Glossary entry for
Brookeborough Hall

As a young teenager, Van learnt his trade by playing cover versions in small local venues. He cites the small Brookeborough Hall on the Sandown Road (mentioned on The Interview Album (Mercury, 1986) as a typical gig. The hall is in an area known as Ballyhackamore, which is mentioned in the sleevenotes to the album A Sense Of Wonder.

A quarter of a mile to the east is a well-heeled quarter called Cherryvalley, noted for its posh accents. Van heads out that way in the lyrics for "On Hyndford Street" (from Hymns To the Silence).

Image and text courtesy of Stuart Bailie

Update January 2007: Van fan David Hammond writes from East Belfast to say that the Brookeborough Hall was demolished a few months ago; a block of small modern apartments is apparently being built on the site.

Van references in:

• This 1986 interview with Mick Brown.
• The sleeve notes to A Sense Of Wonder
• "On Hyndford Street" (on Hymns To the Silence)

Part of the van-the-man.info unofficial website