The Belfast
Waterworks were established in the early 1840s by
the Water Commissioners. The site supplied water to the city's
factories and residents for 20 years before demand began to
outstrip supply. In 1897, a public meeting was held to decide the
future of the Waterworks and a suggestion was made that the site
should be used for water-based activities. The site's owners, the
Water Board, were initially hesitant as their operation licence
only extended to providing the city with water. However, following
an Act of Parliament in 1889, the Water Board were allowed to use
the Waterworks for leisure purposes, provided they spent no more
than £500 per year on the site. Tom Boyce, a boating contractor who
operated the Ormeau ferry across the River Lagan, was commissioned
by the Water Board to provide 12 rowing boats for the site. Public
bathing soon followed, as did diving and swimming galas, speedboat
racing in 1929 and model yacht sailing in 1933.
The Waterworks were bought by the Belfast Corporation in 1956.
They decided to partially fill in both of the site's reservoirs for
safety reasons. The work took ten years to complete. Since then,
the upper pond has been stocked with trout for the local angling
club and two manmade islands have been added to encourage waterfowl
to breed. Other recent additions include a children's playground
and a multi-sports centre. Today, the park is an oasis for wildfowl
in north Belfast. You can find many greylag geese and mute swans,
as well as other birds such as mallards, tufted ducks, coots,
pochards, goldeneyes, cormorants and great-crested grebes. You can
also see redwings and fieldfares feeding on the grass.
The Park is open 7.30 - sunset daily. There are a number of
access points, but the principal ones are Antrim Road and Cavehill
Road - free onstreet parking is available on the latter. Metro
buses 1A-1H and 61 from the City Hall stop at the park gates.
The cache can be found in woodland towards the
upper end of the park. Please rehide carefully after finding. Don't
forget to bring bread to feed the wildfowl nearby! Cache placed
with kind permission from Belfast Parks.