The Disney princesses (Snow White and Princess Anna, the younger sister from Frozen) are being watched, not just by the wicked witch, but by the communications tower on the Springfield Road barracks. There are two close-ups below, one of Ariel and Snow White, the second of Anna. The mural is new work by a local artist and local children in the Slıabh Dubh estate.
Unlike Ken Kesey’s Further, this bus goes Between, “Bringing sunshine to the children”. ‘Between’ was (and is) a Cork-based group who sponsored trips to Cork (Blarney Castle appears in the background of the mural), Monaghan, Donegal, and elsewhere, for the children of Ballymurphy and the Shankill during the troubles. The figures in the lower-right corner are shown in detail in the image below. The plaque to Gerard McDade remains on the wall. The mural was unveiled on 2014-09-20 – Ciaran Cahill has images from the launch.
“Play is the highest form of research – Albert Einstein.” A new board in the Hopewell/Malvern area of the lower Shankill, with a UDA/UFF mural in the background. Close-up shot below. The artist is Ed Reynolds (steadyhanded.com).
A metal banner (attached to the two barrels) outside the Bowtown Youth Club in Newtownards shows the classic image of the signing of the Ulster Covenant against the background of a Union flag, and also a rocket taking off, in the children’s mural painted on one side of the club.
“NVF” in the left-hand insignia stands for “Newtownards Volunteer Flute [Band]” (Fb). On the right is the insignia of another flute band, the North Down Defenders (Fb).
The caption below the image of the covenant signing lists a good number of those in the picture:
Sir Edward Carson (later Lord Duncairn) signing the Ulster Covenant in the Belfast City Hall, September 28, 1912.
Left to right, 1st row: Mr. R.J. McMordie, Lord Mayor of Belfast, Lord Charles Beresford, Marquess of Londonderry, Sir Edward Carson, Captain James Craig (later Lord Craigavon), Mr. J.H. Campbell, K.C. (later Lord Glenavy), and Dr. W. Gibson.
2nd row: present Lord Londonderry, and Col. R.H. Wallace, C.B., D.L. Behind the latter, Ronald McNeill, M.P. (later Lord Cushendun).
We have it on the authority of the Superman wiki that Superman’s eyes glow red when using his super-power of heat vision. He really hates this wall!
This is the last, but not least, superhero at the entrance to Sliabh Dubh, incomplete at the time of our earlier entries (Wallbusters | The Walls, Unbroken | Cartoon World).
Scrabo tower (or possibly Helen’s Tower/Thiepval tower) and the Union flag appear alongside a football, a heart, a bird and the handprints of local children in this board in the Bowtown estate in Newtownards. The wide shot, below, shows a Bowtown Youth Club board higher up and in the background the Somme mural featured a few days ago.
When not starring in their respective cartoon shows, Dora the Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants, Tom & Jerry, and Mickey & Goofy hang out together in a secret garden, entered through a portal in the wall at the entrance to the Sliabh Dubh estate. This mural was finished after the superhero murals it is next to. See previously: Wallbusters | The Walls, Unbroken
Here are two context shots for the gallery of superheroes featured on Friday. The first shows the Springfield Road police station opposite the Slıabh Dubh estate, while the second, taken while the murals were being painted, shows the Springhill/Westrock massacre mural rising on the Springfield Road behind the gallery of heroes, Thor in this case.
If there’s one thing superheroes like doing, it’s breaking down brick walls. At least, Spider Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Wonder Woman do. Cat Woman crawls in via a tunnel painted on a buttress to the wall at the entrance to the Slıabh Dubh estate. The murals were painted by a local artist and local children. For images from the launch, see Black Mountain Shared Space.