Extramural Activity

At 28 acres, Belfast’s Botanic Gardens are large enough to contain a variety of attractions, from the Ulster Museum, to two glass houses (the Palm House, designed by Charles Lanyon, and the Tropical Ravine, opened in 1889 under head gardener Charles McKimm (Ulster Biography) whose portrait appears at the centre of this board, below), to a large rose garden, to its large parklands, site of events such as the launch of Henry Coxwell’s hot air balloon on July 3rd, 1865 – “You won’t believe what I have witnessed in Botanic Gardens. A monstrous balloon was being launched into the sky” – the balloon escaped: “She has gone across the sea, but it is not known whither.” concludes the account by the Sydney Empire – the final public appearance of tightrope walker Charles Blondin in 1896 – “He went up and down and up again, all the way along the rope he did his different moves: handstands, cartwheels, running. He was just like a circus acrobat. Mssr Blondin was up there with another man on his back. Blondin was just walking about easily, the other man felt terrible” – and music concerts by famous 20th century artists such as U2, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan (see final image).

The statue to Belfast-born Lord Kelvin is at the Stranmillis entrance to the park.

This is the second part (up to WWI) of a 27m-long history of Botanic Gardens by artist Peter Strain and poet Emma Must (BelTel).

Click to enlarge (to 1350 x 1800)
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Camera Settings: f4.2, 1/80 ISO 320, full size 3672 x 4896