The Lion,the Witch and theWardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia are brought to life on a Belfast taxi tour
Learn about the man whose tales Inspired Disney to Make The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and learn about his magical childhood in Belfast.
Who was C.S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (known to us as C.S. Lewis editor of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) was born in Belfast in Northern Ireland, on November 29th, 1898 to Albert James and Flora Augusta Hamilton. Although there has always been a keen interest in C.S. Lewis as a literary figure, it wasn’t until the release of the Disney film “Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” that the world outside of his literary oeuvre sat up and took notice.
The story of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
The story: Four young children from wartime England accidently discover a magic land, called Narnia, that lies beyond and through an ordinary wardrobe. In this land, Edmund,one of the children, betrays his siblings to a wicked witch who has been holding the mythical world of Narnia in thrall to winter. Only when the lion Aslan agrees to die at the witch's hand can the betrayal be forgiven and Spring come to Narnia.
Tour the Belfast area where he grew up.
Now for pilgrims in search of the author, Ken Harper’s Taxitours of Belfast (www.harpertaxitours.co.nr) has produced an excellent tour related to the author’s birthplace in Belfast. Stops are made at Lewis’s Victorian home, Little Lea, to which the family moved in 1905 and where he first concocted his stories, the church he attended, St. Mark’s, and at various places he used for inspiration.
Ken Harper, a fan of the Belfast-born Lewis, is your guide, and his knowledge of the man’s work is thorough. He himself conducts the taxi tour through the countryside from which Lewis got his ideas for The Chronicle of Narnia The name Narnia, Lewis got from an old map, one of many collected by his brother.
C.S. Lewis's early childhood
Little Lea was Lewis’s home, a beautiful house overlooking the River Lagan and it is in this house that Lewis got the inspiration for his stories. Ken will take you there and tell you stories of the Lewis family life and the childhood of the budding author, although, unfortunateley, it is not permitted to enter the house as it is privately owned.
There is a a stained-glass window and a font in the Church of St. Mark’s, in which it is believed the young Lewis was christened as well as some other nearby sites believed to relate to some of the scenes in the books. The highlight of the tour for many people is Ross Wilson's magnificent bronze of The Wardrobe (called "The Searcher" - see photograph) which has been erected in central Belfast. Time permitting, Ken will also show the murals on Belfast's walls which refer to the man and his work.
Further places to visit in and near Belfast
As this is a taxi tour, it is possible to negotiate a price with Ken to visit other parts of Northern Ireland containing sites that inspired the Narnia Chronicles, like the lampost in Crawfordsburn Country Park, and the 17th century Dunluce Castle on the Antrim Coast believed to be the basis for Cair Paravel, the royal fortress in Narnia (do this before starting the Taxitour of Belfast).
email: Ken for details on Kenharper2004@hotmail.com Tel: Tel: 07711757178. Further information: www.gotobelfast.com
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