Mike Yardley: Delving into Derry~Londonderry

"Fuelled by popular culture and history’s long shadow, Derry~Londonderry is enjoying its moment in the sun. The Walled City in Northern Ireland has stamped its mark on the tourist map, appealing to a broad band of visitors. On my recent swing through the island of Ireland, Derry~Londonderry certainly didn’t fail to impress, serving up a heady cocktail of colour, culture, and the echoes of extreme conflict."

"The official name of this border town has long been the subject of a naming dispute between Irish nationalists and unionists. Generally, although not always, nationalists favour using the name Derry, and unionists favour Londonderry. On my approach to the city, I noticed most highway signs have had the Londonderry name scratched or painted over. And while I was in the “hyphenated city”, most locals I spoke to resolutely called the city simply Derry."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Be Mike Yardley's our travel corresponding Good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning Jack, Thank you so much for the splendid card.
By the way, did Ericas Stanford have anything to do
in its construction?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Ah? No? Why why do you ask?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, I've been wondering because I know you best yourself
up about your appalling handwriting standards. Yeah, but I think
there's been a dramatic increase in your standards, Jack. I've
actually done. I've done a line by line audit of
your card. I have run the ruler over your card
this morning, and I, without a word of I can

(00:50):
assure you that every single line could not be straighter.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Oh that's good. That's good. I'm pleased that the lines
are straight. But as for the actual outlines of the letters,
A bit different story. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
I think that as I think at is top of
the class. I really do, I could not fault it.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Okay, Look, I will gladly, I will gladly accept that praise,
but knowing that deep down, if I can't read my
own handwriting, then I fear that very few others are
going to be able to but I'm pleased that you
could on this occasion, and given how much you love Christmas, Mike,
I always ensure this. I try and do my very

(01:30):
best to slowly spell things out and make it as
leigible as possible. Hey, we're focusing on Dairy slash Londonderry
this morning. Is that dual name status for the Irish
border town? Is that widely embraced.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Ah well as the character Errand says and deary girls, Jack,
I come from a place called Dairy or London Deiry,
depending on your persuasion. And it was interesting actually, as
I drove towards the city about six weeks ago, I
noticed most highway signs have had the Londonderry name scratched
out or painted over, and even while I was in town,

(02:09):
most locals I spoke to resolutely called the city simply Dairy.
But either way, it's a legendary place.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yes, yes, a legend London Dairy place. So what has
what has made such a such a booming visitor destination.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, it's certainly having a moment, and I think it's
partly fueled by popular culture like TV shows The Dairy Girls,
But then of course it's history's long shadow. Just so
much potent history in a city that is about the
size of New Plymouth. It is slashed by this enormous river,
the River Foil, and one of the great symbols of

(02:52):
reconciliation in the city is the EU funded Peace Bridge
across the Foil. It's this really striking s shaped pedestrian
bridge and it very much bonds both sides of the
city together. And what I love about it is it
actually spills out into Ebrington Square, which is now this magnificent,

(03:14):
magnificent public space. It was formerly a formidable place. It
was the British Army barracks, but it's all been repurposed
for public use. And yeah, it's just a very tangible
sign of progress.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, oh nice, it's yeah, I'd like you say, there's
so much kind of incredible history there and it's one
of Europe's most impressive walled cities.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Right totally. Yeah, A huge draw is to walk those
walls that lessu the old city. They were built by
the British after they send the locals packing back in
the sixteen hundreds, and then the Brits flooded the area
with Protestant settlers and then built this formidable wall around
the old town. The cannons. That's what really struck me, Jack,

(03:56):
when I was walking around the walls. The cannons still
stand sentinel on those walls, including Roaring Meg, which was
the pride of Britain nouns for the fury of its firing,
and Roaring Meg was the canon that was very much
instrumental in repelling all attempts by Irish Catholics to lay

(04:18):
siege to the walled city. So, yeah, you can see
all of these nuggets of history around that walled walk.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Did the first catwalk originating Dairy Well.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Amazing, Jack, I took a walk around the walls with
the most commanding guide, Martin mccrosson. So he's been slinging
dairy stories with the world from these walls for decades.
But yeah, he was such such the most consummate storyteller,
and beyond all the talk of the battles, he just

(04:49):
prized open so many curious nuggets for me, including this
catwalk story. So there is this big sweep of the
walls that they call the Grand Parade. So go back
to like the Victorian era and you can imagine that
the Grand Parade was the place where you came to
be seen. And according to Martin, the story goes that

(05:12):
there was this visiting newspaper writer from London and he
noted that people walked like cats on this part of
the walls, dressed in their finest garb as they paraded themselves.
And that claim is that that is how the term
catwalk was coined. So funnily enough, when I was there

(05:33):
six weeks ago, you had a whoder young selfie seekers
on the Grand Parade, posing, pouting and flauncing themselves, probably
more flesh than in the Victorian era. But I thought,
you know, not a lot's actually changed on those walls.
It's still the catwalk.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
That's great, What a great little story. One of those
things is never entirely possible to prove as well.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yes, how absolving is the bog Side neighborhood.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
Ah so sobering, Jack, I was thinking in bed this morning.
Sarah Jovo was probably the most effect in the city
I visited last year, Bogside and Dairy I think would
get that gong this year. Bog Side was the tinder
box of the troubles, most notably the Bloody Sunday massacre. Yes,
and I went to that site, that site of so

(06:23):
much outrage, and when you stand there and you read
the stories of who was mowed down by the British,
it just it just leads you cold. And then strolling
through this Catholic neighborhood, it's the enormous political murals that
just span the side of tenement blocks from tip to toe,

(06:45):
you know, maybe five six stories high. They are just
so transfixing. They're like wounds that will not stop weeping.
So as much as there is definitely a sense of
peace prosperity in Dairy, what can't be denied is that
so many locals still staunchly opposed British rule in these parts,

(07:08):
even though both sides agree that an eye for an
eye leaves everyone blind. Yeah, it really leaves you thinking
for quite some time after a visit.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, and you were there for Halloween, right, So how
wild was that?

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Well, it was quite a head clearer after the bog site. Yes,
I now appreciate why Dairy, Londonderry is regarded as one
of the world's greatest Halloween destinations. It just absolutely bursts
into life and after life, deep into the night. And
I guess it's all because of the ancient Celtic Festival

(07:45):
of Sellwyn, which was held on October thirty one. That
was the last night of the Celtic calendar. So the
Celts believed that on that day that's when the worlds
of the living and the dead were at their closest,
and the spirits could move between them and they would
wear disguises back in the day the ancient Celts, which
of course has very much similarities Halloween costumes. So fast

(08:08):
forward today and dairy stages the most fantastical parade. The
whole city seems to be consumed in a sea of
the most staggering costumes. And I just could not believe
the lengths people would go to to get dressed up
and made up. It was like a it was like
a Hollywood blockbuster. Yeah, you know, it's like a bigger

(08:29):
bash than Christmas. It's the big show Halloween, and I
reckon that I'd give the Mexicans Day of the Dead
to run for their money jacket.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
It's funny because you don't you obviously think of Halloween
as being American. Yeah, you know it just Hugendry. Yeah yeah, yeah,
sounds like a great place. I'm really envious. I would
love to go there. I would love to go there. Yeah,
you've only whit my appetite more this morning. Thank you
so much, Mike. We will catch you again next Saturday morning.

(08:59):
And for all of Mike's tips on tripping through Dairy Londonderry,
you can go to News Talks hed B dot co
dot nz.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks at B from nine a m Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio