I hadn't visited Liverpool for a great many years. I found the tourist trail still very Beatles-themed, despite it now being more than fifty years since the group split up. I don't know whether Paul and Ringo ever revisit, but they would find their home city transformed by massive injections of money. The whole dockland area has been cleaned up, and surrounded by a cluster of glittering new glass-and-steel apatment and office blocks and towers.
This is looking north across the Albert Dock, with the Tate Modern art galley on the left. At the end, the low white building is the new Museum of Liverpool, with next to it the dome of the Port of Liverpool building, and in the distance a glimpse of the Royal Liver building, with the famous "Liver birds" on top.
I walked inland half a mile to Matthew Street, a scruffy little alleyway that was once the site of the famous Cavern Club, where the Beatles and other famous groups performed at the start of their careers. The street was full of tourists taking pictures of the statue of John Lennon and other commemorative Beatles material.
The real Cavern Club was demolished many years ago, but had been "reconstructed" in the "Beatles Story" museum at the Albert Dock. It must have been a tiny, cramped and airless place. Once sgain, it remains popular with tourists.
The young Beatles must have been aware of the magnificent 19th century municipal buildings of Liverpool, such as St George's Hall
and close by, the famous Walker Art Gallery
but one particularly splendid and unusual building, not then completed, is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, otherwise known as the "Mersey Funnel" or "Paddy's Wigwam"
The interior is awe-inspiring
As John Lennon said, for once understating it, "There is a lot to see in Liverpool!"
No comments:
Post a Comment