensive to visit again. Do note though, that your £17.50 also includes entry to the SS Nomadic so if you’re planning to visit both attractions, this is actually a really good deal.

The building itself is pretty spectacular (extremely silver, and extremely angular, apparently in an effort to depict the angular prows of ships) and cost a mere £77 million to construct and kit out with all things Titanic. As well as the standard museum experience, the building boasts multiple exhibition spaces, conference facilities, café, bistro, gift shop and a replica of the famous staircase as seen in James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’. Access to the staircase is not included in the standard ticket price and presumably does not include a meet and greet with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Although we didn’t revisit the museum, we popped into the café (for Titanic related treats), the gift shop (for Titanic related memorabilia) and to the ‘Robots’ exhibition where we came face to face with life-sized replicas of some famous TV and movie ‘bots. All the pieces were on loan from Scotland’s ‘Museum of Movie Magic’ and for £6 admission each, we though this was a really decent price for an hour of fun and photographic opportunities with the likes of R2-D2, T-800, Robbie the Robot and RoboCop.

We wandered outside to the Slipways and Plaza (covered in a previous blog here) to visit the memorial, commemorating all those who died on Titanic’s ill-fated journey. Names of the crew and passengers who passed away are listed on huge panes of glass.

In the mood for something a little more light-hearted, we hopped onto the ‘Wee Tram’ for a tour around the area. Although we’re now well familiar with the Titanic Quarter, we couldn’t resist donning a duncher (a flat cap worn by the shipyard workers in Harland and Wolff) and seeing some of the sights from aboard a more unconventional mode of transport. The tour harked back to the trams which ran through Belfast in the late 1800’s to the mid-1900’s and is certainly a unique way to take in the scenery. The ‘Wee Tram’ has been one of our favourite attractions on our coastal tour so far; it was at the bargain price of £5, includes a live tour guide, as well as an on-board TV screen with even more facts and figures, it operates the extremely useful ‘hop-on/hop-off’ system, and is wheelchair friendly to boot. If you can only do one thing in the Titanic Quarter, make it the ‘Wee Tram’.

After this, we happened upon Belfast’s first ever kite festival, ‘KiteTanica’ (pat on the back to whoever came up with the name). A fun event for kids (we saw plenty walking around with little personalised kites) but a bit underwhelming for adults, maybe due to the lack of wind that day. Still we got a few shots of giant inflatable animals, floating around the harbour.

To cap off our busy day, we visited T13 (as blogged about here) for the first annual Northern Ireland Coffee Festival. Since I’m not a coffee fan I was just hoping for a nice cup of tea and a sit down, while Rachel went straight to the hard stuff. Included in the entry ticket (£6) we were each given a free drink voucher, and the promise of live music, barista competitions, screening of coffee related documentaries and various food and (obviously) coffee stands. Plus this was all happening until 7pm! It’s rare that a daytime event in Northern Ireland goes on past 4pm or 5pm so we were looking forward to spending a fair few hours here.

Unfortunately, the whole event wasn’t as good as it could (or should) have been. Our free drink voucher was apparently worth £2 maximum (which was not stated anywhere) and so this led to frantic scrambling for change at the front of a busy queue. Many of the food stands shut well before 7pm and the documentary screenings fell by the wayside too, long before the event was over. The coffee ‘experts’ were out in force too, advising us exactly how to enjoy our hot drinks (“You’re putting milk in a macchiato? Really?”).

There were a few positives at least; the location was very good (T13 is such a multifunctional space, and could be used for anything really) and some food and drink stands were there until the bitter end. Indie Fude, an artisanal food company, had some beautiful stuff from all around Ireland, and the friendly guys at the Suki Tea stand generously gave us some of their milk after we were shooed away by the coffee purists.

Sadly the event was overall a bit disappointing, which was a shame as it had so much potential. We do hope it returns again next year when, fingers crossed, some of these problems will be ironed out.

-Clare