Tag: liverpool

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Views of Liverpool

On my recent trip to Liverpool I deliberately avoided anything to do with football or The Beatles – both pull in the tourists, but neither were of interest me on my adventures around the the city.  

Maybe Liverpool should spend more time shouting about its amazing views and stunning architecture and move on from bragging about a band which broke up back in 1970…

What makes for great photos in Liverpool is the mixture of old and new architecture.  Liverpudlians seem uncomfortable with the modernity of some of the buildings…  C’mon Liverpool, it’s time to embrace them!  Both the old and new can exist side-by-side in the beauty of their contrast.

I was lucky with the weather, and the blue skies were a real treat for March.

This is the third of three posts about my recent trip to Liverpool – here you can see the previous posts about Shiverpool and the Cathedrals.

For anyone thinking of visiting Liverpool here’s a few links for things to do and see that I’d recommend… Shiverpool, Albert Dock, The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, Liverpool Cathedral Tower, City Explorer Bus Tour, The Mersey Ferry (see here for a money saving ticket for the Cathedral, bus tour, and ferry) , Antony Gormley’s installation in Crosby, Mowgli restaurant, Bold Street Coffee, St Luke’s Church. 

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The Cathedrals of Liverpool

One of the things I didn’t realise about Liverpool before going there was that it has not one, but two cathedrals.  

There’s the modern Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King at one end of the aptly named Hope Street, known locally as Paddy’s Wigwam or the Mersey Funnel.  This cathedral is also rare in that it has a car park built underneath it, very convenient for worshippers.  You’ll find a couple of photos of this cathedral below in which you’ll see its unique style.

At the other end of Hope Street, there’s the more traditional Liverpool Cathedral which is the fifth largest cathedral in the world.  It was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, famous for designing the iconic red telephone box (you’ll even find one inside the cathedral!).

One of the highlights of my weekend was a trip to the top of the tower at the Liverpool Cathedral.  Public access to such vantage points are rare, so for a small fee I took the two separate lifts and climbed the 108 stairs to the top. It’s not for the less-abled or anyone scared of heights!  But the views are spectacular, as you’ll see below.  I’d love to return to do one of the Twilight Tower events – sunsets from the tower must be incredible.

Both of the cathedrals are so unique that they really add to the character of the Liverpool skyline.

This is the second of three posts about a recent trip to Liverpool – you can see the previous post about Shiverpool here.

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Shiverpool in Liverpool

This is the first of three posts from a recent weekend trip to Liverpool.  The visit was originally planned around a ghost hunt at the abandoned Newsham Park Hospital, but that was cancelled at the last minute leaving a free weekend with accommodation booked.  So lots of tourist adventures were done, including an evening with Shiverpool…

Shiverpool run theatrical ghost tours around the city, a very entertaining way of learning the dark past of Liverpool and its people.  No actual science or ghost hunting, just good clean and occasionally spooky story telling and fun.

The tour was focused on the Hope Street area and featured Lucy Carew, aka Chiller Black, and Samantha Hill as Chiller’s sister.  One or more members of the Shiverpool crew lurked in the shadows from time to time too.

I’m delighted to say that Shiverpool liked the photos from the evening so much they’ve had a copy of them all, and even used them as part of their submission for the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards!

I don’t want to give away too much about the tour, or spoil the surprises for anyone, other than to say it was really excellent and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Liverpool.  And if you’re in Oxford, then look out for Bill Spectre who does a similarly excellent ghost tour around the town.