The Last day of ‘walking around’ research in Liverpool.
Another look at the Metropolitan Catherdral then to the Western Approaches museum, an extensive underground bunker system from WW2. there seems to have been abit of an underground theme going on these last few days. I stopped by at The Bluecoat for an interesting show,’ Topophobia’ – fear of places. www.thebluecoat.org.uk
Then to look (and smell) the sugar silo in the North Dock area. What a fantastic structure.
Dominique Rey
Halewood
On the Saturday of our Liverpool trip we went off in different directions again. I had originally intended to cycle to Halewood to look at the car plant there, but instead after Friday’s cycle and given the building i was going to see i traveled by car.
I first became aware of car manufacturing in Halewood when reading Huw Beynon’s 1973 book Working for Ford. So i drove the 8 or so miles and located the Halewood Operations, easily seen from a duel carriageway.
I was conscious of the approach to the plant as in Beynon’s book chapter 3 ‘Henry Ford Comes to Liverpool where he describes the location as “Out in the wilds, past the Garsten Bottle works…Out in the back of beyond ….You probably need two buses to get out there”. As expected this view has changed, the complex of duel carriageways and out of town shopping areas, the car has become the dominant mode of transport, as seen elsewhere in the UK.
Seeing the building through and over a range of different fencing options was great. I am sure from the fornt view i was only seeing a tiny part of the complex, but it was enough for now. The path that runs alongside the building has a cycle path and the Pennine Route follows this way, it looks rather overgrown, either through lack of use or maintenance, but i did see people cycle that way.
I remember hearing about a BBC programme where historian David Heathcote was using a 1887 Baedecker Guide to revisit how Victorians used to tour Britain. In certain cities industrial sites would have been firmly on the agenda for a visit something that many would not consider now. I need to locate a Baedecker for Liverpool i wonder if the British library can help with that. I did have a thought of looking for one before the trip but actually i wanted to have a few small clues to guide my days there. I will follow up research and start developing work in the coming days and weeks. The strategy of having a farily open timetable worked well as it was a great few days with plenty of variety and rich visuals. We will go back again when we give a talk at The Royal Standard which i am very much looking forward to: I am rather missing Liverpool already and that rather wonderful bike.
Nicola Naismith
Tunnels, cathedrals, and the maritime museum on foot.
My route was walking from round about Brunswick Dock up through Toxteth to the Williamson Tunnels for a small but interesting hard hat tour. I got dripped on somewhat. What I liked was the idea of layers of tunnels and arches on top of each other like a Victoria sandwich, but this was not that visible on this tour, and I also like the idea that nobody quite knows how many tunnels there still are. They’re waiting to be discovered and excavated. I ‘d like to go back when/ if more was open to the public. The visitor centre seems to be run on a shoestring and lots of enthusiasm.
www.williamsontunnels.co.uk
This site has some interesting photographs and some (incomplete) maps of the tunnels.
http://www.williamsontunnels.com/virtour.htm
After the tunnels I enjoyed the Metroploitan Cathedral concrete architecture, then stumbled upon the St James’ cemetary, which was like a beautiful enchanted garden in the Spring sunshine. This former quarry also has some tunnels. www.stjamescemetery.co.uk
From there I walked to the Chambre Hardman House. This is a fascinating slice of what looks like 1930 to 1950’s domestic life, a complete time capsule formerly belonging to the photographers Mr & Mrs Hardman. The dark rooms fascinated me as always, reminding me of my childhood. They didn’t have the redolent chemical smell on tap disappointingly.
After this I staggerd back outside to rejoin this century and went to the Robots and Avatars exhibition at FACT for a double espresso.
I walked down to the Maritime museum at the docks to see if they had any exhibits on WW2 Seaforts, they didn’t, and photgraphed some former, grand cinema buildings, now crumbling away and mostly boarded up.
I have no idea how many miles I walked, but it felt like a helluva few.
Dominique Rey
Touring by bike and by foot
The day started with brilliant weather and collecting a bike from the hire shop near the Albert Dock. It turned out to be the best bike i have ridden in years and at £15 for a day it was good value. After a long day in the car yesterday it was great to be out on two wheels. www.liverpool-bicycle.co.uk/bikehire.htm
The idea of touring Liverpool by bike came from both my enjoyment in cycling but also critically my interest in the Liverpool branch of the Clarion Movement Cycle Club which I talked about at Aid and Abet last year in the Satellite In Expert Liverpool Talk (see post 47).
Liverpool is a busy city with vast roads and many lanes of traffic but i am a confident cyclist and the drivers were courteous. As i was at the Waterfront i decided to cycle along the docks area. I visited the city about 3 years ago for a two day stop over so it was great to be able to have a closer look. Being on the bike allows me to stop easily and take photographs. With my interest in most things Industrial the sights were really interesting and the smells distinct, Molasses from Tate and Lyle, Metal from the EMR recycling plant and Oil from the many engineering businesses. Most of the images were taken on a slide film so i will wait patiently to see the results once they come back from the processors.
After the docks, i spent time just cycling wherever, without looking at the map. It was a great way to see Liverpool, well some of it at least.
Later it was onwards and upwards to the Kensington area, past the Williamson’s Tunnels which Dominique was visiting. I was there to try and locate The Arc, the Clarion Clubhouse, once located at 65a Kensington. Alas after cycling up and down the road and even stopping to ask at the library I could find no trace of it, but then i hadnt expected to after my inital research on google maps. The librarian did give me the number of the central library archive so I could arrange a visit next time. It would have been great to see the Arc, but more importantly it took me to an area of Liverpool I wouldn’t have otherwise visited, and even more importantly it suggested my mode of transport which given the great bike and fantastic weather made for a thoroughly enjoyable day. After a short break for refreshments I decided to cycle off in the other direction along the Mersey. It consisted of cleaned up warehousing now reinvented as small business units and new domestic dwellings, mainly flats. The route was right next to the river and the cycling easy, what a joy!
Cycled: 19.5 Miles
Walked: 10 Miles
Nicola Naismith
Liverpool here we are
Yesterday set off from Norwich at 6.45am, arrived Liverpool 3.45 after a very slow and scenic drive through Warrington due to a road closure. On route we stopped at Bakewell, where one of our party of two partook of a Bakewell pudding ( with custard) which I was informed was lovely. With the help of Sylvia the SatNav we had a very interesting drive through the Edge Hill and Kensington areas of Liverpool which presented us with the Liverpool innovation centre which looked across at a boarded up but rather lovely looking Littlewoods building which was a monolithic vision in White. We made it to the docks travelodge and after quickly unpacking we headed off to The Royal Standard meet with Ailie Rutherford. After she made us a cuppa ( thanks Ailie) we grilled her about all things Liverpool including cycling, tunnels and sugar silos. It also gave us an opportunity to look at the exhibition space where we may deliver our UFO and Touring Territories event – hopefully in the near future. We headed off back alongside the river which was because of the beautiful weather very tranquil. We cut back upto the main road to make our way to Arena – an artist studio & gallery complex for an opening.Then back down parliament street to the hotel both feeling pretty tired.
Miles walked in Liverpool: 6
Nicola Naismith
