Liverpool – musings while allatsea

Tag: Liverpool

Looking back on 2018

31/12/2018

2018 had many high and low points, and it was really a year of change and renewal. The biggest issue that weighed on my mind towards the end of 2017 had been the renewal of my visa which was done successfully for another 5 years. By the time you read this almost a year would have passed from those 5. My mother’s health took a turn for the worse towards the end of December and at one point I was looking for flights just in case I had to return to South Africa. Fortunately that did not happen, but she remains in high care and who knows what the future holds. (Update: I will be returning to South Africa for a brief visit at the end of February 2019)

I had also been contemplating resigning from my job as I was really getting tired of the atmosphere where I worked, sadly it was all caused by the same person and by the end of August I had made my decision and resigned. It just goes to show how bad things were, and I am amazed that I stuck it out for 3 years. I have a new job now, albeit it as a contractor and am still in Tewkesbury, but would probably leave like a shot if a better job came up elsewhere. My new employment is interesting though, I have learnt a lot of things that I had never considered before, and that is a good thing.

The weather was also surprising, with 2 snowfalls in the early part of the year. They were fun, and I got some great pics. So far (touch wood) we have not had snow, but that is pretty much how we felt at the beginning of the year too.

(1500×747)

We also lost Ray Thomas, Mort Walker, Billy Graham, Stephen Hawking, Harry Anderson, George and Barbara Bush, Aretha Franklin, Burt Reynolds, Joe Jackson, Dolores O’Riordan, Montserrat Caballé, Hugh Masekela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, John McCain, Morgan Tsvangirai, Pik Botha, Margot Kidder, Sir Roger Bannister, Kofi Annan, Charles Aznavour, Paul Allen, and Stan Lee (complete list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2018)

Because the weather was better I ended up gallivanting again, and visited a number of places during the year. Naturally I ended up taking way too many photo’s as usual. I also ate too much ice cream, read lots of books and watched too many anime and movies.

The highlight of the year was definitely the trip I made to Liverpool in June and it spawned a whole wodge of blogposts.

(1500 x 479)

and of course my visits to Evesham were amazing, and it is a place I enjoy visiting. Hopefully next year I will get to the light rail that runs there too.

Evesham Eventually 1 19/05/2018
Evesham Eventually 2 19/05/2018

This was also the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, and I am still involved in the Lives of the First World War Project.

The project finishes in March 2019 and I may find that I have a lot more free time on my hands from then.

I was also lucky to get to travel to Wales and paid a brief visit to Swansea and Mumbles

(1500 x 724)

Musing and Mumbles 25/09/2018
Swanning it in Swansea 25/09/2018

and I paid a few visits to Bristol in July and August. This time around exploring beyond the cemetery and harbour too. I will be returning there once the weather improves.

Shipshape and Bristol Fashion (1)21/07/2018

Meanwhile back in Tewkesbury, we had the usual Medieval Festival as well as the Classic Vehicle Festival.

Tewkesbury Classic Vehicle Festival 2018 19/08/2018
The Battle of Tewkesbury 1471 17/07/2018
Ye Olde Medieval Festivale 2018 15/07/2018

The one thing that I can be sure of is that I live in interesting times, and I expect 2019 will bring quite a few highlights and low lights to blog about. I may be making a short trip to South Africa in 2019, but haven’t made a decision yet, there are many factors involved in deciding, but really need to look into all of them. It is an expensive trip and with my job still being as it is I have to be rational about something like that.

That is 2018 in a nutshell. I have deviated from my usual format this time around, its much easier to do, and I can always add bits on in these last days of the year. Irrespective though, with Brexit looming in the distance who knows what April may bring. The election in South Africa is also looming in 2019 and given how bad things are getting there who knows what the year will bring. You can bet that more money will be squandered on everything but the poor. We will just have to wait and see.

Loving Liverpool (11) The Final Say?

16/06/2018

Heritage, Liverpool, Personal, Transportation, United Kingdom, World War 2

The final say?

This is the final post in my “Loving Liverpool” series that covers my recent trip. And what a ride it has been. I returned from the city with over 2000 images and even when I look at them now I realise how many images I neglected to take, especially in St John’s Garden and at the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals.

The highlight of the trip was probably Museum of the Moon and St James Garden, they were breathtaking and photographs do not do them justice.

Museum of the Moon

Liverpool as a maritime city is a mere shade of its former self, no longer do mighty transatlantic liners berth in the Mersey nor cargo ships ply their trade backwards and forwards. Mighty steam engines no longer wait at Lime Street Station to take their trains to London or north to Scotland. The end result has been much cleaner air! But a loss of the heritage that made this place what it is.

Liverpool was built around the slave trade, and it made many people very rich and inflicted misery on countless others. There is no way to really reverse that situation, and I am afraid that it is yet another blot on our “civilisation”. However, it is crucial that it does not get swept under the carpet and relegated to the pages of dusty old tomes. The Maritime Museum had an exhibition on Slavery, but I did not see too much of it because of the crowds. The museum also has the obligatory Titanic exhibition which was surprisingly interesting, especially since the builders model was present, or was it the builders model of the Olympic disguised as the Titanic?

Cunard’s Campania

For me though Liverpool will stand out for its many beautiful buildings, and there are a lot of them! The one strange gem was Roscoe Gardens and the Grand Central Hotel with its quirky décor, steelwork and pipe organ. It was truly a wonderful space, and I could easily do a post all about that building alone.

There were two churches outside of the cathedrals that I saw, in particular the Liverpool Parish Church is a real beauty, and it had a welcoming atmosphere too. The nautical feel of the church does it credit, and of course finding woodwork from the Aquitania was an added bonus.

But, like the other “bombed out church” it does tell a story about the Liverpool Blitz.

The presence of Western Approaches Command Museum really just highlighted the importance of the city to the conduct of the Battle of the Atlantic, and I am sure that if I visited the city cemeteries at Anfield and Toxteth Park I would possibly find some of the many innocents killed in the bombing buried within them.

Talking of cemeteries, contrary to my usual plans I did not visit the city cemeteries, although St James Garden was really a bonus. It was a really wonderful place to visit. The Cathedrals were equally amazing, and a revisit to them both is really on the cards for a return visit.

One of the more surprising finds was the Hall of Remembrance inside the City Hall. The building itself was stunning, and the staff were incredibly helpful too. The Hall was outstanding, a really beautiful room but I am sure not too many people are even aware of its existence.

The pier head was enjoyable, but it really was sad that there were all these acres of dock space and nothing in them, it is the reality in many of the former ports in the UK. The faithful ferry does help alleviate the shortage of shipping, but I fear that even at some point she may become redundant unless a way can be found to revitalise the service. Birkenhead across the water is also worthy of exploration, as is Bootle and possibly further afield to a point when I can see the expanse of water known as the Irish Sea.

The Irish Sea in the distance (1500 x 422)

On my way to Liverpool I was lucky enough to get some pics of the large bridge at Runcorn spanning the Mersey. It really deserves better photographs than those I managed from the moving train.

Crewe Railway Heritage Centre was also worth a visit but was not open during my time in Liverpool. It was a pity though as there appeared to be quite a lot to see.

Some of those wonderful old buildings.

Municipal Offices	Exchange Station
Former Royal Infirmary	County Sessions House
Hargreaves Building	Wellington Rooms
Playhouse	Liverpool, London & Globe Bldg

There were a number of other weird and wonderful things that I saw, and these are some of them.

Paifang, Nelson Street

Like many cities Liverpool has a large ethnic Chinese community centred around Chinatown. Many of the inhabitants are descendants of Chinese seaman who served in the merchant ships that called in the city. The paifang on Nelson Street is the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside China.

The Liverpool Sailor’s Home Gateway was originally outside the main entrance to the Sailor’s Home which stood where the current John Lewis is. It was removed from the home in 1951 and presented to the successors of the Henry Pooley and Son’s Albion Foundy in Liverpool; the original makes of the gate.

Liverpool sailor’s home gateway

It was returned to this space in 2011 and is dedicated as a memorial to all the sailors who have passed through Liverpool during its long history as an international seaport.

This wonderful footbridge I spotted in Princes Dock. It reminded me of a whale carcass.

The Queensway Tunnel was opened in July 1934 and it connects Liverpool with Birkenhead.

Queensway tunnel

There are a number of ventilation shafts visible from the river, with one shaft being part of George’s Dock Ventilation and Control Station building. This magnificent art-deco building should really be the 4 grace. In the image below it is the square building in the foreground.

I was hoping that the Library (situated in St George’s Quarter), would be a magnificent space, but sadly it wasn’t. However. if you look upwards…

Quite a few “modern” buildings are worthy of consideration too, and the city has a surprisingly modern skyline.

(1500 x 479)

Liverpool Museum	Mann Island Buildings
The Gym. Strand Street	Echo Wheel & Echo Arena

There is a lot of excellent public art and statues in the city and it is impossible to see it all and catalogue it.

‘A Case History’ was created by John King. Installed in 1998 on Hope Street

Heaven and Earth by Andy Plant

The Great Escape. Herbert Cronshaw

These 10 pages are not the only one spawned as a result of my visit, a number of pages were created at allatsea too, and so far these are:

Liverpool Pals Memorial 11/06/2018
Kings Liverpool Regiments Boer War Memorial 11/06/2018
Liverpool Exchange War Memorials10/06/2018
Merchant Navy Memorials, Liverpool05/06/2018
Arthur Herbert Lindsay Richardson VC.05/06/2018
Liverpool Cenotaph 05/06/2018
Liverpool Naval Memorial 16/06/2018
Liverpool Hall of Remembrance 16/06/2018

Overall though I really enjoyed Liverpool, it was one of those experiences that I was very fortunate to have. I tend to view cities as a newcomer and can see them with a different light to what the average person who lives in the city has. Would I live in Liverpool? I cannot answer that because I really only saw the touristy bits and not the nitty gritty of life in its tougher neighbourhoods.

I only dabbled briefly in the underground railway and only experienced 3 stations and my 4 days of weather were all different, and of course I was not there to experience winter in all its discontent. Yet I found the people incredibly friendly and I must single out the commissionaire at one of the “3 Graces”, the guide at the Musical Britain display and the lady manning the front desk of Grand Central Hotel, as well as the staff at The Lord Nelson Hotel. What a pleasure to deal with you all.

Lord Nelson Hotel

Its time to lapse back into my torpor of inactivity, although I still have quite a lot more odds and ends that I will use in other blogposts, for starters my forthcoming “Crime and punishment” post has been put on hold and now needs a rethink.

And that was Liverpool…

Loving Liverpool (10) Liverpool Parish Church

15/06/2018

Churches and Cathedrals, Heritage, Liverpool, Memorials and Monuments, Ships, United Kingdom, War, War Memorial, World War 2

Liverpool Parish Church is also also known as “Our Lady and St Nicholas”, and the current building was built after the original main body of the church was destroyed by fire on 21 December 1940, during the bombing of Liverpool by the Luftwaffe.

Situated close to the pier head it would have been much closer to the Mersey before all the changes and dock building was done.

The bombing attack resulted in the building of a new church, and the completed church, was dedicated to “Our Lady and St Nicholas” and it was consecrated on 18 October 1952.

The church had a very welcoming feel about it and it is light and very beautiful inside. Liverpool is a maritime city and that is reflected in the church too. The best find was the Cunard Roll of Honour which was moved from the Cunard building and rededicated on 21 July 1990.

The nautical theme abounds and I found yet another bell from HMS Liverpool. Just how many bells did the ship have? (there is also an HMS Liverpool bell in the Cathedral)

One of those rare gems is the Roll of Honour of those who lost their lives during the 2nd World War while serving in merchant ships and fishing vessels. The case is made from wood from the Aquitania.

The Pulpit and Font.

Chapels.

Maritime Chapel of St Mary del Key (St Mary of the Quay)

Chapel of St Peter

The Cross in the Chapel of St Peter was created by Revd David Railton, who was the rector at Liverpool at the time, was formed of two pieces of fire blackened roof timbers taken from the ruins of the church. in 1920, Revd Railton wrote to the Dean of Westminster, about the possibility of giving an unidentified soldier a national burial service in Westminster Abbey. This became the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

The Grail Boat (Greg Tucker)

Our Lady of the Quay (Arthur Dooley)

Unfortunately I missed so much in the Garden of Remembrance that I now have a reason to revisit the church in the future.

Atlantic Conveyor Memorial

And then I had to leave and go to my next destination.

As far as churches go this one is a relatively new building in an ancient parish, but it has managed to straddle the old and the new and the result is stunning. I regret not looking over the garden though, but the lack of headstones probably put me off. But, that’s a good reason to return.

The Bombed Out Church.

I also found one more church that had been affected by the bombing, and it is the former St Luke’s Church on the corner of Berry Street and Leece Street, It is known as “The Bombed Out Church”

The church was built between 1811 and 1832, in addition to being a parish church, it was also intended to be used as a venue for ceremonial worship by the Corporation, and as a concert hall. It was badly damaged during the Liverpool Blitz in 1941, and remains as a roofless shell. It now stands as a memorial to those who were lost in the war, Unfortunately it was closed on both times I was there, but I was able to photograph two monuments of interest.

The first is “Truce” by Andy Edwards, and it commemorates the the moment when British and German soldiers called a temporary truce during Christmas in the First World War.

The second monument is related to Malta.

There is an Irish Famine Memorial too, but for some strange reason I missed photographing it.

Incidentally the surrounds were never used for burials, and today this is a nice peaceful green spot in the city. And that concludes my look at the two churches I saw in Liverpool and both are worthy of a revisit. Continue onwards to the final say.

Loving Liverpool (9) St George’s Plateau

13/06/2018

Heritage, Liverpool, Photo Essay, United Kingdom

Still in Liverpool…

The area where the Liverpool Cenotaph is situated is called St George’s Plateau. This is the flat space between St George’s Hall and Lime Street station and it contains statues of four lions and monuments, including bronzes of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria by Thomas Thornycroft, and a monument to Major-General William Earle.

St George’s Hall

Liverpool Cenotaph

St George’s Hall really dominates the space though and right from the start I was curious about what was inside of it. Somebody told me that there were tours of the building available so I decided to try my luck, assuming I could find the door!

The foundation stone was laid in 1838 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria, and the hall was designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, a London architect. The building would house not only a grand concert hall but assize courts too. Construction started in 1841 and the hall opened in 1854. The building and plateau was restored in the 2000’s and it was officially reopened on 23 April 2007 by Prince Charles.

Until 1984 the Liverpool Assizes (later the Crown Court) were held in the courtroom at the southern end of St George’s Hall. Lower down in the basement are cells for awaiting trial prisoners with a staircase leading upwards into the court. It is quite ironic that a grand concert could be on the go in the hall while down below prisoners were awaiting their fate.

I was too late for the formal tours of the building but there was a self led tour that took in parts of it and was able to do that one. It was a very interesting place to see.

The Basement Cells.

A short corridor has cells leading off to the left in the picture, while a whipping chair and flogging frame are against the right hand wall. The cells are all empty apart from displays, but I doubt very much if they looked as good when they were in use. They were mostly used to house prisoners brought from the prisons who were due to appear in court and not used for long term incarceration and have no facilities like sanitation.

The objects stuck against the walls in the upper left hand image are mugshots as below. These were supplied by the Nottingham Galleries of Justice and are of unidentified prisoners from that era.The unpainted areas in the top right hand image still have graffiti written by the original inhabitants (and a few modern idiots have added their monikers too). The cell on the bottom left was a really a waiting room for those involved in minor cases. The poor soul on the right has probably heard her fate and has been left to await transportation to Kirkdale or Walton Prison.

Above the wretches of humanity was the assizes court, and it was reach by a short staircase that opened up in the dock.

The Judges view

The accused’s view

The bewigged judge would be peering down from his high backed chair and of course various court functionaries and lawyers would be present and probably a few members of the public too.

The courts were probably more biased towards the law and the luckless individual in the dock was in for a rough ride. Unfortunately a number of innocent people were caught up in this “system” and a vast amount of guilty ones were too. The judge may have even recognised a few of them from previous court appearances. However, justice must be seen to be done and the results are to be seen in the mugshots in the cells down the staircase. Prison was not a fun place, and from what I can read Kirkdale and Walton Prisons were very hard places to serve time in. There were no human rights lawyers waiting to shout the odds, although there were prison reformers who did their best for the prisoners.

The Judge, having banged his gavel could retire to his chambers behind his bench, while the prisoner would be led downwards back to the cell and onwards transportation to serve their sentence.

Judges chambers

However, parts of this large building are a different world altogether. One of the purposes of the building was the provision of a hall large enough for civic functions, musical concerts, balls and “society events”, and this was not a part of the self guided tour although you could look down into it from the gallery. It was being set up for a function and I could see quite a lot of what it looked like, unfortunately the huge chandeliers played havoc with the images so they did not come out the way I would have liked. What I was able to see what very impressive and there are places that can show the hall much better than my lousy images https://www.stgeorgeshallliverpool.co.uk

The image below is is an hdr photograph by Michael D Beckwith taken from St George’s Hall during the annual minton floor reveal. Located in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK 5 August 2014, 09:57:34

St_George’s_Hall_Liverpool_England

(Image By Michael D Beckwith [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons)

There was also a Crown Court in the building and a smaller hall which was being used for a wedding on the day I visited.

The difference between the basement and main area of the building is astounding and I wonder how often the attendees of functions here ever gave a consideration to the misery down below; or how often prisoners would hear the magnificent organ in full blow up the stairs. It is an interesting contrast between the haves and have nots. The organ itself is a magnificent specimen, and is actually the 3^rd pipe organ that I saw in Liverpool.

Finally, the lower areas of the building are interesting because the building had a very primitive air conditioning plant in the basement. It was devised by Dr Boswell Reid, and was the first attempt at providing air conditioning in a public building in the United Kingdom, Air was warmed by five hot water pipes which were heated by two coke-fired boilers and two steam boilers. The air was circulated by four fans 3m wide. It was controlled by a large number of workers opening and closing a series of canvas flaps. The operating levers are still to be seen in the cell block.

And of course those areas far below make for interesting photography if your flash can penetrate the gloom.

It was a fascinating building, and make no mistake it is huge. It dwarfs the cenotaph and makes most buildings around it look small. Although those on the one side of it are equally old and beautiful in their own right.

It must have been spectacular when it opened over a century ago, especially when viewed as a member of society. “Underclasses” probably had a different view of it altogether.

St John’s Gardens.

Behind St George’s Hall (1 on the map) is St John’s Gardens (2)

It is a very pretty place and quite a popular place to rest your feet surrounded by greenery and history.

The statue that interested me was that of the Kings Liverpool Regiment as it commemorates the Boer War, although it would probably make the Boers upset.

And that really sums up St George’s Hall. A mighty space it is indeed, although I do feel it is somewhat too large and heavy, it really needs some colour and windows. I hope to see inside it again one day, who knows, I may be adding an update in the future.

You can continue to the next page or have a squizz at my random images.

Random Images.

Loving Liverpool (8) Western Approaches Command

09/06/2018

Collections and Museums, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Liverpool, Memorials and Monuments, Military, Personal, United Kingdom, War, World War 2

As I was saying…

The war at sea was a brutal one, lasting from the first day of the war right through till the last. To make matters worse any person serving on board ship faced an even worse enemy than the Axis forces, and that was the medium which they sailed in. The convoys that plodded along between the United Kingdom and the United States were shepherded by escort vessels of all shapes and sizes, and overseeing the area of ocean between the two continents was Western Approaches Command.

The Western Approaches Command may be found at the Liverpool War Museum at 1-3 Rumford St, Liverpool. Do not expect this to be one of your normal museums geared towards children, it is mostly undergrond in the former bunker that used to serve as the operational nerve centre of the Western Approaches. I knew more or less where it was situated but came from a different direction so ended up making a wrong turning and that proved to be quite beneficial to me as I discovered two more War memorials in the process.

There is an open square behind the City Hall that is bounded by a large building that seems to have been called “Exchange Flags” but is now called Horton House and Walker House; recognise those names?

The first memorial was dedicated to “the Men of the Liverpool Exchange Newsroom”

While the other is dedicated to “Men from the Liverpool Cotton Association”

There is a third monument in the centre of the square and it is known as the Nelson Monument.

Nelson Monument

However, I am not going to cover these in this blog but covered them at allatsea. My main interest here is the Western Approaches facility underneath this vast space.

Walker House (formerly known as Derby House), was adapted during its construction to include a reinforced bunker that housed the Western Approaches Command Headquarters. Construction of the main building was completed in 1939 but the construction of Walker House was interrupted by the war. The inclusion of the re-enforced bunker to house the command centre for the Battle of the Atlantic meant that Walker House wasn’t finished until 1941. The bunker was closed on 15 August 1945 after the end of WW2 but was re-opened as the Western Approaches Museum. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_Flags) The museum entrance is almost unassuming, but beneath it is another world in another era.

Please show your pass to the guard at the door (he has stepped out for a moment).

This is not some glitz and glass museum, you really need to remember it in the context of what it was like between 1941 and 1945, it is one of those places that is stuck in time.

I am following the file numbering of my images so hopefully they will be in some sort of order as I passed through the museum, although I did backtrack on a few occasions. I am not in a position to explain the Battle of the Atlantic as it it really did not consist of a single event but rather a whole sequence of events, milestones, disasters and victories. The men who bore the brunt of it were the men from the Merchant Navy who manned ships that were often one step away from disaster without the enemy even being close. They faced submarines, aircraft, weather and public and official indifference just to keep the lifelines of commerce open.

Those who served on the escorts initially faced an uphill battle to keep the convoys safe but slowly a combination of factors turned the tables on the U-boats of the Axis. Even Churchill feared the submarine menace but at the end the battle was won and Western Approaches Command had a vast role to play in that victory.

Communication in this labyrinth was via wireless, telex, telephone and messenger.

Radio Room

These were often manned (womaned?) by a staff of naval ratings and WRENS who often had to deal with the emotional trauma of knowing that a convoy was sailing towards a disaster and being unable to do anything about it. They had a job to do and they did it with excellence.

The operations room was the nerve centre of the command, a large plotting wall was used to keep tabs of the situation at sea and of course track the convoys and known enemy forces. Information coming in through all means of communication available.

The Plotting Wall

Those involved had to really keep tabs of the big picture as well as a localised view of the situation on the ground. The course of a convoy’s often painfully slow progress was tracked by means of colour coded elastics that followed its track across the Atlantic.

The needs of the job sometimes meant that staff slept over at the bunker and limited sleeping accommodation was available. Even back then your bed had to be square.

The reality was that it was a totally enclosed bunker with limited ventilation and considerable stress; smoking was also common back then and the air quality must have been terrible. A four watch system was in place 7 days a week with only two 15 minutes rest periods during a watch. It was a not a very pleasant place to work, but then the men on board ship probably would not have swapped with them if they were given the chance.

The “Hot Line” to the War Office in London was able to connect directly to 10 favoured lines. It was housed in a sound proof booth and it is possible that Winston Churchill was heard in it a few times. It was a standard telephone but was modified especially for this purpose. There are only 2 of these instruments known to survive.

The man in charge of the Western Approaches Command was Admiral Max Kennedy Horton, GCB, DSO & Two Bars, SGM (29 November 1883 – 30 July 1951). A former decorated submariner, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches Command on 17 November 1942.

As a successful former submariner he was able to understand the limitations of submarine warfare and instituted a number of tactical changes in the way the escort ships were to be used.

Staff often saw him appear at the window overlooking the operations room clad in his pyjamas. As a keen golfer who may have had golf balls on his desk or clubs nearby. Given how much stress he was under golf this was his favourite way of unwinding.

He died in 1951 and there is a memorial to him in Liverpool Cathedral.

He was one of the major reasons that the tide was turned in the Battle of the Atlantic, and of course his staff contributed to the success of this little known nerve centre. One of the stranger things to see was a film projector that was used to screen footage of the war. Originally the Gaumont Kalee Dragon projector was up in in London. It is a fascinating piece of machinery.

I trained as an apprentice in the telecommunications industry and quite a lot of the equipment on display was telecommunications related so it really interested me. This room housed the switchboard and probably part of the telex equipment.

Have you shown your pass?

Below it was naval telex station

And switchboard

As well as the cipher station.

And then it was time to head upwards to sunlight.

There was a mockup street on display too, and it was really quite poignant because the reality was that once staff emerged from their bunker they would often end up finding a city that had been bombed. Liverpool was the second most bombed city outside London, the first raid taking place on 28 August 1940. Roughly 80 raids were conducted between August 1940 and January 1942, and over 75000 people were left homeless as a result of the bombing which mostly targeted the docks and warehouses on the Mersey.

And then it was over. (my visit and the war).

It was an extremely interesting place and it had an “otherness” about it, definitely a latent aura was present. It is very difficult to comprehend what it was like during the war, and the euphoria when it was all done and almost everybody got to go home. Sadly too many never did see that victory so this is really a part of commemoration. The men and women who worked here have all passed into history, they will however be remembered for the part they played, they were unsung heroes.

It is a tangible link to World War 2, and one of those rare surviving places that we can see and experience. My only gripe was…. none really. I know that there is so much more that can go in here that is relevant, and I believe they are working towards it. It was well worth the visit and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I shall leave you with my usual odds and ends pics.

Loving Liverpool (7) The Catholic Cathedral

07/06/2018

Churches and Cathedrals, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Liverpool, United Kingdom

As I was saying…

I will admit that I have not been to many Catholic Cathedrals, or even been inside any of their churches, although the odds are that some of the older churches and cathedrals may have been from the Catholic Faith before the reformation.

Liverpool has two cathedrals: the Anglican Cathedral has already been covered in this blog, and of course the Catholic Cathedral. When doing my navigation I really added the latter to my list of places to visit if I had any spare time, which I did. The cathedral is officially known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, or better known as the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Google Earth co-ordinates are: 53.404769° -2.968593°

My first real view of the building was when I was looking for Abercromby Place, it was really a landmark for the park, but I had ended up in the wrong street originally so it did not help me anyway. At that time of the early evening the cathedral was closed anyway, but at first glimpse it did not really inspire much interest because it was obviously a modern iteration of a cathedral and as a result I really expected the worst. Clinical concrete, chrome and glass.

I was absolutely shocked when I arrived there for my visit though because the interior I saw was like nothing that I had experienced before. There was a service on the go in the one chapel when I got there so I ambled along on the periphery just absorbing the ambience of the building. It was like walking around the periphery of a stadium, and it was a long distance to walk around too!

The interior was stunning; yes, there was concrete and neon and glass but it blended in with the interior space, and of course the large lantern was letting in the right amount of light and it blended well with the stained glass and coloured lighting. The altar and pulpit were in the centre with light coloured wood bench seating all around it.

It was really an awe inspiring building, and so very different from any of the other cathedrals and abbeys that I have seen already. It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, and construction began in October 1962 and it was consecrated on the Feast of Pentecost 14 May 1967. It is almost as old as I am!

The bells are incorporated in the wedge shape above the entrance.

Aspects of the interiors were almost simple, but so very effective in how they were presented. The one memorable piece of art (14 pieces actually) was Stations of the Cross by Sean Rice.

Many years ago I was given a year book from 1967 and there were images of the newly consecrated cathedral in the book, I recall that those images were odd, part of the vision of the future presented in the present. As I walked around those images came back to me and the dots were connected, this was the same place! It was infinitely better in real life.

Once the service was over I could explore, but I seem to think that somewhere in the building somebody was doing something that involved moving something else because their voices resonated around me. What would a service sound like? Or even the organ? I don’t have answers to those I am afraid.

Unfortunately I did not get to look around the much vaunted Luytens Crypt, but that is parr for the course for me. One more for the bucket list if ever I return to Liverpool in the future.

I left after a final look around and headed to my next destination. But to be honest that building really impressed me, it did not have the heaviness of the Anglican Cathedral, but had a light and almost joyous feel about it. Had the grand vision of Lutyens been built it would have really overpowered everything and it probably would feel very much like St Paul’s in London which made you feel small and not welcome. Fortunately the Metropolitan was nothing like that.

The Baptistry

It had been a brief visit, but I came away much more impressed than when I had arrived. The building has its faults though and there was a lot of controversy when it started to leak shortly after it was completed. And of course detractors condemned it when they saw it. But I expect that it is past that point a long time ago and is now a part of the landscape and the congregation would not have it otherwise. The big question is: in 100 years time, will it still be here? how will it survive the weight of ages like so many cathedrals and abbeys? I guess we will only know in 100 years time.

I do recommend a visit to the cathedral website too. The Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liverpool and the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool, the spiritual leader of the whole Northern Province of the Catholic Church in England.

Having visited the Cathedrals of Liverpool it was time to come to grips with Western Approaches Command. Have your pass ready please.

Loving Liverpool (6) Ferry Across the Mersey

05/06/2018

Cruiseships, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Liverpool, Personal, Ships, Transportation, United Kingdom, War

Continuing where we left off…

Naturally visiting any sort of harbour presents possible opportunities to get on a boat or a ship, or at least to see one (or two).

MV Snowdrop

Liverpool did not disappoint because there is a ferry that crosses the Mersey and I had her in my sights as soon as I spotted her (which says a lot for her dazzle camouflage).

At the time “Snowdrop” was working “River Explorer” cruises between Pier Head Ferry Terminal to Seacombe Ferry Terminal, and then to Woodside Ferry Terminal where the U-Boat Story was and then back to the pier head. When I first hit the ferry terminal my first consideration was queues. These were very long to get on board so I decided against it at the time, although did try a bit later in the afternoon but by then it was her last round trip so I gave it a miss. It would have been better to have taken that late sailing because the light was so much better that afternoon compared to the next morning.

The next day was a different story (as detailed in Loving Liverpool (5)) but by 10 am I was on board and ready to sail! Let go for’ard!

The vessel was built in 1959 for the Birkenhead Corporation as “Woodchurch” by Philip and Son, Dartmouth and was yard number 1305

Builders Plate

She was launched on 28 October 1959 and made her maiden voyage from Dartmouth to the River Mersey in 1960. She is of 617 GRT, with a length of 46.32 m (152 ft 0 in), beam: 12.2 m (40 ft 0 in) and draught of 2.46 m (8 ft 1 in), as built she had a capacity of 1,200 passengers.

Fortunately she was not too crowded so I was able to wander around taking pics of her decks and seating areas and just taking in the scenery. I was hoping to get close to the Stena Mersey but almost half way across the river I saw that she was getting underway so managed to get some pics of that happening.

(1500 x 476) heading back towards Seacombe.

I rode the vessel only as far as Woodside where I jumped ship and went to look at the U-534 exhibit.

I reboarded Snowdrop at 11H30.

We puttered along towards the bend in the river and I was able to see the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries berthed at Cammell Laird of Birkenhead.

The vessel above is RFA Wave Knight (A389), while the vessel on the slipway is a Royal Research Ship being built at an estimated cost of £200 million, with the name RRS Sir David Attenborough and she is expected to be in service in 2019. The vessel below is RFA Fort Victoria (A387)

RFA Fort Victoria (A387)

I was not sure how far you could get if you walked along the promenade towards those ships at Birkenhead, although I had been tempted to try that in the morning. Actually with hindsight Birkenhead may have to go to the top of my bucket list if ever I get back to Liverpool.

And then we were alongside once again and the queue to board was already looking long. I was happy because I had had my “cruise”. It was not much but was better than nothing. At least for that hour I was on the deck looking towards land and not vice versa.

The second trip.

On my last day in Liverpool I discovered that the cruise ship Saga Sapphire was in port so I decided to grab a short hop across the river to Seacombe and see about getting pics of her from the ferry,

Unfortunately the sun was really in the wrong place so the pics came out pretty badly.

Commuter services run between Seacombe departing at 7.20 am with a ten minute trip across to the pier head terminal and back until the last arrival at the pier head at 9.50 am. However, this morning fleetmate Royal Iris was berthed at Seacombe so I was able to grab closeups of her, but it also meant that there was either a vessel swap going to happen or she was going to do a cruise too.

I stayed on board Snowdrop and rode her back to the pier head.

From there I strolled to the passenger terminal and took a closer look at Saga Sapphire before plonking myself on a handy bench to see what happened with Royal Iris; who had shifted from where I saw her earlier.

Voila, she unberthed and started to head towards me and Snowdrop started to come into the shot too from behind Saga Sapphire…. this could be interesting, because I was hoping to get them both together and was rewarded for my patience. Royal Iris was already packed so I suspect she was doing a cruise, possibly down the Manchester Ship Canal?

Why the dazzle camo?

Dazzle camouflage was really the brainchild of famous artist Norman Wilkinson and the zoologist John Graham Kerr, and it consisted of complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours, interrupting and intersecting each other. the intention of it was to make it difficult to estimate a target’s range, speed, and heading.

How effective was it? It is certainly very strange to see and just maybe a few lives were saved as a result of it. However I have heard about the case of a WW1 destroyer sent to escort a large vessel that was dazzle camouflaged and her captain admitted that he had to sail around the ship before he could work out which direction she was going in. The confusion of somebody trying to view a ship through a periscope could gain a potential target a few more seconds to evade a torpedo attack, and that was very important in the war at sea. False bow waves were also painted on ships too and I have seen images of a destroyer painted on the side of a passenger liner.

The current mania for dazzle camo ships in Liverpool was really to draw attention to the war at sea and if it succeeded then that is a good thing.

In January 2015 Snowdrop was given her unique new livery inspired by dazzle camouflage. Designed by Sir Peter Blake and entitled Everybody Razzle Dazzle. She was one of three vessels commissioned to carry a dazzle livery, the others being Induction Chromatique à Double Fréquence pour l’Edmund Gardner Ship / Liverpool. Paris, 2014 by Carlos Cruz-Diez on the museum ship Edmund Gardner also berthed in Liverpool.

Tobias Rehberger’s Dazzle Ship London was created on HMS President in the River Thames. Unfortunately she was not in London in 2016 when I was there as she had been shifted to Chatham to make way for sewerage works. Her future was looking very bleak and it is unknown whether she will survive her cash crisis or not. She does need dry docking and funding is needed to get her through to her new berth in 2018. Images of her in dazzle camo are on her website

I do not know what Snowdrop looked like before she became so hard to see, but Royal Iris certainly looked much better in her normal livery.

As for Royal Daffodil, I was hoping to see her too, but she was nowhere that I was familiar with, at one point she started to sink at her mooring and I suspect she had been moved since then. I have since heard that she is laid up at the east float next to the Duke Street Bridge in Birkenhead and no real firm plans had been made about her future.

And that was my fun with ferries.

When next we return I will be dealing with Western Approaches Command and three large memorials that I found in the same area. Space permitting I will also visit the church on the waterfront

Loving Liverpool (5) Birkenhead

03/06/2018

Collections and Museums, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Liverpool, Memorials and Monuments, Military, Personal, United Kingdom, War Grave, World War 2

Continuing where we left off…

It was now day two of my Liverpool trip and outside all was grey and gloomy and I was at a momentary loss as to what to do with myself. While researching my navigation I discovered that Liverpool was also home to “U-534“, a Type IXC/40 U-boat from World War II. She had been raised on 23 August 1993 by the Dutch salvage company Smit Tak after being undiscovered for nearly 41 years. She now formed the nucleus of the U-Boat Story museum at the Woodside Ferry Terminal in Birkenhead, which, was a short train journey underneath the Mersey. You can see the dismembered U-Boat in the image below.

Woodside ferry terminal

I actually did not use my brains when I decided to hop the train across the river, for starters I was at least 2 hours too early, and secondly I could visit the museum free if I bought a ticket for the river cruise on the ferry. With the clouds hanging over my head I picked up the underground at Lime Street and headed to Hamilton Square Station in Birkenhead.

Hamilton Square Station

It was chilly too, and I regretted not bringing my jacket with. I also regretted missing the lift and hoofing up an infinite number of stairs to get out of the station.

The promenade, U-Boat Story and Waterside Ferry Terminal were about a block away. A quick walk and I was there, but everything was closed and not a soul was in sight. It was only 8.15, why was everything closed? It was very depressing indeed. The only item that looked reasonably interesting was a replica of the Victorian submarine “Resurgam“

The original ill fated vessel met its end in Liverpool Bay off Rhyl on 25 February 1880 while en route for Portsmouth. How successful it may have been as a functioning submarine is not noted. However, the information plaque records that she did sail and submerge successfully.

At the waters edge I discovered that not only was the tide out, but there was actually a ship alongside at the ferry landing on my side of the river! Huzzah! let’s go have a look!

She was busy loading and there was no way of knowing when she would sail and of course I was on the wrong side of the river to get a proper look at her (for the record she was the Stena Mersey). And, to my amazement a movement on my right revealed a tanker running light outbound.

I idled along checking my watch. The first ferry to Woodside was destined to arrive at 10H30 and the museum only opened at 10H30 and it was only 8.20! I had a decision to make because nothing was happening here. Looming next to the terminal were the segments of U-534 and I peered at them through the fence with interest.

I really wanted to see this exhibition so I either had to hang around till opening time, or head back to the other river bank and come across with the ferry after 10H30.

There were a few other surprises on this short stretch of river bank.

The Birkenhead Monument.

The HMS Birkenhead is one of those definitive shipwrecks that litter the pages of history, and especially early South African History, as she foundered after colliding with an uncharted rock near Danger Point (today near Gansbaai, Western Cape) on 26 February 1852. The sinking of the Birkenhead is the earliest maritime disaster evacuation during which the concept of “women and children first” is known to have been applied. There were of the approximately 643 people on board the ill fated vessel of which only 193 were saved.

The memorial was unveiled on 5 March 2014

The HMS Thetis Memorial.

A bit further along the promenade I found a memorial to the men lost in the sinking of HMS Thetis on 1 June 1939. I recall reading the story of the disaster and unsuccessful attempts to rescue the men trapped inside her, and it was really one of those disasters that could have been prevented.

Ninety-nine lives were lost in the incident: 51 crew members, 26 Cammell Laird employees, 8 other naval officers, 7 Admiralty overseeing officers, 4 Vickers-Armstrong employees, 2 caterers and a Mersey pilot.

Thetis was successfully salvaged and repaired, being commissioned in 1940 as HMS Thunderbolt but was sunk by depth charges by the Italian corvette Cicogna on 14 March 1943 off Sicily. All hands were lost and Thunderbolt settled to the bottom in 1,350 m of water.

She is listed on the Submarine Memorial at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport.

It was time for me to head back to the other bank of the river. The ferry was currently running 10 minutes trips across the Mersey between the terminal in Liverpool and Seacombe/Wallasy and if I arrived too early I would ride her up and down until I got tired. The round trip on the “River Explorer Cruise” runs from Pier Head Ferry Terminal to Seacombe Ferry Terminal, Wirral and then to Woodside Ferry Terminal, Wirral where the U-boat Story was and then back to the pier head. It was a 50 minute hop off and hop on trip and I intended to climb off at Woodside, check the exhibition and then reboard at 11H30 to return to the starting place.

However, I am going to skip the ferry trip in this post as I really want to do a post about the ferry separately so this one will deal with my visit to U-534. (the ferry is dealt with in Loving Liverpool (6) Having bought a River Explorer ticket I was entitled to free entry to the exhibition and I had allocated enough time to grab the ferry back at 11H30, although I was equally prepared to catch the next one at 12H30 too, although it would be much more crowded on that trip. There were not too many of us at the museum at that awful time, and I headed directly for the vessel instead of pausing at the exhibits in the hall. The submarine had been sawn into 4 parts, with the conning tower balanced between two of them. Each sawn end had been “sealed” with a transparent bulkhead that allowed you to see inside it.

I am however ambivalent about what was done because they really sliced up an intact (albeit rusty) U-Boat, but it did allow for a limited view of the interior of a U-Boat. The limitations of what they did were several: the biggest being that you could only really see a jumble of badly rusted machinery but nothing that lay beyond roughly 2 metres away. The state of the transparent bulkheads did leave much to be desired because they were badly smeared and I would have thought that they would been cleaned every morning before the exhibition opened. In some sections the machinery was also covered in pigeon crap! and if a pigeon can get in then so can the rain.

But, those slices were fascinating to see, and while there were cross section explanations that marked certain components it was not always easy to understand what you were seeing. The vessel was full of water for over 40 years so the interiors are badly rusted, and the few wooden parts that I saw were rotten and there was a certain eeriness about that interior. I recall reading a book called “The Night Boat” by Robert R McCammon many years ago, and it was about a submarine full of zombies, and what I was seeing looked very much liked what I imagined that literary submarine looked like (although without the zombies and pigeons). I am not going to even try explain the images because it is beyond me.

It was fascinating to say the least. What really amazed me was how they squeezed so much machinery into such a small area and routed pipework and cables through the hull. The vertically orientated image shows the inside of the saddle tanks, with the curvature of the pressure hull on the right hand side. I never thought to check the underside of the saddle tanks because technically they were free flooding.

On 5 May 1945 she was underway heading north towards Norway, when she was attacked by a Liberator aircraft from RAF 547 Squadron which dropped depth charges. the submarine took heavy damage and began to sink by the stern. Forty nine of the fifty two crew members survived, including four who escaped via a torpedo hatch.

Inside the main building is an exhibition of items that were found inside the submarine, and these were very poignant, and obviously from long ago.

For me it was a rare glimpse at the inside of a ship that could have ended the war if affective countermeasures were not found, and at times it was a close run thing. U-534 never sank a ship but did shoot down two British aircraft. Her end came right at the end of the war, and today we are able to catch a tiny glimpse into a vessel that descended from primitive hand powered machines that were considered an ungentlemanly weapon. We have come a long way since U-534 was built way back in 1942, and today the nuclear powered submarine is a true submarine and even deadlier than before.

It was time to catch the ferry on the next part of my journey, so I headed outwards, slightly miffed because the shop did not have prices on their ferry models.

My next post will deal with the ferry and my 2 trips on board the ferry Snowdrop.

Loving Liverpool (4) The Anglican Cathedral

03/06/2018

Churches and Cathedrals, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Liverpool, Personal, United Kingdom

Continuing where we left off, this post deals with Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool and not the Catholic one. I have also merged images from both visits that I made to the building.

Where to start? the building is huge and I felt the exterior gave it a very gloomy and brooding look. Make no mistake though, it is so big you can see it from the waterfront.

The cathedral seen from the ferry terminal at Birkenhead. (1500 x 358)

From close up it is even bigger and does not easily fit into the lens when you try to photograph it in it’s entirety.

Contrary to what you would think it is a relatively new building, having been built in the last century between 1904 and 1978. It is correctly called the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in the Document of Consecration) or the Cathedral Church of the Risen Christ, Liverpool, being dedicated to Christ ‘in especial remembrance of his most glorious Resurrection’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Cathedral)

To say it is big is somewhat of an understatement. The total external length of the building is 189 m, making it the longest cathedral in the world; while in terms of overall volume, it ranks as the fifth-largest cathedral in the world. it is also one of the world’s tallest non-spired church buildings and the third-tallest structure in the city of Liverpool. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building, and it is the largest Anglican Cathedral ever built. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Cathedral)

Map from the official guidebook

The interior is incredibly difficult to photograph because of the sheer size of the building, so everything is just so much bigger or further away. Unfortunately I was unable to get into the Lady Chapel as it was closed off during my visits.

The High Altar (# 6 on the map)

The building was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and the foundation stone was laid by Edward VII in 1904.

Looking towards “the Well” (# 3 on the map) from The Central Space (# 1 on the map)

Unlike so many of the ancient cathedrals I have visited, this one does not have a lot of wall memorials, and I suspect not too many burials beneath its floors. There is however, a memorial commemorating Giles Gilbert Scott set into the floor under the tower.

The architect is buried outside the building in a grave very close to it.

While affixed to the one wall is a memorial to Francis Chavasse, the second Bishop of Liverpool from 1900-1923, and father of Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC* MC.

Even the organ is large, and is the largest pipe organ in the UK. It was built by Henry Willis & Sons, and has two five-manual consoles, and 10,268 pipes.

The War Memorial Chapel is not marked on the map but is on the left hand side just before the organ (# 5 on the map). I did not really think much of it and found it really bereft of memorials and really very plain.

The Altar in the War Memorial Chapel

The Roll of Honour is placed in a glass topped cabinet in the front of the chapel, and it is opened on the page with the Victoria Citation of Noel Chavasse, while a bust of the Captain is affixed to the wall close by.

I was really battling to photograph in the cathedral which tended to be dark in some area’s and of course trying to avoid including people in my images was sometimes impossible.

And talking of towers…

The ceiling under the bell tower

The bell tower (aka Vestey Tower) is named after its benefactors, the Vestey family, and has a floor to top height of 101m (331ft). The bells housed in the tower are the highest and heaviest ringing peal in the world. There are two lifts (thankfully) and only 108 stairs to the top. The peal proper consists of thirteen bells weighing a total of 16.5 long tons. They vary in size and note and all thirteen bells were cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel in London.

The bells from the forth floor platform in the tower

I went up the tower on the 2nd day of my Liverpool visit as it was too late to do on the day before (although I should have done it considering what the weather was like on my 2nd trip) . The two lifts can only take 6 people at a time so it can take some time to ascend or descend. Fortunately there are only 108 steps. Had they only been steps I would not have climbed the tower at all!

It was miserable outside though so the view was not as far as I would have liked, or as good as it could be.

And then it was time to descend. There was a young woman wearing very high heels tottering around the tower and I did not want to get stuck behind her while she went down the stairs in them. It was also time to leave the cathedral.

There is no doubt that it is a mighty space, it is a very overpowering building and well worth multiple visits because there is so much more that I have not covered due to constraints on the blog platform. I have surprisingly few photographs of the interior simply because much of the interior is too large to photograph without proper equipment. The amazing thing is that the building is not as old as some that I have seen, and it will probably be around long after I am gone. What will people 100 years down the line have to say about it? will it even exist? given how long lived cathedrals tend to be I am sure it will be.

And that was the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, I created a post about the Catholic Cathedral which was totally different. As usual I will close off with some random images.

Loving Liverpool (3) Museum of the Moon

02/06/2018

Cemetery, Churches and Cathedrals, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Liverpool, Memorials and Monuments, Personal, United Kingdom, War Memorial, World War 1

In which we go looking for Abercromby Square.

Having checked into my hotel and showered I still had some time to kill as the sun was still high and bedtime was nowhere close. Marked on my navigation was “Abercromby Square” which sounds kind of obscure but there was a reason for my interest.

Liverpool was home to members of the Chavasse family, the most famous of whom was Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse. VC*, MC. while his father was the second Bishop of Liverpool. I was keen to find the place because there was a statue of him in the square. It was more like a pilgrimage though, and one of the many reasons I was visiting this city originally. Unfortunately my street map did not show the square, but I knew it was close to the Catholic Cathedral so technically should not be too difficult to find as long as I went up the right street in the first place. Unfortunately I did not and while I could see the cathedral I could not work out where the park was on the ground in relation to it.

Catholic Cathedral

My mapping app did not work either because it would never refresh and if you tried to refresh it manually all you would end up was a “mapping app has stopped functioning” error. Bah humbug! I decided that my best course was to try the roads at the front of the cathedral (this is the back) and see what happens. Fortunately a kind hearted soul took pity on me and pointed down the road to a green area 3 blocks away. Huzzah! the destination was in sight.

Abercromby Square

The statue was not in the square but on the pavement next to it, and it was such a moment to see that statue.

The statue was engraved:

“Liverpool Heroes.
This scuplture commemorates the life and death of captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse
VC and Bar, MC, RAMC. Medical officer to the 10th battalion (Liverpool Scottish)
King’s Liverpool Regiment, and fifteen other recipients of the Victoria Cross who were
born in Liverpool and whose names appear around the base

Captain Chavasse, son of the second Bishop of Liverpool, was the only man to be
awarded two Victoria Crosses during World War I, and died on 4th August 1917 of
wounds received in Flanders

Several of the other’s also made the supreme sacrifice. May this memorial remind
us all of the debt we owe to such men.

“Greater love hath no man than this
that a man lay down his life for his friends”

The names around the base are:

The sculptor is Tom Murphy of Liverpool.

It was time to move on. The Catholic Cathedral was closed so I started to head towards the direction of town. Unfortunately for me, the Anglican Cathedral loomed close by at the end of a street. It just seemed so close.

The sun was still shining and I had some time to kill so I thought I would head down in that direction and have a quick recce before returning the next day. There were really two spaces I wanted to visit at what is known as “St James Mount”:- the first was the actual cathedral, and the second was a cemetery known as St James Garden (aka St James Cemetery). Situated behind the cathedral it was created below ground level in a former quarry that was in use till 1825, and until 1936 was used as the Liverpool city cemetery and contrary to what you would think, the cemetery is not associated with the cathedral. It is a very beautiful place and I was very glad that I saw it in the evening light.

I went in through the gate by the Oratory, which is the former mortuary chapel of the cemetery. It was designed in 1829 in classic Greek architecture by John Foster Jnr, as a re-creation of a Greek temple.

The Oratory

It was all downhill from here…

Once flat ground was reached I was in a quiet park, dotted with headstones, flowers, pathways, mausoleums and trees. People were sitting around and enjoying the coolness of the air, others were walking their dogs or just strolling. It was hard to believe that you were actually in a cemetery that held close to 60 000 people.

The domed cupola in the last image is the Huskisson Monument, it was designed to house the statue of William Huskisson who holds the distinction of being the world’s first reported railway passenger casualty; when he was run over and fatally injured by George Stephenson’s pioneering locomotive engine Rocket. The statue is no longer there, but the monument is. A mineral spring also flows through this area (the Chalybeate) although I did not see it at the time. From the flatness of the bottom of the quarry it was time to ascend. I was starting to tire and needed to make my way home so I followed the path upwards to the gate and to ground level.

This was the back of the cathedral and even here people were enjoying the warm evening air. I really felt like staking a spot for myself but I still had a long walk ahead of me so resting was not an option at this point.

I walked past the huge building and it is a mighty, lofty, looming building. It is reportedly the largest Anglican Cathedral ever built. I came to the spot where I had entered the area and saw that the Cathedral was open so decided to pop in and have a quick look….

When I saw what was inside it my plans for heading back to the hotel went for a wobbly because there was an event going on in it called:

The Museum of the Moon.

Museum of the Moon is a new touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. Measuring seven metres in diameter, and internally lit, the moon features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. At an approximate scale of 1:500,000, each centimetre of the spherical sculpture represents 5km of the moon’s surface*. (https://my-moon.org/about/)

I kid you not, the moon was shining in the cathedral, and it was magnificent. Photographs do not do the work justice.

It was one of those things that children would love and adults would be amazed by. Everywhere people were taking photographs and just staring. The huge cavernous interior of the cathedral just made it so much more impressive. It was like something out of the original “Despicable Me” movie. The coloured lights on the walls of the image above is caused by the sun shining through the stained glass windows of the cathedral. I am not covering the cathedral in this blogpost but will cover it on it’s own page, these images are all about the moon….

And having stood in awe at the moon and the cathedral I shall now turn the page and cover the cathedral on the next page.

I headed off home after a quick walk around and spent a restless night trying to get to sleep. I was bushed, but the reality is that I had accomplished all that I wanted to see and do in half a day. The only thing left was the ferry trip across to Birkenhead and of course the cathedral.

← Older Posts

musings while allatsea

Musings of a curious individual