Best Of Belfast: Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast

Lillian Bland was the first women in the world to design, build and fly her own airplane.

 

She was also a sports journalist, photographer, investor, gambler, smoker, mechanic, hunter, markswomen, the owner of Belfast’s first Ford Dealership and the first woman in Northern Ireland to apply for a jockey’s license.

 

Living at Tobercorran House in Carnmoney near Glengormley, her curious, defiant free-spirit shattered the societal norms of women living in Presbyterian Ulster during the 1900s.

 

But despite all her achievements and quirks, very few people in Northern Ireland today even knows the name Lillian Bland, never mind the inspiring details of her story.

 

In today’s episode, we set out on another journey through the pages of local history to find out more about this incredible woman, and the streets she once called home.

 

Check it out.

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This episode is part of The Streets Where They Lived: a new documentary collaboration between Successful Belfast, Belfast Buildings Trust, and Best of Belfast. The Streets Where They Lived will feature the stories of six incredible but sometimes overlooked men and women from Belfast and some of the buildings and places in the City with which they’re connected.

 

The project is a collaboration with Successful Belfast, a project of Belfast Buildings Trust. It is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Belfast Buildings Trust is a charity founded in 1996 to regenerate Belfast’s landmark buildings. The Trust works to ensure that the City’s authentic heritage is made relevant for people today. One of its projects is Successful Belfast, which champions new and creative ways of involving people in Belfast’s future development.  

 

The beautiful song played at the end of the episode is from musician Fionnuala Fagan. You can discover more of her work here.

 

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To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Lilian (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/lilian-bland-mayfly-plane

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Julie Andrews is the current Director of the Linen Hall Library: Belfast's oldest and last-standing private Libary.

 

Located just opposite City Hall, the old Linen Warehouse has some of the most interesting and important historic collections in Northern Ireland.

 

In today's episode we chat with Julie to discover:

• The history of the Linenhall Library
• What is was like for her switching from the corporate to the charitable sector
• Why LHL is undergoing a huge digitisation project
• The most interesting items in their collection
• And the greatest successes/challenges they've faced along the way

 

Check it out.

Dennis Coppel is an 85-year-old former Anesthetist and the current President of the Belfast Jewish Community.     Some of his early memories include growing up in North Belfast, exploring Cave Hill and seeing the Antrim Road on fire after the WW2 bombings.      After juggling Hebrew School in the evenings with his ‘full-time’ education as a boy, Dennis later went on to become a medic.     This career led him all around the world, including a stint in Israel and later Texas where he was trained in the hospital JFK was taken after his assassination.     These experiences proved critical during The Troubles when Dennis and his team were responsible for responding to the many explosive, gunshot and burn wounds that came through their ICU doors during those dark days.     In this episode we talk about:

• The things Dennis has learned in his 85-years
• What it was like growing up in a tight-knit Jewish community
• The importance of loving your work
• And the greatest challenges/successes he’s faced along the way

  Check it out.   

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To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Dennis (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/dennis-coppel-northern-ireland

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

As part of our documentary on Otto Jaffe and the history of the Jewish Community in Northern Ireland, we paid a visit to the Belfast Hebrew Congregation on the Somerton Road.

 

The North Belfast synagogue is the third synagogue built in Belfast, the first one being built by Daniel Jaffe on Great Victoria Street and the second by his son Otto Jaffe on Annesley Street near Carlisle Circus.

 

While there, we were given a tour by Michael Black: the current chairman of the Northern Irish Jewish community and someone with a lot of knowledge about the history of the building.

 

We had such a great time with Michael and were so interested in what he had to share that we've decided to release our full rough-cut with you so that you can enjoy a virtual tour of one of Belfast's best-kept secrets.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sir Otto Jaffe was one of the leading entrepreneurs responsible for the boom of the Linen Industry here in Belfast in the 1800s.

 

Through a lot of hard work and determination, the young German-born entrepreneur rose through the ranks of the family business and went on to become the Lord Mayor of Belfast. Twice.

 

Yet by the end of his life, Sir Otto was forced out of Northern Ireland. Forever.

 

But that’s not all.

 

In the 100 years after Otto left Belfast, the Jewish community in Northern Ireland has fallen from 1500+ members to just under 80 men and women today.

 

In today’s episode, myself and producer Owen set off on another journey through the streets of Belfast and the pages of local history with one goal.

 

To find out why.

 

Check it out.

 

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This episode is part of The Streets Where They Lived: a new documentary collaboration between Successful Belfast, Belfast Buildings Trust, and Best of Belfast. The Streets Where They Lived will feature the stories of six incredible but sometimes overlooked men and women from Belfast and some of the buildings and places in the City with which they’re connected.

 

The project is a collaboration with Successful Belfast, a project of Belfast Buildings Trust. It is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Belfast Buildings Trust is a charity founded in 1996 to regenerate Belfast’s landmark buildings. The Trust works to ensure that the City’s authentic heritage is made relevant for people today. One of its projects is Successful Belfast, which champions new and creative ways of involving people in Belfast’s future development.  

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To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Otto (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/sir-otto-jaffe-linen-entrepreneur

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Mark Goldstone has worked for more than 25 years in the healthcare/life sciences industry.     He has a passion for technology, new “stuff” and all things creative.     Currently based in New York City, Mark spends his days working as the General Partner of Forepont Capital: a performance-focused venture capital firm that invests in early-stage life science companies.     Mark began his career as a pharmacist with the UK retail giant Boots before his love for writing led him to a new career in advertising as a copywriter — which has unexpectedly led him to where he is today. 

  In today's conversation we talk about:

• The value of learning how to write well
• Why "Big-Pharma" isn't all bad
• How to deal exponential change in a fast-paced world
• And the successes/challenges faced along the way

 

Check it out!

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To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Mark (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/mark-goldstone-forepont-capital

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

  Leonard Nugent is a businessman and author from Belfast with an incredible story to tell.     Despite experiencing homelessness at a young age and receiving no formal education, Leonard went on to start a one-man construction business that has now become a multi-million-pound company.     He’s also walked the Camino and is in the middle of a 2500km walk from Malin Head to Cork.     Both his adventures and latest memoir Keep Er Lit have been driven by the desire to inspire young people just starting out in the world and to raise money for the Open House Homeless Charity.     In today’s story we talk about:

• What it was like growing up in Belfast 60 years ago
• How he grew his business from himself and a wheelbarrow to a major success
• The process of writing his memoir
• And the greatest challenges/successes he’s faced along the way.

  Enjoy!  

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To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Lyn (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/leonard-nugent-keep-er-lit

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

 

Quick bonus episode with Rita Harkin from the Architectural Heritage Trust who we interviewed as part of our Danny Blanchflower documentary released last week.

 

I had such a good time with Rita and learned so much that we decided to share the full unedited version with you!

 

In today's episode we cover:

• The history of red bricks in Belfast
• How Rita 'got into' Heritage
• And why it's important we protect old buildings

 

Enjoy!

 

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To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Rita (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/rita-harkin-red-brick-belfast

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

 

Danny Blanchflower was a footballer from Belfast who’s most well-known for captaining the Tottenham Hotspurs team that won the double in 1961 and 1962.

 

(The first team to win the FA Cup twice in the 20th Century).

 

He also led the Northern Irish team to the World Cup twice as team captain in 1958 and in his role as manager in 1976.

 

Off the pitch, he was highly respected as one of the greatest football writers in the world, a true scholar of the game and someone with incredibly witty intellect.

 

But to many people’s surprise, I had never heard of Danny Blanchflower, despite growing up in Northern Ireland and even visiting Blanchflower Park as a teen.

 

When I discovered more about his story and the incredible legacy he left behind, I decided to set out on a journey to find out more about the man, the myth and the legend — but more importantly, to uncover why Northern Ireland is running the risk of forgetting about one of our greatest players.

 

Today’s episode documents that journey and features interviews with former team-mates like legendary goalkeeper Pat Jennings, representatives from Tottenham Hotspurs like Club Historian John Fennelly and Danny’s only son Richard Blanchflower.

 

We also do a deep-dive into Danny’s childhood neighbourhood on Grace Avenue in East Belfast to find out more about why red bricks and old buildings have such an important role to play for the people of Belfast today.

 

Check it out.

 

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To see photos of all the voices featured in this episode please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/danny-blanchflower-footballer

 

This episode is part of The Streets Where They Lived: a new documentary collaboration between Successful Belfast, Belfast Buildings Trust, and Best of Belfast. The Streets Where They Lived will feature the stories of six incredible but sometimes overlooked men and women from Belfast and some of the buildings and places in the City with which they’re connected.

 

The project is a collaboration with Successful Belfast, a project of Belfast Buildings Trust. It is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Belfast Buildings Trust is a charity founded in 1996 to regenerate Belfast’s landmark buildings. The Trust works to ensure that the City’s authentic heritage is made relevant for people today. One of its projects is Successful Belfast, which champions new and creative ways of involving people in Belfast’s future development.  

 

 

Today marks the beginning of a very exciting new series we’re rolling out next week called The Streets Where They Lived: a six-part history documentary that will share the story of six incredible Belfast men and women from the pages of history — and the buildings they once called home.      We’ve been putting a tonne of work into this behind the scenes and have partnered up with some really great people and organisations to make it happen including Belfast Buildings Trust, the National Heritage Lottery and BBC Producer Owen McFadden who very kindly has come on board to produce and edit the series!     Our first episode rolls out next Monday and is all about legendary footballer Danny Blanchflower and the story of the red bricks of Belfast.     BUT, before that, we’ve got a very special bonus interview to wet your appetite for all things history with the wonderful Maud Hamil from The Ulster History Circle.     Now the Ulster History Circle is a non-profit organisation that places blue commemorative plaques on buildings all over the country to celebrate men and women who’ve contributed to our history.      You’ve probably seen them all over the place, they’re really really cool and are a great way to learn about interesting people who lived in the same place we do, but perhaps have been forgotten.     The conversation you’re about to hear took place in Abbeydene House where we were hosted by the wonderful Tim Cliford as we talk about all things blue plaques, history and Belfast.     Enjoy!