Colouring In Templates

Colouring In – Covid 19 – Support for Parents

Our friend, Hollie Felton has prepared some line drawing templates of local buildings and landmarks for your children (and you!) to print and colour in.

Take a photo of your work and send it to us via email on research@historyhubulster.co.uk and we will publish the best Colouring in on our Facebook page!

Many other groups and organisations are creating on-line educational supplements for use during this exceptional period. One to look out for is the Northern Ireland War Memorial who have prepared some excellent material. Check it out Here on Facebook: 

View the gallery to see the images then click the buttons below to download a pdf to print.

On 8th June 2020 we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Victory in Europe ending that stage of the Second World War. This picture is based on an event held in Belfast to remember and commemorate the Belfast Blitz of 1941. It features an Air Raid Searchlight from the War Years Remembered museum at Ballyclare. We thoroughly recommend that you visit the museum once the current restrictions end.

The Ulster Hall  was opened on Bedford Street, Belfast in 1862 and provides the city of Belfast with a unique concert venue.  Designed by William J Barre the hall features the Mulholland Organ and 13 paintings by Joseph Carey of the history of Belfast.

The Grand Opera House was opened in 1895 on Great Victoria Street, Belfast.  Designed by the leading theatre architect Frank Matcham.  It has seen life as both a theatre and a cinema.  It is currently closed for extensive restoration.

Alexandra Presbyterian Church is an amalgamation of 2 north Belfast churches; Castleton Presbyterian and York Road Presbyterian.  Following total destruction in the 1941 Belfast Blitz, York Road Church united with the nearby, slightly damaged, Castleton church to form Alexandra Presbyterian Church.

The Mussenden Temple is in County Londonderry near the village of Downhill.  It dates back to 1785 when it was built as a library by the 4th Earl of Bristol.  Downhill is now part of the National Trust property at Downhill Demesne.

The Bank Buildings  is a major department store fronting on to Castle Place, Belfast.  This building was built in 1899/1900 and is the 3rd Bank Buildings on the site.  Gutted by fire in August 2018 the building is currently undergoing major rebuilding and restoration.  It is owned by Primark Stores Ltd.

The Giant’s Causeway is a natural World Heritage site on the north Antrim coastline. Managed by the National Trust, the site is one of Northern Ireland’s premier tourist attractions.

HMS Caroline is a Great War light cruiser commissioned in 1914. It is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland. Berthed in Belfast since 1924 she is now part of the National Historic Fleet. For further information on the Battle of Jutland please start here: https://historyhubulster.co.uk/irishsailor/

The Big Fish is a statue that was built on Donegall Quay in 1999.  It is by John Kindness and is a favourite tourist attraction for visitors touring around the riverside.

Carrickfergus Castle is a Norman castle situated on the northern foreshore of Belfast Lough at Carrickfergus.  Built in 1177 by John de Courcy the castle has had many uses over the years.  It is currently a major NI Environment Agency attraction.

Belfast Castle was the family seat of the Donegall and Shaftesbury families from 1862.  It is currently owned by Belfast City Council having been gifted to them by the Shaftesbury family in 1934.  It is a major tourist attraction on the slopes of Cave Hill.

Crumlin Road Gaol is a former Her Majesties Prison (HMP) situated on the Crumlin Road opposite the former Courthouse.  Built in 1845 and operated as a prison until its closure in 1996.  Following restoration, it is now one of Belfast’s major tourist attractions.

 

Living Memory Pilot Project 2015

History Hub Ulster is honoured to have been invited to participate in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Living Memory Pilot Project 2015 and has created a short video based on the War Graves and memorials in Belfast City Cemetery as part of this project.  The video will be shown at a presentation of the Castleton Lanterns in Alexandra Presbyterian Church, Belfast at 2:00pm on Saturday 14th November 2015.

Those featured are:

Typist Sarah Rachel Orr (Sadie) Hale, Mercantile Marine (SS Lusitania)

Sergeant Thomas Samuel Telford, Machine Gun Corps (Motors)

Private David Lumsden Newel, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

Company Serjeant Major George Frank Newel, Royal Irish Rifles

Lance Corporal Walter Newel, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

Rifleman Hugh Joseph Thompson, Royal Ulster Rifles

Private Thomas Clulow, South Lancashire Regiment

Air Mechanic 3rd Class Albert Edward Campbell, Royal Air Force

Private Charles Banford, Royal Marine Light Infantry

Trimmer William Edwin Gleave, Mercantile Marine (SS Celtic)

Greaser Robert Bodie, Mercantile Marine (SS Celtic)

Fireman George Richardson, Mercantile Marine (SS Celtic)

Fireman Samuel Routledge, Mercantile Marine (SS Celtic)

Steward Charles Jeffers, Mercantile Marine (SS Celtic)

4th Engineer Stanley MacDonald, Mercantile Marine (SS Celtic)

Sergeant Charles William Evans, Royal Air Force

Lieutenant John Alan Schwarz, Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (HMS Whitaker)

Signalman Lyn Edgar Landon Relf, Royal Navy (HMS Sarawak)

Sapper James Orr, Royal Engineers

Communities Secretary Greg Clark launched ‘The Living Memory Project’, designed to remind people of the 300,000 war graves and memorials in the UK. Many of these memorials lie in forgotten corners of graveyards; the Living Memory initiative is designed to aid their rediscovery.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark said:

“This year, of course, we’ve continued to mark the First World War’s centenary with a focus on the battlefields of Northern France, Belgium and Turkey. But we should take time to remember the brave men buried and commemorated here in the UK too. We owe our gratitude to those men, from across the Commonwealth as well as from the British Isles, who made the ultimate sacrifice during the First and Second World Wars. Paying respects at the war graves of Belgium or France is a life-changing experience, but the final resting places and memorials of thousands of brave men can also be found, not far from your home, in 13,000 locations across the British Isles. The Living Memory Project is a fitting way to pay tribute to that sacrifice and to learn about our shared history. I’d encourage people to get involved, and discover how they can pay their own tribute.”

The Living Memory Project, part-funded by the Government, is working with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and thirty-six local groups around the country to create remembrance events at local war memorials.

Thirty-six groups will work with the CWGC to re-discover war graves, pay respect to the war dead, and share their research with the wider community. “We should make a positive decision to remember these brave people,” said Mr Clark. “They may have died long before we were born, but they died that we could be free. Their sacrifice should inspire all of us.” 

The initiative will continue long after this fortnight of activity, with all communities urged to remember these hidden war heroes annually – creating a thread of memory and shared history long into the future.

CWGC Director of External Relations, Colin Kerr, said: “The Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s work overseas is well known, but here in the United Kingdom there is little awareness of the graves to be found in a staggering 13,000 locations, that commemorate over 300,000 Commonwealth dead of the two world wars.

“We believe that this is wrong, and through the Living Memory Project aim to reconnect the British public to the commemorative heritage on their doorstep. With the support of DCLG, the Living Memory Pilot will encourage more people to discover and visit CWGC war grave sites in the British Isles, to remember the war dead in those places from the First and Second World Wars and to share and raise awareness of these 300,000 commemorations with their wider communities.  The aim is to roll the programme out nationwide in 2016 as part of the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Somme campaign.”

The project has been devised in partnership with community engagement specialists, Big Ideas Company www.bigideascompany.org.

Chief Executive Virginia Crompton said: “We are proud to be contributing to such a meaningful project supporting people across the UK to discover their local war graves.”