Welcome to the historic city of Derry / Londonderry, and to this walking tour focused on the city’s maritime and industrial heritage. We’ll ramble along the River Foyle from the Peace Bridge to the Craigavon Bridge, before returning to our starting point with a stroll through the city. You’ll see the spot where Scottish settlers left for America and, a little further up the river, the spot where the city’s patron saint Columba left for Scotland. Along the way, you’ll learn how bridges, railways and shirt factories were built as the city came into the industrial age, the role of the city in World War II, and where divided communities still live on either side of the walls that are now called peace lines.

On this tour you’ll also see:

• HMS Ferret, the port where the WWII naval ships that protected convoys and hunted German U-boats were berthed
• The parts of the city that were industrialised first, including what were the world’s largest ship factories in the 1800s
• Some of the city’s most important churches
• The iconic “Hands Across the Divide” sculpture on Craigavon Bridge
• The location of the world’s first independent department store
• The Masonic Hall, the courthouse and the War Memorial
• The former residences of Mrs Cecil Francis Alexander, a famous 19th century hymn writer, and Phil Coulter, a modern songwriter

I am an accountant by profession but an historian by passion.In October 2018, I established Derrie Danders Walking Tours and seek to deliver historically accurate and politically neutral tours of my home city, where I have been born and bred.I am extremely proud of my city and love telling visitors of its role in many of the conflicts and historical events of the past and am optimistic of its role in the ongoing peace process in the future.