Guest writer, Davy Carlin, carrying on with his tale of life in West Belfast.
Still stalled in the hack on the Rock road, I thought of the marches I had been up and down this road as a recent political activist. One such march I remember had gone up the Rock with all the other ones I had been on having gone down it. On that occasion it was to ‘Save Black Mountain’.
For many years environmentalists and lead campaigners such as Terry Enright have been to the fore front to save Black Mountain from destruction. Business and profit handed decades of contracts continue their quarrying and destruction to this unique part of the city in the search for evermore profit. Black Mountain, the people’s Mountain, therefore should not be destroyed for a quick buck to be made. Those who benefit from such destruction are a few; those who lose out are the people, and generations of children to come. Yet it is not all bad news as the National Trust has since acquired Divis and Black Mountain. This means that such land previously owned by the Ministry of Defence and in private hands will now be accessed by the public.
Marie and I had both attended that march and the open-air fete that was organised to highlight the whole issue surrounding the mountain. Like many others the mountain is important to us and it holds a history and a story within all our lives as we grew up during and within the conflict. I remember my uncle Seamus going up the mountains to hunt with his lurches. I remember taking walks up with my Grandfather and with other relatives, and of my Grandfather telling me all about the big giant Ebenezer who lived up there, as I cuddled beside him in the evenings wanting to know more.
Going up the mountain and looking down upon the city of Belfast at the height of war has changed little in the way one feels now sitting upon the mountain today. Today Marie and I take many opportunities to sit upon the mountain with our wee dog running around us. On Halloween night 2004 we ventured up in the early evening and watched an amazing fireworks display from around the whole of Belfast and far beyond. We probably had one of the best seats of the evening to catch the displays.
Yet on many occasions reminiscent of the long hot nights as a child we take the opportunity to picnic upon the Mountain. With beautiful white horses running behind us and with the sun beating down, Marie a talented artist takes the opportunity to sketch while I pen articles of yesteryear. The mountain for us brings contentment and inspiration on such days as we sit there looking upon the city of Belfast. Having traveled to many parts of the world and traveling still abroad several times a year, we however cannot be but inspired as we return home via the mountain. I believe as the love for the environment grows on me that I have realised that such natural beauty often had long gone unacknowledged. May it be Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Africa, America or Asia our interests would be similar. We have found a joint interest in architecture, history, geography, structures and the environment. With that I have realised that there is a whole world above head height and one just needs to look above that level. May it be the beautiful architecture of old buildings or the magnificence of huge trees, all now I have begun to firstly acknowledge and to now admire.
Sitting on the mountain just a few minutes dander from our home we can look over the whole of Belfast .Now living in Turf Lodge {The Turf} where Marie had lived when we first met, many of her family still live in or around the area. Similarly, and adjacent is the Murph where quite a few of my extended family still live. Although, it must be said quite a few cousins of my generation have now moved out of the West entirely. Turf Lodge, in which I also had relatives both during the height of the war and now presently also has a detailed history within the conflict. Political affiliations in Turf though would have seen more Workers Party supporters living there with quite a strong base. The Turf of old I can remember had old miserable flats in the estate in which I visited relatives at the time. Turf Lodge now, like Ballymurphy, is seeing a lot of structural and material change to the areas. This is a far cry from the housing of even a decade or so ago. Similar the surrounding area is seeing such material change, yet of course there is still ongoing social and economic deprivation, youth alienation etc, as seen in many such working class areas. Yet such material changes that are happening, in large part, are and have been made to happen.
They are being made to happen in the same way that had forced all such changes in past times, the community and its activists having fought for it. Although now with the limited ‘peace’ money having been won, such process of material change in part has intensified. The history of those though that took on the issue of lack of housing, facilities, resources, etc in the Upper Springfield area is well documented. They gained or provided educational and recreational facilities and new improvements to homes and estates, and much more, which cannot be measured simply in material gain.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Davy,
ReplyDeleteInitially it was titled Misty Mountain Top but it was a faux pas at my end messing up the title. Sorted now!