A potted history

The following is a very brief potted history of the growth of this area of East Belfast, influenced heavily by the book Shipbuilders to the World: 125 Years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast 1861-1986
The expansion of the two Belfast shipyards at the turn of the 20th century accelerated the growth of the Sydenham area. It led to a rapid colonisation of Ballymacarrett. Those who colonised the area became, and many would say still are, a very self-conscious community, intensely proud of its achievement and itself.
The area was only semi urbanised, with green fields and cottages; but it contained the biggest ship yard and the biggest rope works in the world.
Other ship yards in Britain invested in housing stock for their workforce. Harland & Wolff preferred to allow private developers to build the two storey brick housing so characteristic of this part of Belfast.
Most of the people who came to work and live in this area were the sons and daughters of farming people from North Down or the Lagan valley; they knew their work and the quality of their work was second to none.
In the early 1900s the informal boundary of Ballymacarett was the railway bridge commonly known as the Holywood Arches. At the time it was something of a social as well as a geographical boundary: beyond the Arches were the houses of the wealthy, the solid Victorian villas of Sydenham and Strandtown. By the end of the century, however, colonists from Ballymacarrett were intruding on the green fields of the Holywood Road and developers were building 'parlour houses' for the accomodation of clerks and upwardly-mobile artisans.
It is interesting to note that developers of the day were sympathetic to their surroundings and many of the large villas existed side by side with workers houses well in to the late 20th century. It is sad to see that many of these fine homes have since been demolished to make room for apartment buildings which architecturally
jar with the remaining traditional housing stock.
A look at a map of our area from the late 1800s shows large homes surrounded by extensive gardens. Current day visitors to the Palmerston area are often surprised to see large detached villas surrounded by rows of red brick terraced housing, it would be a real shame for the remaining mix of housing to be lost and a corner stone of the fabric of our community removed for a short term gain.