EastSide

East Belfast or EastSide, was home for thousands of shipyard workers who lived in the rows of terraced houses built for the workers and their families. The Yardmen sculpture on the Lower Newtownards Road pays tribute to the workers who built more than a thousand ships for Harland & Wolff, as well as other smaller shipyards such as Workman Clark. East Belfast was also the location for the Belfast Ropeworks, established by Gustav Wolff, and huge linen spinning mills. Whilst these mills may have now closed and factories been replaced by housing, EastSide is now thriving once again as a hub of culture and creativity. You can catch glimpses of the heritage of the past through buildings such as Templemore Baths – the Victorian public baths frequented by many shipyard workers over the last hundred years, or the Portview Trade Centre, a former linen mill now home to architects and craft brewers.

The area has produced lots of writers, poets and musicians, with perhaps the most well-known writer of all, CS Lewis, commemorated with the CS Lewis Square, a stunning new public park featuring seven bronze sculptures from ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.’ The Eastside Visitor Centre is located next to C.S. Lewis Square, and is your gateway to East Belfast. Packed full of information on EastSide’s key attractions, famous faces and places, you can sample local delicacies from JACK Coffee Bar and discover all that’s on offer in East Belfast.

A highlight of East Belfast has to be the Connswater Community Greenway, a 9km linear park through the heart of EastSide. From here you can follow a number of self-guided trails, walk in the footsteps of George Best’s childhood, soak up the scenery which inspired some of Van Morrison’s most famous songs or follow the EastSide Lives Heritage Trail which tells the story of East Belfast through the stories of local people