Clothes shop ‘Budget Trends’ only lasted a year and the unit has been on the market for years, but contrary to the economic pressures of coronavirus it looks like work is being done on the space. Next to Kelly’s Kutz on the left with the scissors.
Shankill Road, Belfast.
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Social distancing was hard to maintain in some areas (BelTel) but many people celebrated the 12th from home this year, thank in part to messages such as appear on this pair of paste-ups in Olive Street and Glenvale Street off the Woodvale Road. “This year the bands are coming to you!” “This year’s 12th is about the battle with the [coronavirus] bug.”
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Another entry in a growing list of religious placards adorning the streets during the covid-19 pandemic, this time from the Shankill: “Drive-In Gospel – Gospel Hall Matchett Street, Sunday at 7:00pm.” According a survey cited in this FT article, the faith of Americans has generally strengthened during the pandemic.
Previously: Rediscover The Power Of The Rosary | Freedom Of Religion | Nearer My God To Thee
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“You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” This Shankill Road poster actually dates back to the anti-suicide #MessagesOfHope campaign undertaken at the end of 2018 (see You Are Enough) but continues to be relevant as the Covid-19 epidemic continues.
The tree is alongside the Shankill Memorial Garden: Who Went To War And Never Returned | Among The Fallen | XXXVI | The Sacrifice Remains The Same.
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The fact that there are three memorials to the Balmoral Furniture bombing speaks to the shock felt at devastating bomb on a busy Shankill Road. The oldest is the small circular plaque: “Balmoral Furniture Showrooms bombed 12.25pm Saturday 11th December 1971. 2 adults & 2 babies killed”; then the Poppy Cross “in memory of the two men and two babies murdered at this spot by a no warning sectarian IRA bomb attack on the Balmoral Furniture shop on 11th December 1971.” and finally the traditional plaque, which names the victims: Colin Nicholl, Tracey Jane Munn, Harold King, Hugh Bruce.
On the side of the Shankill Leisure Centre.
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Eddie The Trooper is a British red-coat version of Iron Maiden’s Eddie The Head. And “These Colours Don’t Run” is a song from the band’s 2006 album A Matter Of Life And Death. The phrase is a pun equating the colours of the flag with the army beneath it – neither the colours nor the army “runs”. This lower Shankill sticker, from Rangers FC “ultra” supporters the ‘Union Bears’ (Fb | web) is on the side of a butt bucket – another reason for not running.
The specific design seems to be the most recent version from Londonderry – see Eddie The Trooper’s own Visual History page.
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“Glentoran FC. Pride of Ulster.” Two examples from the Glentoran sticker campaign in the early months of the year, before coronavirus put and end to the season and the players on furlough. See previously Le Coq Sportif.
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Dominic Cummings, advisor to the ruling Conservative party in the UK government, was a source of controversy and widespread derision in May when he claimed that he had driven (during the coronavirus lockdown) from London to Durham in order to deliver his son to his grandparents and then to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight (WP). Protestations of disbelief and calls for his resignation were widespread, including the amendment to the east Belfast graffiti shown above: “We’re in this together – except for Cummings”. For the original, see Inspiring Belfast.
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