Singing, dancing and City Hall lit up: How VE Day was celebrated in Belfast
Historian Jason Burke charts how the city celebrated the end of the Second World War
In his autobiography set in the depressive context of growing up in Belfast during the 1920s and 1930s, poet and writer Robert Greacen invited us to imagine 'a sunny morning in Campbell's during the Second World War'. He was referring to Campbell's Coffee House on the top floor of 8 Donegall Square North which was a venue for cultural gatherings from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Here, literary aspirants such as John Boyd and Sam Hanna Bell would congregate; Denis Ireland could often be found there recounting stories and yarns in his unique way. Greacen, however, opted to leave Belfast in 1942 as a result of the war which, by that point had seen the city 'gashed by the Nazi bombers' as he put it. 'After the war, perhaps, change may come… but will the war ever end?' Greacen pondered.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
4 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Ghost hunt event to take place at Llanyrafon Manor Farm
Llanyrafon Manor Farm, in Cwmbran, is hosting a 12-hour lockdown and fear ball ghost hunt. Those brave enough are invited to bring their own bedding and spend the night inside the reportedly haunted building. (Image: Supplied) The event will include a paranormal investigation with Tracey and Nigel Turner, séance technique experiments, and a free exploration of the site's three acres of grounds. Visitors will have access to most areas, including the Tudor kitchen, Great Chamber, and attic bedrooms. The history of Llanyrafon Manor Farm dates back to the mid-1500s, and it's thought that a timber-framed medieval building stood on the site as far back as the 13th century. The site was possibly a farm for the monks of Llantarnam Abbey, and some of its remains can still be seen today. The Griffiths family owned the manor for centuries, with the earliest member of the family appearing to be Walter Griffith of Llanyrafon, who practised as an attorney and left a will dated November 20, 1629. The manor once stood in a thousand acres of ground, and during the First World War, three Italian prisoners of war worked on the farm. In the Second World War, members of the Women's Land Army worked the farm, learning how to perform tasks including ploughing, milking, harvesting, and digging. Today, Llanyrafon Manor Farm stands as grand as ever, its history once again showcased for all to enjoy. A free breakfast and unlimited teas, coffees, hot chocolate, bottled waters, juice, and biscuits will be available. The event is not open to pregnant ladies or anyone intending to consume drugs or alcohol. Over in Abersychan, Garndiffaith Millennium Hall will host a murder mystery evening. (Image: Supplied) The event, which will run from 6pm to 9pm on Saturday, June 7, invites attendees to come along and solve the mystery. A ploughman's supper is included in the ticket price of £6.50. For those interested in the murder mystery evening, tickets will be available from the hall or via Eventbrite. Flash Back will travel across the border to the Olway Inn, Usk, on Saturday, June 7. (Image: Supplied) The band will perform rock and pop hits from the 60s to the 00s, promising an evening of dance and sing-along for all. Tintern Abbey will also be hosting a historical event over both days of the weekend. (Image: Supplied) Visitors will be able to discover all about monastic life in the high medieval period at one of the nation's largest monasteries of the time. The Chapter of Stronghold re-enactment group will portray the lives of monastic people, including monks, nuns, and laypeople as they write, pray, live, and eat at Tintern Abbey. There will be authentic cooking, manuscript writing, a holy reliquary, and more. Normal admission prices apply for this event.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Scotsman
Whispers in the Glen by Sue Lawrence review: 'an unusual novel'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... This is an engaging and agreeable novel, an unusual one, too, with a strong narrative and for the most part pleasant and credible characters. It is set mostly in Glen Clova in Angus, though some chapters are set in France. It has a double time-frame, the story being set partly in the First World War, partly in the Second. What is unusual is that we move between these two periods from the beginning, and it is not immediately clear why the author has chosen this arrangement. It soon makes sense, however, and proves very effective. Glen Clova | Getty Images In the first chapter the two main protagonists are middle-aged, neither married. Effie - Euphemia - is the village schoolmistress while Nell is serving as the wartime postie, also helping in the bar at the local hotel. Effie, though a kind and understanding teacher, is grumpy at home. You soon suspect that something has gone wrong in her life. Nell seems much more at ease, much happier. Their mother is long, somewhat mysteriously dead. Their father, the local dominie, is shown in the First World War passages to have been harsh and disagreeable. Is there something mysterious about his wife's death? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Somewhat surprisingly, both Effie and Nell are fluent French-speakers. In the First World War passages this is soon explained: Nell is working as a nurse in a field hospital in France, the work and conditions being well described. One officer, himself from Angus, is disagreeable, but put in his place by a crippled French chef. Meanwhile, back in Glen Clova, Effie spends part of the First World War working on an aunt's form. She has a harsh experience which colours or rather discolours her life. Then, in the Second World War, there is a plane crash at the top of the Glen, an event which comes with consequences. However, the author eschews most violent drama; this is a very sane novel. Lawrence has evident sympathy and affection for her characters, and the evocation of rural Scotland a hundred years ago is engaging, pleasing with its echoes of JM Barrie's Thrums, though there is none of the sentimentality for so long associated with the Kailyard. Sensibly, Lawrence has chosen not to attempt to try to reproduce the language of rural Scots a hundred years ago, and to write in Standard English. Nevertheless, her feeling for the life of the Angus Glens rings agreeably true. This is a quiet novel, agreeably persuasive, and this makes its occasional violent, even vicious, moments all the more telling. It is, I suppose, a feminist book, though not stridently so. There are two deplorable men, the girls' father and a Kirriemuir man, the officer first met by Nell in France who has more than a touch of the villain about him. He is necessary to the plot, and, though unpleasant, not exaggeratedly so. In general the novel is suffused by a sense of decency and kindness, rare in fiction today, and it brings this off without a trace of sentimentality. In short, Lawrence has written an admirable novel with persuasive characters, the treatment of the two sisters being as convincing as it is agreeable. If the ending proves a bit on the sentimental side, its generosity is convincing.
Western Telegraph
2 days ago
- Western Telegraph
Dad's Army star's Arthur Lowe's Pembrokeshire connection
The fundraising event is being staged at the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, and to promote it, volunteer Peter Mitchell has dressed up as the legendary Captain Mainwaring of the Walmington Home Guard, who was played in the nostalgic series by actor Arthur Lowe. Arthur Lowe, who died in 1982, in his famous Dad's Army role as Captain Mainwaring. (Image: Dad's Army Wiki/Fandom) Arthur Lowe had a direct connection with Pembroke Dock. In 1940 he was a Sergeant in the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and he well remembered the devastating German Air Force attacks on the town. The 1940s Big Band Dance takes place in Pembroke Dock on Saturday June 21 and commemorates the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ-Days as well as the end of the Second World War. The dance will be held in a marquee sponsored by the Port of Milford Haven and located alongside one of the historic flying boat hangars in the former Royal Dockyard. Peter and Marilyn Mitchell don their Forties gladrags in readiness for the dance. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography) Recreating the memorable Glenn Miller style wartime music will be the Phil Dando Big Band while Peri Lynn - formerly known as Peri Thomas and who is from the town - will perform her Vera Lynn tribute. We'll Meet Again duo, Peter Mitchell as Captain Mainwaring and Perri Lynn as Vera Lynn. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography) Also taking part will be the Pembrokeshire Lindy Hoppers dance team who hold weekly classes in Pembroke Dock. Funds raised will support a unique heritage project – the return of the RAF Pembroke Dock Memorial Window to the town. Originally unveiled 80 years ago in what is now the Heritage Centre, the window has for the last 30 years been displayed at the RAF Museum in London. Tickets for this never-to-be-repeated Forties Dance are available, at £25, from the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre (Tel 01646 684220); Pembroke Dock Town Council offices in Dimond Street (Tel 01646 684110) or online via Eventbrite. Street food vendors will be supporting the dance.
