Stepping back in time: walking history tours at Portview
22 people joined walking history tours of the former Strand Spinning Mill on 10 and 24 October, led by photographer and author Rebecca Brownlie of Abandoned NI.
On 10 and 24 October, Portview welcomed walking history tours led by Rebecca Brownlie of Abandoned NI. In total, 22 people took part in the tours, which gave a general history of Strand Spinning Mill, now Portview Trade Centre.
The story of the Mill
The tours traced the Mill’s story from the beginning. It was built in 1911 by the Jaffé family, the linen industrialists, and later ran under the Mackie family, renowned Belfast industrialists, who took ownership in 1922. In February 1984 the Belfast Development Agency acquired the Mill, and Portview Trade Centre opened that year, giving the historic buildings a new purpose as workspace for independent businesses.
About Rebecca Brownlie and Abandoned NI
Rebecca Brownlie is a photographer and author from County Down. Her work as Abandoned NI (opens in a new tab) documents abandoned and overlooked buildings across Ireland, and the history of the people who lived and worked in them. Her love of photography began at the age of twelve, when she won her first camera on a TV game show.
Her interest in old buildings grew more than a decade ago, when she worked as photographer and location finder for a paranormal research team. A visit to Cairndhu House in Larne, a mansion that has stood empty for decades, changed her focus. She became more interested in the history of the buildings and the people who lived in them than in the paranormal, and moved to documentation photography.
Rebecca shares her findings on Facebook, Instagram and her website. Owners sometimes invite her to document ancestral homes, and she also photographs buildings for architects before renovation work begins. A post about a Co Tyrone cottage, found with Victorian-era clothing, old coins and newspapers from the turn of the century, went viral and led to a book deal.
Her first book, Abandoned Ireland, was published by Merrion Press in 2022, followed by Abandoned Ireland 2 in October 2024. She has appeared on local television, given talks, and led a sold-out historical photographic tour of Belfast as part of the 2026 Belfast Photo Festival.
