i used to work in the dole office on the shankill road. a group of us used to go down to the weights room in shankill leisure centre on a wednesday and always this wee man would be in there pumping away. we got to know him over the year or so that we went. i had to do an interview in the office and i went to the public counter and here was this wee man standing signing his slip for his brew money.

i says to him" what are you doin' up here, i thought you lived in the leisure centre"
he looked at me and smiled.

After my interview the girl who was signing him on said to me "do you know who that is you where mouthing off to"

"no" says I

"that was maddog johnny adair, he has killed people for less than you said to him"

:eek:

Yep The Wellie Boot, Benedicts, The Bot and the Egg are still pretty much the same as they have been since the planet was created. (OK - They knocked down the Bot and build a bigger one, but its the same with more people.)

Bet you got a lift home in a nice grey landrover with a red phone number on the side :D

Hey Numptie - Where you been ????

Watching Aberdeen play Rangers one day when a dandy don behind me shouts at the Rangers Fans "F*** off home you sectarian bastids".

Next sentence directed at Joe Miller (Ex Celtic and then Don Player) "F*** off home you tim c***"

Ah the simple ways of your average footie fan :).

Just be careful where you sing no surrender to the pope of rome ;)

No big man, from Johnnies Boys :eek:
Two of the Red Hand Defenders finest in tracksuits driving 3 soor escort :D:D
Long story best kept for 10 pints of the black. ;)

I also used to drink in the Cloughfern Arms on the Dough Road :eek::eek:
And have attended functions in the Sandy Row Rangers Supporters Club all as 'John' mind you ;)

bot's still there, well it was last nite when i was there killing myself after the marathon relay!

fook me dai that brings back memories. been a few times and it is one rough pub. very vocal about their football as i remember :)

Is the Egg still there? I used to love that place! Remember when the nightclub was called the Manhatten, is it still called that. I remember when Take That played in NI and went to the nightclub, it nearly caused a riot. Didnt like the Bot much, too packed!

yeah, was in the egg yesterday as well. the manhatten is still there, call the M-club by most people though!

the bot is stupid busy, but seems popular?!?

Remember turning up in the centre of Belfast in a southern reg transit full of beefy rugby players (& me) all with kit bags & looking 2 "play" the RUC. Completely lost, so we stopped the first uniforms we saw. We got an army escort through the centre of town - wonder why! RUC were the biggest bunch of pi$$heads & a good game was had by all :)

fb - used to live in Glengoland Gardens iirc. As I said, was there when the co-op got blown up & it was like there was a firefight going on, with all the baked bean tins popping off! The hotel opposite went on my birthday, so it was like "just for me" :D Other than that, can't remember much about the place. Neighbour's kid was called Finton Gogerty [sp] so that name I remember.

My parents sent me to school in England when, at the age of 7, I was asked by some elder kiddie as to whether I was Catholic or Protestant - I didn't know! LOL Must've been the only (naive) kid on the estate that didn't :rolleyes:

The hotel opposite the co-op was called the Woodland Hotel IIRC and was quite a place. Later got turned into an army barracks/police station and still is to this day...or it hadn't been mortar bombed the last time I saw it a few years back.

Police station is still there - every time there is a riot the hoods come out and shoot at the 30ft high 8ft thick concrete walls with handguns. I think they believe that they will eventually wear it away. :D

A Bit more detail of where I'm going. Some industrial estate on Montgomery Road, near to the police station, apparently.

What's that area like?

Lum, safe as houses. You'll be in the Cregagh area (loyalist) where George Best and the guy that invented "Who wants to be a Millionaire" come from...nearest place to be watchful about is the Short Strand (republican) but you are miles away from it so you'll be unlikely to be strolling through it at lunchtime.

That police station has closed now. It used to be called Castlereagh holding station. It is the place that the police used to take people for a week when they needed to ... erm.... 'extract' a statement. Strange thing about it is that even though the holding station was in a single storey building, loads of people used to fall down the stairs :confused:

most of Belfast is safe enough these days if you follow the age old rules of not talking politics or religion

[QUOTE=fast bloke]That police station has closed now. /[QUOTE]

Are you sure?

I was in castlereagh industrial estate yesterday(which is where this chap is going), drove past the police station, and it didn't look closed to me.

Shaun

Sorry - the holding centre has closed. The police station is still open

I used to live just near the Castlereagh holding centre (lived in Cregagh) and worked in Holywood, I never had any problems and the Cregagh road is a good safe place to have a drink in. Like it was mentioned before stay away from Short Strand, it is just on the edge of the town centre and you cant miss it! You should be OK there and i hope you have a great time and enjoy yourself, it really is a friendly place.

As above, Cregagh Road is a good place, with some good pubs. And I say again in Belfast you are probably safer than in most big city centres. Great people, great place :thumb:

I visit Belfast once a week, and it's as safe as any other city I've been to. Sure, there are areas I'd not hang around in at night, but then I'd not wish to be in parts of London, Manchester or Liverpool at certain times either.