As I continue preparations for the launch of my new collection of poetry, here is another piece that won't be in it, but perhaps might find its way into a future one.
It's somewhat more light-hearted than the past few that I have posted and was written specifically for the annual Wonderful Wander that forms part of the 4 Corners Festival.
This year, following this year's theme of "Journey" we took our crowd of "Wanderers" from the old Central Station (now renamed Lanyon Place) to the huge new Belfast Grand Central Station, via the Lagan towpath and Gasworks. As we turned off the towpath into the Gasworks we paused at the sculpture known as "The Bolt". It is actually a huge representation of an early screwtop, designed to celebrate the huge mineral water industry that used to exist in Belfast, linked to the massive Belfast whiskey industry – at one time producing more whiskey than anywhere else in the world, until American Prohibition killed it...
Both the local McConnell’s whiskey distillery across the River at the bottom of the Ravenhill Road, and it and the Belfast Mineral Water Company on the south west side of the river both drew on the Cromac Mineral Water Springs, celebrated on the top of the sculpture because it had alkali free water, perfect for making both whiskey and the mixers that accompanied it...
There were various mineral water companies in Belfast and they developed all kinds of innovations... Including different types of ways to seal the bottle... Including this form of screw top... which was developed from industrial bolts... and a type called the Codd-neck bottle which was sealed with a marble, that float into a specially designed neck and was displaced when you upended it...
Ginger ale was first developed in Belfast... Before being developed into Canadian Ginger ale...
But the downturn in whiskey sales from here also affected the local mineral companies, together with international companies like Coca Cola coming here, especially with the GIs in World War 2... A few companies remain... Especially C&C, previously Cantrell and Cochrane from the east of the city...
But learning about the Belfast mineral water industry (which I had previously known nothing about) reminded me of when I was a kid. Back then our treat was the "lemonade man" who did home deliveries every Friday night from Maine Lemonade up in Ballymoney:
The clink, clink, clink
Then the ring of the bell
marked the real beginning
of my childhood weekend.
“What do you want Missus?”
“A brown, a white, a cola
and an American Cream Soda.”
Was the standard order...
depending how much money
my Ma had saved that week.
When things were tight it would be
“Just one brown please.”
But occasionally she would go
really exotic and get some
Sars’parilla, which I only knew
From her much loved cowboy films.
The money was handed over
Then the empties would be swapped
For more sugar filled delights
from the Maine man...
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