What a place of contrast. Derry, as its know to everybody here but known as Londonderry to the Nationalists and to us in England, epitomises the catholic v's protestant, Irish v's English struggles of the last 500 years. The city's medieval walls enclose an attractive, affluent staunchly protestant population whilst just outside the walls to the west is the now infamous, run down, poor, catholic Bogside area, so named because it was built on the boggy banks of the River Foyle and is to where catholics were banished  since inception of the city.
All the way round Ireland we have been learning of the dreadful oppression of the Catholics by the English protestant intruder who, although arriving much earlier, really started to rule the island about 500 years ago when catholics were regarded as no better than animals and treated as such. In the last 100 years catholics have risen from animals to second class citizens, it is no wonder that things erupted the way they did in the '70's. There is an awful lot here that doesn't make one proud to be English.

Since 'The Troubles' settled down things have returned to normal here, mostly. The police station still looks like this, police drive round in armoured landrovers, when on the streets they carry automatic weapons and houses on the short walk up the hill from the Bogside to the city walls still have mesh shutters over them.

'The Troubles' are recorded as 'Bogside Art'  in the area of the Bogside where all the riots took place (most notably 'Bloody Sunday' in 1972) . Entire gable ends of houses are painted with scenes such as these:-

Free Derry is a slogan painted on a house here as long ago as 1960 and refers to the area being 'free' from firstly RUC and then the English army. The Bogside became a 'no go' area for the authorities in 1970, kept out by manned barricades. There are commerative plaques on the walls of houses, one I saw in memory of a 4 year old boy killed by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier.

Lest they forget.