6 THINGS YOU MUST DO IN... DERRY
THERE’S more to the city than its troubled past. Gareth Huw Davies takes a tour and discovers an exquisite boutique hotel, a stunning new bridge and symbols of hope in a once-riven city…
1. WARM WELCOME
Derry is an ancient city on a hill near Northern Ireland’s north coast. And it is flying high, with the opening of a new service from Stansted. In recognition of the famously warm welcome it gives visitors, Derry was named the UK’s first WorldHost city. The outstanding Tower Museum narrates its story from monastic times, the plantation, the siege of Derry, through to the growth of the city during the 18th and 19th centuries. Life during the 20th century is also outlined, in particular the build-up to the Civil Rights Movement and the impact of the Troubles.
2. WONDER WALLS
ONE of the finest walled cities in Europe, Derry is a match for many other European counterparts including Dubrovnik. Its historic core was funded and designed by London livery companies in the early 1600s to house settlers from England and Scotland. Shipquay Street, one of the steepest shopping streets in the UK, cuts through walled Derry’s heart. Towering over everything is St Columb’s Cathedral.
3. CHANGING TIMES
I looked down from the city walls to the key locations of Derry’s tumultuous past, including the River Foyle, where Royal Navy ships broke the 105-day siege of 1689. It was triggered when 13 Apprentice Boys shut the city gates on 1,200 Jacobite troops, an event celebrated to this day. Meanwhile, the Troubles began in the Bogside in 1968. Divisive murals, covering sides of houses, have now been amended to reflect the spirit of peace today – on one, a gun’s barrel is symbolically broken. On another, a dove has been added.
4. BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
The wide and fast River Foyle used to be just another barrier in this once-divided city.
The Peace Bridge, built in 2011, has become a symbolic handshake between the two banks. This snake of sinuous silver under two high spars, aligned like lowered swords, and open only to cyclists and pedestrians, is striking when lit up at night. The former Ebrington Barracks, home to the British Army from the 1840s until 2004, awaits on the west bank. Walled City Brewery is a popular stop by the square. This beerand-burgers restaurant is a good example of Derry’s lively new dining options.
5. STAY SMART
Bishop’s Gate Hotel is more proof of the city’s revival. This exquisite hotel is in one of Derry’s grand old buildings – a club for veterans of the Crimean War. Famous guests in its previous guise included Winston Churchill.
6. LINE OF BEAUTY
The rail trip from Derry to Coleraine, hugging Northern Ireland’s north coast, was named one of the most beautiful in the world by Michael Palin. In Coleraine, the train connects with buses serving the Giant’s Causeway.