*Wallace Hartley’s violin will be on display at Titanic Pigeon Forge until mid-August.
*Lion Heart Autographs will be putting up for auction a custom card filled out by a Titanic survivor aboard Carpathia. The custom card was filled out by first class passenger Caroline Bonnell. The card is estimated auction price is $8,000-$10,000. They are also auctioning off ten telegrams related to the sinking of the Titanic including two from evangelist “Billy” Sunday. The estimated auction price for the telegrams is $3,000-$5,000. The auction is being conducted online through 15 June 2016.
*Believe it or not but there is something called Tourism Oscars reports Belfast Telegraph. And for the first time since these awards have around for 23 years, an Irish attraction called Belfast Titanic could possibly win the award.
Megan Ross, age 10, with her winning design for Nomadic’s 105th anniversary cake. Photo: Belfast Live
*Megan Ross, age 10, won a contest to design the 105th anniversary cake for SS Nomadic Belfast Live reports. Way to go Megan! She also won the opportunity for her class to visit the last remaining ship of the White Star Line.
*A celebrity recently, desiring for more attention or something, decided to be like Kate Winslet in James Cameron’s Titanic in baring her top in a selfie. Sorry but I do not see the guys racing to see this one.
*People visiting Titanic Belfast of late have been experiencing a very warm experience. Which apparently is bringing out a lot of people since it does not usually get near 70F/21C. Temperatures have soared up to 23C/74F. Usually travelers are advised to bring a sweater, a jacket for rain or cool nights and an umbrella. You can skip the sweater but keep a jacket and umbrella handy. Weather Underground reports that rain is expected in the next few days. A perfect opportunity to slip inside a small place for some good company and food as well.
It is usually the case that when you have an increase in revenues and people attending your tourist attraction, you make money. Not so for Titanic Belfast in 2015 reports Belfast Telegraph. The Telegraph reports this is despite the fact that revenues went up by 7% during that year and that it attracted 625,000 visitors. So what caused the drop in revenue? The newspaper reports:
The drop in profit arose chiefly from the firm’s administrative expenses increasing from £6.27m to £7.42m. And the average number of staff employed last year increased from 134 to 153 with staff costs increasing from £2.17m to £2.45m.
So hiring nineteen people cut into expenses pretty seriously. That tells a lot about the cost of labor these days in NI. And probably why visiting the attraction will soon cost more.
The Belfast Telegraph has images of Titanic Belfast and other sights
done by 19-year old college student by drone. Here is the link to watch it at Belfast Telegraph:
The Belfast headquarters–and former home of Titanic designer Thomas Andrews–of the International Football Association (IFA) will be put up for sale. The IFA bought the house in 1960 from the Dixon family but it was the home where Andrews lived with his family before his tragic death when Titanic went down in 1912. The house was originally built in 1863 and while many of its features remain (the staircase that inspired the one on Titanic,stained glass windows, and fireplaces),an attachment to the property was built for the IFA. A plaque indicating that it was once the home of Thomas Andrews is on the outside. According to Belfast Telegraph, visitors have come to see the home and the stairs that inspired Andrews. The IFA is moving to a new location in February and the sale price was not listed in the article.
Source:For Sale: IFA Puts Historic HQ Where Designer Of Titanic Once Lived On The Market(Belfast Telegraph,1 Dec 2015)
Titanic mural at Newtownards Road and Dee Street in Belfast, NI. (Andy Welsh,http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallrevolution/68715920/)
An iconic Titanic mural painted in 2003 had become shabby looking due to weathering. Located at the corner of Newtownards Road and Dee Street in Belfast, the mural had become a destination for bus and taxi tours. Painted in black and white, the mural honors the ship and the workers who built it. John Stewart, who was the artist who created the mural, was able to raise £3,000 ($4,595 USD) to help complete the restoration that took six weeks.
“I’m delighted with how it looks now and I can’t wait to start my next project.”
(John Stewart to Belfast Telegraph)
According to a UTV news report, Titanic Belfast is a major economic boost to Belfast exceeding original targets. Between April 1, 2012 when Titanic Belfast began to March 2015 ,900 jobs have been created. 1.9 million people attended the galleries along with conferences and special exhibitions that drew people in as well.
The figures also show that most visitors were from outside Northern Ireland (over 71%). Visitors spend money in lodging, food, sightseeing, and of course all kinds of extra purchases that put money into the economy. Titanic was a tragedy but celebrating its loss has proven to be a major boost for Belfast.
Former Harland and Wolff Headquarters Building and Drawing Offices Photo:Ross(Wikimedia Commons)
1. The Belfast Telegraph is reporting that the former Harland & Wolff drawing offices (closed since 1989)have a new lease on life. There is now a plan for a 84-room boutique hotel and using the space to “tell the story of Belfast’s industrial heritage, focusing on the Board Room, Telephony Room and Entrance Lobby.”
Source:Luxury Hotel Has Designs On Derelict Titanic Offices In Belfast(18 Feb 2015,Belfast Telegraph)
Captain Edward J. Smith Statue, Beacon Park, Lichfield UK Photo: Bs0u10e01(Wikipedia)
2.A statue to Titanic captain Edward J. Smith stands in Lichfield but how it came to be there is an interesting story. Locals did not pay for it but wealthy Americans and Britons. And its placement in Beacon Park was not without disagreement. Locals did not like a statue being paid for by wealthy Americans who sailed on a British ship. The statue was put up anyway but omitted any reference to Titanic until much later. Today of course it is a popular stop for tourists.
Source:The Way We Were: Controversy surrounding the statue of Titanic captain Edward Smith(The Sentinel,18 Feb 2015)
Over in the U.K. television personality Jeremy Paxman decided to take a swing at Belfast in a recent article. He wrote, in part, that the iceberg did Belfast a favor and they ought to rename Titanic Quarter as Iceberg Quarter. An uproar resulted from these comments but his thrust was that millions spent to revitalize Belfast were wasted before the city decided to become a tourist destination. Locals have a different view of the matter calling his comments offensive, wrong and misleading. He apparently was recently there and had a meal in Titanic Quarter and noted that the Christmas market “offered the odours of 40 varieties of food you could not think of eating.”
Okay we get the point, you are not a fan of Belfast, Northern Ireland, these days. Perhaps you have a point about the tax money spent when, if they had played their cards right earlier, they could have used lots of private capital to achieve better results. Belfast and Titanic were not that close until fairly recently. For a lot of years it was remembered as the place it was built, the workers who had by hand put the ship together, and the sadness over the loss. Sure there were people that kept it alive but Belfast moved on and had bigger problems to deal with. Then with the growing interest in Titanic and thanks to a very popular movie, the lights clicked about the opportunities Titanic offered them by becoming a major attraction for Titanic enthused travelers. And it worked from what the numbers reveal.
What he said was tacky trying to create a hypothetical that if Titanic had never existed or never sunk, Belfast would be just a backwater in the United Kingdom. Most people are smart enough to avoid the foot-in-mouth disease. He may have said it just to generate the controversy he wanted. After all it set off a firestorm in Belfast as locals raced to microphones to criticize his comments and point out what a dolt he was for saying them. Some television personalities like to do this sort of thing to attract viewers, At any rate we here at Titanic News Channel award him our oft imitated and never duplicated Fractured Finger Award. We usually award this to dummies who use Titanic cliches but we make an exception in this case. Award not suitable for framing.
1. Titanic Hotel Liverpool (not to be confused with the other Titanic hotel in the former White Star Line offices), opened yesterday. The 153 room luxury hotel has a restaurant, bar, spa, and space for events. According to Greg Place, general manager: “In just little over a year this beautiful historic Liverpool landmark has been completely metamorphosed from a derelict brick shell to a hotel like nothing else in the city, or even the world.” Information about the hotel, reservations and everything else is at titanichotelliverpool.com.
Source:Titanic Hotel Officially Opens In Liverpool’s Historic Docks(5 Jul 2014,Bay TV Liverpool)
HMS Caroline at dock in Belfast (2006) Photo:Dom0803(Wikipedia)
2.The former Pump House that served where Titanic docked is being transformed into a visitor center for HMS Caroline reports Belfast Telegraph. National Museum of the Royal Navy has filed an application with Northern Ireland Science Park which owns the site. Depending on how it works out, either the National Museum of the Royal Navy or Titanic Foundation will run the site. The HMS Carolineis the only surviving Royal Navy ship that was in Battle of Jutland in 1916. If all goes to schedule, the vistor center will be open in time for the centenary in May, 1916.
Source: Titanic Pump House Is Set To Be Revamped As HMS Caroline Visitor Centre(3 Jul 2014,Belfast Telegraph)
3.Finally this small but interesting story from Texas. A recent cardboard boat race at Mill Pond Park in San Saba County resulted in a boat named Titanic Jr. winning the competition. No mishaps were reported.
Source:The “Titanic Jr.”(2 Jul 2014, San Saba News)
RMS Empress of Ireland 1908 Photo:Public Domain (Library and Archives Canada / PA-116389)
*The Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence River in 1914 after colliding with a freighter on 29 May 1914. It sank in just 14 minutes with a death toll of 1,012. It is one of the worst maritime disasters in Canada’s history but for a long time only lightly remembered. “Canada’s Titanic” as it is called was not well known outside of Canada, overshadowed by another ship’s tragedy–RMS Titanic. Today though people are starting to recall this terrible event and the lives lost according to news reports now that its centenary is approaching. Stories of the saved are being recalled and the dead remembered. According to The Province:
To mark the anniversary, the Maritime Museum of BC in Victoria has an exhibit of Klausen’s items. It is just one of the several Empress-related events across Canada. In Rimouski, the Pointe-au-Pere maritime museum, which has a pavilion dedicated to the Empress, will host a banquet and unveil a monument. Churches in Rimouski and nearby Ste-Luce plan to pay homage by ringing their bells in unison at 1:55 a.m., the time of the disaster.The Salvation Army, which dispatched 170 of its members on the ship to a rally in England, will hold its annual Empress ceremony Sunday at Toronto’s Mount Pleasant Cemetery as well as a reception May 31 in Rimouski. The organization lost 141 people, including Delamont, the Clarks and many of its Canadian leaders.
*Harland & Wolff is no longer constructing ships and works now with offshore structures that require heavy duty construction. Just recently though it set a world record by performing the world’s heaviest single point water load test. According to the Belfast Telegraph:
“The massive Samson gantry crane lifted an incredible 774 tonne load to certify Harland and Wolff’s latest spreader beam arrangement. Te actual test was over in a matter of minutes, however each water bag took 20 minutes to fill. The test was witnessed and certified by the Lloyds Ireland Surveyor Graham Knowles who was satisfied with the operation and pleased to participate in this unique world record.”
To say that is a lot of water is an understatement. Good to see old Harland & Wolff staying relevant in today’s changed maritime environment.
Source:Harland And Wolff Break World Record At Belfast Shipyard(23 May 2014,Belfast Telegraph)
*MasterChef is returning on Memorial Day this year. So we once again will go through the agony and triumph of watching the ‘cheftestants’ compete for the big monetary prize, cookbook, and glory. Over at Hell’s Kitchen, it is winding down but not fast enough. They ought to knock two out a week rather than stretch it out. We already know that there are fakers planted in the groups just to cause problems. Truthfully hard to see anyone worthy this season. More interesting is that except for one winner, no one ever gets the promised prize (there are various reasons for this) of becoming an executive chef for one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. Kitchen Nightmares is already over and this season was short but intense. Gordon seems to have powered down the turmoil and focusing on getting them attentive to making fresh food. And being sanitary in doing so as well!
*Memorial Day is here so take a moment or more to remember in your thoughts all the brave men and women who gave their lives for this country. Their bravery and sacrifice must never be forgotten. Happy Memorial Day everyone.
*Wallace Hartley’s violin will be on display at Titanic Pigeon Forge until mid-August.
