Belfast Titanic Nomadic Convention.
Lagan Legacy is pleased to help with the promotion of Belfast’s first Titanic Nomadic Convention.
Instant Heritage for all to see - just add water and stare.
Newsletter 8 Feb. 2007
We're just two months away from the 95th anniversary of the Titanic's maiden voyage, which Belfast will mark with a new and far seeing initiative - the "Titanic Nomadic Convention". The event, launched last Monday by the Lord Mayor in Belfast City Hall, is the culmination of three year's hard work by a team of interested parties including the Nomadic Preservation Society, the World Ship Society, the City Council, Belfast Industrial Heritage and the Titanic Society. Excluding dinners, buffets and breakfasts of all shapes and sizes, the four day programme embraces nearly thirty tours, talks, exhibitions and heritage visits. It will begin on the 6th April and run in conjunction with the "Titanic Made in Belfast Festival" which starts on the 7th.
Lagan Legacy's barge arriving in Belfast. Soon she'll be open to the public during the Titanic Festival and Nomadic Convention packed with her cargo of culture.
"It's like buses," said Convention Director Anne Doherty at the launch, "nothing happens and then they all come at once!" She's right! The past six years have seen a welcome upsurge in all things maritime; the Lagan Legacy organisation, Lagan boat and bus tours, the innovative walk-it-yourself satellite controlled node explorer, six successful Festivals, Lagan Legacy's Dutch barge of culture, and of course, the Nomadic herself. It was odd that a city endowed with the most awesome riverside relics should hold a maritime festival 2 miles up the road! A bit like going to the Vatican for the Twelfth! Though Monday's launch was held afore the huge sobering portraits by Sir Hubert Von Herkomer of the Viscount and Vicountess Pirrie; the latter a driving force behind Harland and Wolff and Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896 and 1897. The Convention will correct any enigmatic estrangement from the nearby Lagan by diverting its delegates down to the docks; to the Thompson Pump House, the slipways, the drawing offices, and on board the Titanic's little sister.
"There's a lot of work to do," said Olga Murtagh, the council's tourism manager, "the convention is about bringing all of this to life." When the Thompson pump house comes to life, I thought, the occasion will be eclipsed by a blue moon! "The instant I got on the Nomadic," said David Scott-Beddard, co-founder and project manager of the Nomadic Preservation Society, "I could feel her history. I could even smell it! She's such an atmospheric ship. It makes the hair stand on the back of your neck." As he described her interior I could feel the heritage stand on the back of my own neck!
Interior of Nomadic.
"We're working on two interior decks," David explained, "The convention delegates will be boarding via the 1st Class Lounge, through original doors, past beautifully carved window frames and lovely ornate patterns. We've even managed to recover one of her thirty three original tables." I could imagine the passengers who once stood around the table; John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim who later, upon realising their fate stated ‘we've dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen'. Guggenheim's valet was present, so were the unforgettable and unsinkable Margaret (Molly) Brown and Sir and Lady Cosmo Duff Gordon. "The interior wrought iron grill work is still there," David told me, "and the original buffet bar."
Belfast's Lord Mayor Councillor Patrick McCarthy stated at the Convention launch "For too long this city has neglected to promote its international achievement of shipbuilding." Convention member David Custy underpinned this important feature "With the convention as a catalyst, increased international tourism numbers will enable and encourage people in all areas of Belfast to showcase their heritage throughout the year."
At the Launch. (Lto R) Anne Doherty, Lord Mayor, Dave Custy.
Nomadic Society man Roy Snowden reported that there were already about fifty delegates booked in from all over the world. "We've had fifty eight thousand hits on our website since the Nomadic came home," he added. "We've been working for three or four months renewing her wood and plasterboard. There must have been at least a dozen coats of paint to remove. The old woodwork underneath is a sight to behold." "The benches where the Titanic's ill fated passengers sat are still there," he said, before providing our politicians with a pertinent bench mark. "The Dutch government has put millions of Euros into restoring the old SS Rotterdam. If they can do that for a ship built in 1958 surely our government can do more for one built in 1911?"