Londonderry (Derry).
This is where we end up and of course there are millions of little hidden gems that can be found on this
rather long route but we are doing an article not a guide book. I wish I had the time and space to list all the
amazing hideaway treasures that Northern Ireland has to offer but you can always grab a map and flick
around the internet before you set up and make your own plan beyond this one.
Londonderry is often called Derry by the locals and the London prefix was added by James I to show
where the money came from to build the city up. It is a fully walled city and the wall is the only one I know
of in Ireland that’s intact! It was built in the early 1600s, around the same time that Bushmills went legit
under King James I. If you fancy a stretch of the legs the wall works out to be around a mile and you can
walk the lot. It offers you a great view of the old city with a tremendous vantage point for taking snaps.
The wall was of course built for defence and the cannon can still be seen on the wall defence struts.
There is just buckets of history in this old city and just looking at World War II it was the first place to hold
an American base before they even joined the war. There is a report of 20,000 Royal Navy, 10,000
Canadian Navy and 6000 US Navy that played a serious part in the Battle of the Atlantic. This is of course
unless you watch an American made war movie and then America was the only one in World War II and
saved everyone. The walls of Derry have never been breached despite an attempt in 1689 that lasted 105
days and gave rise to Derry’s nickname... The Maiden City.