Police fire water cannons at Belfast protesters

This amazing short video of Belfast City Centre in 1901 gives a snapshot of the wealth and grandeur of one of the most importance cities in the British Empire. It’s the end of the Victorian era (1837-1901) and start of Edwardian era (1901-1914). Belfast was now a mechanised, industrial powerhouse supplying the world with its manufacture. Chimney stacks, gantries and cranes dominated the skyline but we faced the new century with complacency and a profound satisfaction of the city’s achievements.