NUMBER 190

BENCHMARKS continued
 

This one is on Saint Columb's Hall on East Wall in Derry.

Below: The 'mark on Saint Columb's Hall.

Above: On East Wall in Derry City, looking south west with the Foyle Centre at left and the 'mark at bottom right.

NUMBER 189

BENCHMARKS continued
 

Benchmarker took a wee dander across the recently opened Peace Bridge in Derry. This pedestrian only bridge (O.K., you may push a cycle if you insist) links the west side of the Foyle near the Guildhall, with the Waterside area. This 'mark is on the corner of an accommodation block within what was formerly Ebrington Barracks on the east bank of the Foyle in Derry.

Below: The 'mark on an accommodation block in the former Ebrington Barracks.

Above: Within the former Ebrington Barracks looking south towards the exit to Saint Columb's Road with the 'mark at the bottom of the red brick building at right.

NUMBER 186

BENCHMARKS continued
 

This one is at street-level on Shipquay Gate in Derry. Not to be confused with one posted last year which is also on Shipquay Gate but is on the upper walkway of the city wall just above the arch.

Below: The 'mark on Shipquay Gate.

Above: Shipquay Gate with the 'mark just to the right of the arch, three blocks above the street level. In the background the exterior of the Guildhall is being spruced up in preparation for Derry becoming the European City of Culture in 2012.

NUMBER 96

BENCHMARKS continued

This 'mark on the Old Church on Clarendon Street in Derry is the first of this new year, causing Benchmarker to resolve to return soon to the Maiden City for a more extensive reconnaissance. Although many fine buildings, and with them their attached 'marks, disappeared during the Troubles, many endured. So it seems fair to conclude a more thorough search will provide a goodly haul.

Below: The 'mark on the Old Church, Clarendon Street, Derry. The building is now used as an office for the trades union Unison.

Above: The Old Church with Clarendon Street to the right, and Queen Street to the left. The 'mark is to the right to the front door, just one pace behind the young man with the shopping bag.

NUMBER 87

BENCHMARKS continued

“In the early morning, the shirt factory horn

called women from Creggan, the Moor and the Bog.”

With numerous factories, Derry was once famous for shirt manufacturing, an industry that gave employment almost exclusively to girls and women. (And for a while there were even some smaller factory units located across the border e.g. Belvoir in Newtowncunningham and Clubman in Buncrana.) And those factory workers didn't just come from Derry City. Benchmarker remembers how many women from Newtown, Kildrum and Killea took the bus into the city. Some of them used to disembark on Foyle Road near Craigavon Bridge, their stop for the Tillie and Henderson shirt factory. When it opened in the 1850s, Tillie's was the largest shirt factory in the world. Almost 150 years later it ceased production. In 2002, derelict, it caught fire and the following year was demolished.

Interestingly, in the novel Trinity by Leon Uris, some of the action happens in a shirt factory located at almost exactly the same spot where Tillie's stood. In the book the factory is destroyed in a fire with great loss of life.

This one was spotted on Tillie's Brae, the narrow pathway that runs between Craigavon Bridge and the site of the the former building. (A brae is a Scottish word meaning a small hill or slope.)

Below: The'mark on Tillie's Brae.

Above: The 'mark is on the wall between the supports of the direction sign on the right. The wall is part of the west side of Craigavon Bridge. Behind the hoarding is the site of the former Tillie and Henderson shirt factory.

"For what's done is done and what's won is won

and what's lost is lost and gone forever."