Rail To Trail Walking Tour
The transformation of the Comber Greenway from Railway to
Greenway
Many of you are familiar with the Comber Greenway – the walking and cycling path set in a beautiful green linear park in east Belfast. This 90 minute walking tour tells you the 150 year old story of this corridor from the days of steam trains through to the modern greenway.
The tour is led by well-known local tour guide Steven Patterson who was instrumental in establishing the Greenway. He has a wealth of knowledge on the industrial past of east Belfast from the days when we had the largest rope works in the world, many distilleries and linen mills.
As a member of the local community he was heavily involved in campaigning for the building of the Greenway – the first in Ireland. He has collaborated with top railway historian Charles P Friel to compile the tour. The tour includes 6 stopping points with photographic references on display at each stop, including:
CS Lewis Square
The much loved public square is now a popular space for leisure and exercise with
the Narnia themed sculpture park and the Eastside Visitors Centre . Find out about
the transformation from the days when barges on the Connswater River transported goods to the rope works, linen mills and distilleries, as the steam trains thundered past over the Arches. Learn about the development of the well-loved 16 kilometres Connswater Community Greenway along the Knock, Loop and Connswater Rivers.
Holywood Arches
The steam trains ran on an embankment through East Belfast taking workers to the shipyard and holiday makers to the beaches and golf course in Newcastle.
Find out why Connswater Street is such as strange layout and cast yourself back to the days when policemen directed the traffic and trolley buses were the road transport of the day. We have a surprise on why the Holywood Arches got its name.
Bloomfield Walkway & Beersbridge Nature Reserve
Once home to the Bloomfield Railway Halt with station master house by the
Beersbridge Road, we discover the transformation from unmaintained wasteland to the valuable community greenspace it is today.
Learn about the butterfly bank, the boardwalks and tadpole filled lake before the transformation into the Comber
Greenway we know and love today.
Neill’s Hill Station
Visualise steam trains under the old brick North Road Bridge and have a rest on the
remaining platform at the old Neill’s Hill Station near Cadger’s Lane (now Sandown Road). Explore old maps that solve the mystery why the local streets are names after sand. Hear about the plans to restore the old platform. Visualise the old station when Ballyhackamore was a rural village well outside the town of Belfast.
We did this walk as part of European Heritage Open Day. Fantastic tour of my local greenway. Learnt about the industrial heritage at the Holywood Arches and then we wandered up the Greenway. Steven has been involved all through the development and gave lots of interesting anecdotes and showed some great photos of the trains using the route and then the transformation to greenway. A lovely relaxed way to get to know your local area.
Anna and Mike, Belfast
£10 per person,
No booking fee.
90 minutes at a
relaxed pace
Start Point:
Aslan, C.S. Lewis Square
Newtownards Roads
Endpoint:
Sandown Road,
Ballyhackamore
Meeting Point:
Meeting Point: C.S. Lewis Square, Newtownards Road. Meet at the Aslan lion statue.
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If the dates below don't suit or you'd prefer a private tour send us a message on Whatsapp, or call 0790 938 1280.