Liverpool 2016
A Sunday in April 2016 saw 38 members of the Archaeology and Heritage Group of Three Brethren U3A set off for the Spring outing heading for Liverpool. This was the 6th three day trip organized by our enthusiastic facilitator Val Harling through Tailored Travel. In previous years the Group has visited York, Chester, Shrewsbury, Orkney and Durham.
Before reaching Liverpool city we stopped on the outskirts at Speke Hall, a National Trust Property, where we had lunch and a tour round this fascinating building. Speke Hall is a Tudor house of timber, wattle and daub construction built between 1530 and 1598 and set around an internal courtyard. The rooms aren't large and have an intimate atmosphere so that one can well imagine it as a family home, filled with chatter and the clatter of domestic bustle.
Our blue badge guide for the three days, Simone, met us on arrival at Speke Hall and added to the interest of our exploration, pointing out quirky details such as the listening hole above the front door where a servant might eavesdrop on visitors to determine whether they were friend or foe.
I'd have been happy to spend a whole day here exploring the gardens as well as the house but after three hours it was back on the coach and into the city centre with our guide pointing out the 'Three Graces' – the Royal Liver Assurance Building with the mythical Liver Birds on top, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building – and then onto the ferry for a trip on the Mersey as immortalised in that song. Mention of the Harland and Wolff shipyard on the Birkenhead bank of the Mersey brought back memories for me of my father's time working there as a ship's carpenter. After our river trip under rather grey skies, we were all ready to head to the hotel for a rest before dinner.
Monday brought an early start dictated by the low tide because we were off to Crosby beach to view Antony Gormley's work Another Place. This art installation was exhibited all over Europe before coming to Crosby for a temporary visit. However, it was so popular with the local community that, when Gormley was asked if it could be made permanent, he agreed. The one hundred male statues, cast in iron and modelled on Gormley's body, stand scattered along the beach and out into the Estuary gazing out to sea, perhaps after departed loved ones or with thoughts of emigration? They conjure up the frailty of the human figure in contrast to the immensity of the natural environment, the wind farm across the water a bleak reminder of our need to work in harmony with that environment. The gale and pelting rain added considerably to the atmosphere!
Luckily as we headed back into town to visit Liverpool Cathedral the rain cleared and we were able to appreciate its Gothic grandeur as it stood above us on St James Mount. Hard to believe that this building, built in the Gothic Revival style, was only opened in 1978. This was a favourite with many in our party but personally I was more taken with our next building, the circular Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral which stands on Mount Pleasant facing Liverpool Cathedral at the other end of Hope Street. Opened in 1967 the Metropolitan Cathedral is full of coloured light streaming through the glass lantern, which crowns it, and the narrow windows which line the walls. As you walk round there are dedicated chapels housing relevant art works. I found Liverpool Cathedral rather oppressive but the Metropolitan uplifting.
There was still time to visit the Albert Dock which has been converted to a cultural centre. I chose to visit the Slavery Museum which is housed on the top floor of the Maritime Museum. This was a truly sobering experience. I almost despaired at the evidence of human inhumanity as evidenced by the many moving videoed testimonials. Most troubling were the current stories of bonded labour, of girls sold by their families into prostitution and of those tricked and trafficked, including into Britain.
Tuesday, our last day, starting with a tour of the Tate Liverpool which houses the national collection of modern art in the North of England. There was a small exhibition of Matisse's work on the ground floor with examples of his oeuvre from early paintings up to the paper collages of his late years when he was no longer able to paint but his creative impulses were as strong as ever. On the second floor were examples of contemporary artists. Much of modern art does not appeal to me - a pile of folded rugs? - because it does not evoke an emotional response and I find the intellectual explanations offered unconvincing. However, I was caught by Gillian Wearing's photographic work 'I'm desperate'.
Some of our party left the Tate tour early to go on the Magical Mystery Tour which takes you round sites in the city connected with the Beatles, where they lived, went to college, played their first gigs but by this time I was suffering from information over-load and so after a stroll round the Albert Dock where I admired the Legacy Statue particularly, I chose a leisurely lunch and a quick canter round the adjacent shopping centre before heading for the coach back home.
Liverpool was a delightful surprise to me. I had gone with the thought that it was somewhere I would never bother to go other than with our Heritage Group and I found a lovely, clean compact city full of interesting buildings and a fascinating history.
Alison Hore