Farewell Belfast Wheel

April 14th, 2010

belfast wheel

So the big ferris wheel that resided by the City Hall stopped rotating on Sunday (11th April) after two and a half years in operation. There was talk of plans to move it to the Titanic Quarter, which would be nice… eventually, you know, when there’s actually stuff there. Having always put it off because of the weather or just not wanting to fork out the £6.50 for the privilege, Chris and I made sure to get a spin before it shut down.

It’s a great view, despite those who say there isn’t a lot to see. It’s Belfast. And much of it can be seen. If you want a better view, and for free, go to Cave Hill, though it’s not the same, and quite far away. Lovely to look in on the city from a above though.

Did you go on it? What did you think?
Any one think there’s another suitable place for it in Belfast? I heard a rumour of plans to bring it to Derry… I’m all for the idea of scraping it altogether, though i’d like my own pod.

In saying that — It’s nice that it isn’t a permanent feature. It was exhausted of photos.
Now if they could just hurry up and get rid of it.

Here’s a video of the view:

Tagged: Belfast, Photography, video, wheel | 8 comments »

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7 Comments

I like it! Nice montage of shots. It was remarkably hard to get any footage out the side windows/doors with all the stickers they’d put there. I originally wanted to capture the four front/back/left/right views but it was impossible to do the sides – particularly when the amount of time you spin round is so short.

What kind of camera did you use for the video?

Posted by Alan in Belfast on 14 Apr 2010 at 5:31 pm Reply to this comment

@Alan in Belfast – Thanks Alan. Yeah, Chris and I were saying that — the stickers were a pain in the ass.
It was shot with Nikon D90 on a tripod and Sony Handycam DCR-SR45 (awful quality).

Posted by Phil O'Kane on 14 Apr 2010 at 5:34 pm Reply to this comment

If I hadn’t left as late (the Friday) to go round, I’d have gone back to finish the job properly. It’s a wonderful contraption. having the two of you was wise too … I’d a who pod on my own to share with two tripods! Next time there’s a wheel in Belfast, we’ll have a Flickr Meet and do it properly!

Posted by Alan in Belfast on 14 Apr 2010 at 6:53 pm Reply to this comment

Hey Phil,

Good idea, you’ve now re-affirmed my reason for never having been on the wheel while it was spinning. Its too dear and you don’t get anything you can’t get for free and al fresco on Cave Hill.

And now you’ve brought cave hill to me.

Thanks

Posted by Ronan on 14 Apr 2010 at 7:16 pm Reply to this comment

@Ronan – In saying that, I am glad I went on it. It’s very different from Cave Hill. Cool being in the city centre and seeing all around. But then it’s all in my video, so you have no need for regrets anyway.

What’s that, you fancy a hike?

Posted by Phil O'Kane on 14 Apr 2010 at 8:00 pm Reply to this comment