The Building of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral 27 Apr 1:54 AM (22 days ago)
If you find yourself in Liverpool, there are numerous different things that might catch your eye as you look across the skyline.
You will almost certainly have seen the Three Graces on the city’s waterfront, for example, whilst both Anfield and the Everton Stadium can be seen from the other side of the Mersey.
Virtually wherever you find yourself, however, you won’t need to look very far before you see the Anglican Cathedral towering into the sky. It is the largest cathedral in England and the eighth largest in the world, having taken 73 years to build.
The Background to the Cathedral’s Construction
In 1880, the first Bishop of Liverpool was installed, with a man named J.C. Ryle given the role. At the time, however, the diocese didn’t have a cathedral but rather a ‘pro-cathedral’ in the form go the parish church of St Peter on Church Street.
That was entirely unsatisfactory, being far too small for something that would be hosting major church events and was also ‘ugly and hideous’ to boot. In 1885 an Act of Parliament was passed that authorised the building of a cathedral in the city on the site where St John’s Church stood.
Liverpool Cathedral, built between 1904 and 1978. ‘Monumental and sublime, yet delicate and romantic’. In my view one of the great masterpieces of the 20C. The architect, Giles Gilbert Scott, was only 23 when appointed. pic.twitter.com/c2m7zRhSXe
— Samuel Hughes (@SCP_Hughes) March 18, 2021
The scheme was abandoned when it was realised that the site was unsuitable for a building on the scale that was being proposed, only being revived again when Francis Chavasse took over the role of Bishop in 1900.
Chavasse believed that there was a need for a ‘visible witness to God in the midst of a great city’, so pushed for a cathedral to be built in the face of some opposition. A new location for the building was sought, with a stroke of good fortune meaning that St James’s Mount was an available location.
The Architect Won a Competition
Towards the end of 1901, a competition was launched in order to find the architect who would design the new cathedral. Public advertisements invited architects to submit their proposals, which were to be judged by George Frederick Bodley and Richard Norman Shaw, proponents of the Gothic revival style and the classical imperial style respectively.
It was seen as an important moment for architects, getting to build just the third Anglican cathedral in England since the 16th century reformation, following St Paul’s Cathedral and Truro Cathedral.
There were more than 100 entries, with some of the best architects in the country submitting their proposals. In the end, the assessors put forward the proposal that had been submitted by a 22-year-old called Giles Gilbert Scott, who was still a pupil working in the practice of Temple Moore at the time.
When the Cathedral Committee discovered after the decision had been made that Scott was a Roman Catholic, even further controversy reigned, but the decision was allowed to strand and Scott began fine-tuning his design.
74 Years of Work
Although young, Scott came from a family that knew the style, with both his grandfather and his father having designed numerous churches. Even so, he had been paired with Bodley to create the design for the cathedral, with building work beginning in 1904 when King Edward VII lay the foundation stone.
Bodley died in 1907, leaving Scott in sole charge of the project. In 1909, Scott submitted a redesign of the main body of the cathedral, working on his plans for a year before the committee eventually accepted them the following year.
London. The red telephone box is a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for Liverpool Cathedral, and the Battersea Power Station.
#london #england #uk #unitedkingdom #telephone #telephonebox
— Randolph (@arlandolpho.bsky.social) 28 January 2025 at 02:11
The first part of the cathedral to be completed was the Lady Chapel, which was consecrated on the 29th of June 1910 by Bishop Chavasse in front of two archbishops and 24 additional bishops. Soon, the outbreak of the First World War meant that work on the cathedral began to slow down, largely thanks to. Shortage of manpower as well as materials.
The cost of the cathedral was also paid for by donations, which also dried up. Things got back on track in 1920, with the first section of the cathedral completed four years later.
@nomadicnegroThe Liverpool cathedral should be on the list of your 2025 destinations if you’d be visiting Liverpool.♬ The Best Is yet to Come – Tim Halperin
The hope was that work would be completed by 1940, but the outbreak of the Second World War caused similar problems as the First, delaying completion indefinitely. There was also some bomb damage caused that needed to be repaired in the wake of the War ending.
Scott himself died in 1960, at which point the first bay of the nave was close to completion. It took until 1978 for the cathedral to be entirely completed, however. It was marked by a service of thanksgiving and dedication in the October, attended by Queen Elizabeth II.
The post The Building of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral first appeared on Scouse Not English.
Liverpool Boast’s Europe’s Oldest Chinatown 30 Mar 1:12 AM (last month)
Go to practically any major city in the world and you will be able to find a Chinatown to spend some time in. Some of them will be small, some of them will be large, but all of them will be full of character.
To some, they are the place to go if you want to enjoy a decent Chinese meal, whilst to others they are the part of town that you should visit if you want to see sold examples of fascinating Chinese architecture. Although modern day China is painted as something of a bogeyman by some, those that helped to create the various Chinatowns in the UK are nothing but friendly and welcoming.
@thescouseghettogourmet 188th Food Review is at North Garden, Chinatown In Liverpool. There are two names in Chinatown whose name people always recommended to me. I’m here to see which one is the best! North Garden are famous for the 3 roasted meat dish. So that’s for me tonight! #chinesefood #duck #squid #liverpoolFoodie #fypシ #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – The Scouse Ghetto Gourmet
Most people who have been to London will know of the Chinatown in the capital, located not far from Leicester Square and promising an excellent place to have a wonder around. Head to Birmingham and Manchester and you will find similar such places, boasting Chinese arches and a wealth of different restaurants.
In Liverpool, the Chinatown isn’t just a great place to go for a bite to eat but is also the location of the oldest such Chinese community in Europe, dating back to as long ago as 1834.
Liverpool’s Setting as a Port City
It is impossible to separate Liverpool from its maritime past. Although some might wish to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to how intricately associated with the slave trade the city was, the reality is that a huge swathe of enslaved people either passed through Liverpool or else were taken away from their homes on ships built in the city.
In 1834, the first ship from China arrived in Liverpool looking to trade goods such as cotton wool and silk, with Chinese seamen on them.
Neptune rises from the sea outside the Port of #Liverpool building. You can see Neptune all over the city if you know where to look. pic.twitter.com/F2yB4MSy2X
— David Hearn (@thedustyteapot) October 30, 2024
Whilst some of them will have remained behind, beginning the work of establishing a Chinatown in Liverpool, it wasn’t until the establishment of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line in the late 1860s that large numbers of Chinese seamen arrived in the city and remained here.
The commercial shipping line looked to create strong links for trade between Liverpool and the likes of Shanghai and Hong Kong, with tea added to the other goods that were brought in on the ships.
The Establishment of Chinatown
By the 1890s, more and more of the seaman who had arrived in Liverpool were refusing to leave. As a result, numerous businesses began to be setup by the Chinese people who lived in the city, catering to both other Chinese citizens and to those who were just passing through on the various ships.
Although the Blue Funnel Shipping Line, setup by Alfred Holt and Company, was the one that employed the most Chinese seamen, it wasn’t the only one that made use of such labour and so more and more Chinese people arrived in the city.
Some of the men married British women, which in turn resulted in the birth of British-born Eurasian Chinese people who themselves needed places to live and work.
By the time the Second World War broke out, there were as many as 20,000 Chinese mariners living in the city and Liverpool’s first Chinatown had been created within the dockland area. It was only after heavy bombing during the war that Liverpool’s Chinatown was relocated to its current location, which can be found just to the west of Liverpool Cathedral.
Liverpool’s Chinese Arch
In 1992, part of a regeneration scheme for the Chinatown area was put in place by Liverpool City Council. Plans for a Chinese arch were mooted, with a design competition being carried out and the winner chosen by the local Chinese community.
It took until 1999 for construction on the arch to begin, with Bootle-based Dowhigh Civil Engineering being awarded the contract. Liverpool’s twin city, Shanghai, supplied 20 specialist craftsmen who specialised in the likes of stonemasonry, painting and stone carving to assist with the arch’s creation.
Happy #ChineseNewYear
As well as the 20 Chinese workers, the Shanghai Linyi Garden Company Limited also shipped 2,000 block components in five large containers. It took around 90 days for the work to be completed, thanks in no small part to the fact that the Chinese workers didn’t celebrate Christmas Day or Boxing Day and worked through.
The arch was finished in 2000, costing around £700,000 to build, and was official opened on Chinese New Year. It stands at 44-foot, making it the tallest in Europe and the second-tallest outside of mainland China.
The post Liverpool Boast’s Europe’s Oldest Chinatown first appeared on Scouse Not English.
The Fascinating History of Titanic Hotel Liverpool 19 Mar 1:53 AM (2 months ago)
The RMS Titanic might well be one of the most famous ships ever to sail the seven seas. Considered to be ‘unsinkable’ when it was built, its journey across the Atlantic Ocean was interrupted when it hit an iceberg and promptly sank.
Although other ships have sunk since, taking more lives than the Titanic did, the vessel’s tragic story has remained one of the great prominence in the minds of many. The fact that the story was made into a blockbuster movie by James Cameron, starring Leonardo Di Caprio and others, certainly helped.
You might think that there would be a desire to push the story of the fated ship away from the mindset of those visiting cities with a link to it, but in truth the opposite is true.
It was built in Belfast and the Northern Irish capital has a museum dedicated to the creation of such an impressive vessel. It was registered to sail out of Liverpool, thanks to the fact that the White Star Line who owned it had their headquarters there. As a result, there are nods to the ship throughout the city, not the least of which is at the Titanic Hotel.
Stanley Dock
Liverpool was once one of the biggest and most successful port cities in the world. Nowadays you can wander around the likes of the Albert Dock or spend time in the Maritime Museum and get a sense for what life must have been like in the 1800s when everything from food to tobacco and, shamefully, people were processed through the city.
Although the Albert Dock is the best-known of the docks built to handle the sheer amount of goods coming into Liverpool, it wasn’t the only one and Stanley Dock opened in 1848.
Further aspects of the Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock prior to regeneration @angiesliverpool.bsky.social @yoliverpool.bsky.social @daveyph.bsky.social #stanleydock #liverpool
— Bernard Rose Photography (@brpimages.bsky.social) 21 November 2024 at 16:26
Designed by Jesse Hartley, it bucked the trend for docks in Liverpool by being built inland instead of out from the foreshore. The quay warehouses boasted a similar design to those of the Albert Dock, nowadays being considered to be Grade II listed buildings.
Between 1897 and 1901, the dock to the south was filled in so as to make room for the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse, which stands between the older southern quay warehouse and the new quay. It also has a link to the canal, which opened in 1848 courtesy of a bridge.
Part of the Restoration of the Docks
In the 1980s, as Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government completely ravaged the country and left cities like Liverpool utterly devastated, the docks were left to rot.
It was only after the arrival of Michael Hesseltine to the city that work to restore some form of glory to the docks began and some degree of restoration to the Stanley Dock got underway. The creation of the Titanic Hotel has been a key part of the docks restoration, even years after Hesseltine left the city to return to London and the Houses of Parliament.
@iwansteffan Here’s to chaper 35 #iwansteffan #birthday #liverpool ♬ august full song –
The regeneration of what was once the Rum Warehouse in Liverpool has seen a 153-room hotel built out of the ruin of red bricks and steel girders that once stood there.
It helped to breathe new life back into both the Stanley Dock itself and the wider city, welcoming thousands of guests every year when once it looked to be little more than ruins left over from a bygone era. Both care and attention was given over to making the hotel into the building that it is today, ensuring that the history of the area remains.
The Modern Day Hotel
Although you can learn about the history of the Titanic and its association with Liverpool by visiting other parts of the city, there is no doubt that completists will want to at least pay a visit to the Titanic Hotel.
That is because it is, in a sense, living history, offering up a sense of heritage and appearing as though it could be in exactly the same state as it was when the huge ship was sailing across the Atlantic for New York.
My room! Titanic Hotel! What a place!
#Liverpool pic.twitter.com/RJZFR2zqG2
— Anthony D (@AAnt26) August 6, 2021
Guests at the hotel nowadays can expect to encounter luxury not dissimilar to that experienced by those who were in the first class cabins on the Titanic, albeit without the sinking feeling that would come later on their journey.
You can head to the spa for a gorgeous massage or spend some time in the bar drinking, of course, some rum. There is character everywhere you look, so it is perhaps not all that surprising that this is one of Liverpool’s most popular hotel destinations.
The post The Fascinating History of Titanic Hotel Liverpool first appeared on Scouse Not English.
A Short History of Liverpool & Fascism 25 Feb 7:27 AM (2 months ago)
We live in troubled times. If you aren’t sure whether or not that’s true, you need only take a look at the news from around the world to get a sense of the direction in which we are heading.
Between Donald Trump attacking migrants and trans people in between rounds of golf through to the rise of the far-right in Germany, it is clear that things aren’t going particularly well for the more liberal amongst us.
Liverpudlians would like to consider themselves to be liberal in nature, but has that always been the case? We can look at the city’s handling of fascism to get a sense.
Liverpool v Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley, who would later go on to be knighted, was born in Mayfair in 1896. If you ever want to get a sense of whether or not someone is genuinely looking out for the interests of the working class then have a look at where they were born and if it’s Mayfair or similar then it’s probably worth ignoring them.
He was a British aristocrat who became disillusioned with mainstream politics, choosing to turn instead to fascism. He founded the British Union of Fascists in 1932, espousing thoughts of anti-semitism whilst looking to alliances with the likes of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
Oswald Mosley visited Liverpool on 10th October 1937. His plan was to recruit working class people…
When he got up on the van, gave the crowd a fascist salute and before he could even speak a single word, stones were thrown from the crowd and hit Mosley in the head. pic.twitter.com/h4W8Nu3iYR
— Cllr Ulrich Savary
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (@stephane_ulrich) September 13, 2020
On the tenth of December 1937, Mosley was due to address a rally of the BUF in Liverpool. As the meeting was due to get underway, however, it was attacked by anti-fascists, who threw stones at Mosley. One of them hit him on the head, knocking him semi-conscious.
He had been standing on a van with louder speakers at the time, allowing for hundreds of missiles to be thrown at him, with one causing him to fall on his face. Large sections of the crowd showed their disapproval of Mosley, even as they were rushed by nearby police.
The fascist leader was rushed to Walton Hospital, where he was photographed with a bandage around his head. He was kept in for a week before being discharged. It was arguably the start of a downward trajectory for the rich politician, with working class people in the likes of Manchester, Devon, Stockton, Newcastle and London also rejecting the British Union of Fascists.
The organisation was disbanded in 1940 in the wake of the British government’s decision to proscribe it after the outbreak of the Second World War.
National Action & the Left Luggage
Mosley isn’t the only fascist to have attempted to spout their rubbish in Liverpool only to leave with their tail between their legs. Back in the August of 2015, the Neo-Nazi group ‘National Action’ planned a ‘White Man March‘ in the city.
When they arrived at Liverpool Lime Street Station, however, they were met by a huge anti-fascist crowd that blocked them from leaving. Eggs and bottles were thrown at them, whilst some of the anti-fascists broke through the lines of police separating them in order to punch some of them in the face.
There were around 50 members of the Hitler-loving National Action group who arrived in Liverpool, but they were overwhelmingly outnumbered by the anti-fascists who refused to allow them to spread their hate in the city. Having threatened that the city would ‘go up in flames’ if the march was banned, the National Action members ended up crowded in the Left Luggage shop within the station. It was another sign, nearly 80 years after Mosley had been left humiliated, that Liverpool’s welcoming nature isn’t something that will be extended to people hoping to spout hatred and anger.
‘Tommy Robinson’ Sent Packing
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has made a name for himself by spewing racist, hateful rhetoric. Aiming to become a Member of European Parliament in the North West, he planned a tour of the Merseyside region in 2019, only to be told he was ‘not welcome‘ in the area.
The founder of the English Defence League was told by former Liverpool and England player and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher that the people of Bootle ‘strongly oppose the politics of hate and division’ being led by the man and his organisation.
@dramaslutt #tommy #robinson #uk#fyp #england #muslim #white #brown #viral ♬ original sound – Dramaslut
It came two years after anti-fascists had chased an EDL rally out of the city to the sound of the Benny Hill theme music, with anti-fascism seen as a core element of Liverpool’s political stance. When the election count was eventually held, Yaxley-Lennon had to ‘sneak out’ on account of the fact that he won so few votes.
In the end, he won just 2.2% of the vote, which meant that he lost his initial deposit of £5,000. Sadly, the Brexit Party did win big during the same elections, suggesting that the far-right isn’t as unwelcome in the North-West as those living in the area would like to claim, even if the fascists are chased out of Liverpool.
The Far-Right Rally of 2024
Those living in Liverpool might like to imagine that the far-right has no place in the city. The chasing out of the area of the likes of Mosley, Yaxley-Lennon and other fascists would certainly suggest that that has been the case historically. In reality, however, Liverpool is no more immune to the spread of far-right hatred than anywhere else.
If proof of such a thing were needed then you can view what happened in 2024 as the perfect example. In the wake of the deaths of innocent young people at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, the far-right turned up to spread hate.
The fascist presence in Liverpool looks strong.
It’s not ‘different’ here. Don’t be fooled.
pic.twitter.com/IeJXTYKqTN— S C A L L Y M A G (@ScallyMagazine) August 3, 2024
Although a huge number of anti-fascists were also present, this time there were far more of the far-right than had been the case previously. In fact, chants of ‘Tommy Robinson’ could be heard loud and clear.
Thankfully, the best side of Liverpool turned up in the hours that followed. From ‘Nans Against Nazis’ signs to members of a local mosque heading out with food to give to the far-right protestors, the idea that ‘love will prevail‘ was demonstrated well. One anti-fascist said, “Liverpool is a place that comes together as a community”.
The post A Short History of Liverpool & Fascism first appeared on Scouse Not English.
Liverpool’s Giant Roman Catholic Street Party 6 Feb 12:55 PM (3 months ago)
Let’s be honest, Scousers don’t tend to need an excuse for a party. From the desire to entertain and have a laugh with other people through to the desire to have a drink or two, the people of Liverpool love a good knees-up when the opportunity arises.
Even when the country was in lockdown because of the health crisis enveloping the world at the time, supporters of the Reds team on Merseyside took to the streets to celebrate the title win in 2020.
Even so, the Roman Catholics of Liverpool having a street party in 1967 will take some beating.
What Happened in 1967
It was the 14th of May 1967 and the five year build of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King was complete. Designed by Sir Edward Lutyens and Sir Frederick Gibberd, it was the second cathedral to be built in Liverpool after the Church of England’s Cathedral Church of Christ, which began construction in 1904 but wouldn’t actually open for another 11 years.
With Liverpool being a city filled with both protestants and Catholics, it is no surprise that the Catholic contingency wanted a house of worship of their own within it.
Hope Street, Liverpool and the Cathedral bells just before 11am Mass. pic.twitter.com/F4i536ZEGx
— Liverpool Vista (@LiverpoolVista) September 22, 2024
The opening of the new cathedral was seen as a thing worthy of celebration by the Roman Catholic contingency in the city, so they decided to host a street party in order to spread the word. Given the sheer number of Roman Catholics in Liverpool at the time, you can imagine it was quite a shindig.
The street party centre around St Andrews Gardens, the art deco-inspired building that is nowadays used as a student residence. Those living there turned out in huge numbers, celebrating the new cathedral with entertainment and theatre.
It Wasn’t Liverpool’s Only Street Party
Although street parties feel like a thing of the past nowadays, certainly in a bustling city centre like Liverpool, they were all the rage in decades gone by. Just 11 days after the Roman Catholics gathered to celebration the consecration of their new cathedral, hundreds hosted street parties of their own in order to celebrate Liverpool winning the FA Cup.
Although Liverpool wouldn’t be considered a location for stern Royalists in the modern era, there were countless street parties in 1953 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s coronation.
For the city’s Roman Catholic contingency, the opening of their new cathedral was a chance to get out and about and to show the rest of Liverpool what they were all about. Children sat around eating sandwiches and cakes whilst the adults shared a drink or two.
Bunting was strung across the street, with the cathedral itself looming over everything in the background. It might not have had the vim and vigour of the street parties held by Royalists or Liverpool supporters, but it was still a special occasions for all involved.
The post Liverpool’s Giant Roman Catholic Street Party first appeared on Scouse Not English.
How the Olympic Movement Started in Liverpool 20 Jan 12:39 PM (3 months ago)
The Olympic Games will always and forever be thought of as having its basis in Ancient Greece. The world’s leading international sporting events were inspired by the Olympic Games held in Olimpia in the eighth century BC until the fourth century AD.
They were created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1894, with the first Modern Olympics being hosted in Athens in two years later. At least, that is the commonly accepted story.
The reality might be slightly different, with Liverpool actually playing host to what could be considered the first Olympic Games.
‘Olympics’ as a Byword
The term ‘Olympics’ has been used as a description for athletic events since the 17th century, with the likes of the Cotswold ‘Olimpick‘ Games hosted near to Chipping Campden in the 17th century. When the British Olympic Association was bidding to host the Summer Games in 2012, they pointed to those as the ‘first stirrings of Britain’s Olympic beginnings’.
In other words, just having the world ‘Olympics’ in the title of a sporting event isn’t necessary a sign that it has any real or tangible links to the Olympics as we understand them today.
There is, however, something that sets apart the Grand Annual Olympic Festival that began life in Liverpool in 1862. The games were wholly amateur in their nature, whilst also being international in their outlook.
They were open to ‘gentlemen amateurs’ and when the first one was held it boasted a programme that was almost identical to that that the first Modern Olympiad used when it was hosted by Athens in 1896. The links between the two meetings are far too close to simply be dismissed as being little more than coincidence.
Pioneered by John Hulley
John Hulley was something of a pioneer of gymnasia, giving talking about the importance of physical education in Liverpool for years. He founded the Olympic Festival in the city as a way of showcasing his philosophy around mass participation in sport, continuing them for many years alongside his work as a director of gyms located on both Myrtle Street and Bold Street.
At the same time, a similar festival of sporting endeavour was being hosted by William Penny Brookes in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the two men eventually coming together to form the National Olympian Association.
The 1st Grand Olympic Festival in #Liverpool was held on 14th June 1862 at the Mount Vernon Parade Ground with 10,000 spectators pic.twitter.com/zGgRXcETsO
— Liverpool1207 (@Liverpool1207) June 14, 2021
The Olympic Festival in Liverpool proved to be so successful that a National Games was hosted in London in 1866, with Hulley at the heart of the matter. That came after more than 10,000 people watched the first Festival, which was encouragement enough for the city to play host to five more.
The first one had been hosted at Mount Vernon Parade Ground, with others taking place at the Zoological Gardens, about which you can read more elsewhere on this site, whilst the fourth was hosted away from Liverpool in Llandudno in North Wales.
The post How the Olympic Movement Started in Liverpool first appeared on Scouse Not English.
The History of Liverpool Lime Street Station 26 Dec 2024 5:31 AM (4 months ago)
Nowadays, train travel is ubiquitous. Wherever it is that you want to travel to, there is a very good chance that you will be able to either get there by train or else get close enough.
It is a method of transport that is extremely expensive in some countries and yet perfectly reasonable in others. What a lot of people might not realise, though, is that the city of Liverpool has close ties to the very origins of train travel.
That can be seen at Liverpool Lime Street Railway Station more than anywhere else thanks to both its age and its prestige.
The Oldest Still-Operating Terminus in the World
Liverpool Lime Street Railway Station can trace its origin back to 1830, insomuch as that was when the original terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was in operation.
That was located at Crown Street in Edge Hill, but it was outside the city centre and the need for another station to serve the city was clear. As a result, in the October of 1833, work began on the construction of a purpose-built railway station in the city centre, located on Lime Street. Liverpool Corporation sold the land for the new station for £9,000.
Happy 186th birthday, Lime Street Station!
On the 15th August 1836, Lime Street Station officialy opened.
It is considered the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. pic.twitter.com/6M22IkmYv4
— ℍ𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕃𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕠𝕝 (@hiddenliverpool) August 15, 2022
A twin-track tunnel linking Edge Hill and the new station had begun a year before work on the station itself, ensuring that it could connect to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The new station was designed by Arthur Holme, John Cunningham and John Foster Jr.
It was officially opened in the August of 1836, even though it took another year for the construction process to be completed. That means that it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station anywhere in the world, offering trains to the likes of London, Birmingham and beyond.
An Early Expansion
The steep incline downhill from Edge Hill to Liverpool Lime Street meant that initially the trains would be halted at Edge Hill before the locomotives would be removed. At that point, the passenger carriages would be allowed to complete the journey according to gravity, with the arrival controlled by a brakeman.
The return journey, meanwhile, would see ropes used to tow the carriages to Edge Hill. This practice was abandoned in 1870, with trains entering and departing from the station in an entirely normal and conventional manner, which has essentially remained the case ever since.
Lime Street was an instant hit, meaning that it soon needed expanding. As railway systems were opened elsewhere around the country, the station had to be made bigger and the same sort of iron roof found at Euston was rejected in favour of a single curved roof. By 1867, even more of an expansion was necessary thanks to the operational demands placed on the station.
The original train shed was replaced, then a second one was added in 1874. The concourse was remodelled in 1955 and then again in 1984, giving it the combination of old and new looks we know today.
The post The History of Liverpool Lime Street Station first appeared on Scouse Not English.
The Calderstones: Liverpool’s Version of Stonehenge 28 Nov 2024 8:08 AM (5 months ago)
Ask pretty much anyone in Britain about the unique artefacts around the place and one of the first ones that they are liable to mention is Stonehenge. The prehistoric monument in Wiltshire is almost immediately recognisable, with an outer layer of sarsen standing stones around 13 feet tall and seven feet wide standing around a smaller inner set of bluestones.
Often visited by hippies and other new age types, it has been a legally protected ‘scheduled monument’ since the Ancient Monuments Protection Act of 1882.
Sunrise at Stonehenge today (5th March) was at 6.44am, sunset is at 5.55pm
#viaX #cfoto Stonehenge U.K
— Orbis pictus (@czechview21.bsky.social) 5 March 2025 at 10:34
What a lot of people might not realise, though, is that Liverpool has its own set of stones that are worthy of similar love and appreciation. The Calderstones are six sandstone monoliths that were part of a burial monument more than 4,000 years ago.
As with Stonehenge, they are considered to be a scheduled monument; albeit it thanks to the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Areas Act of 1979 rather than the one from nearly 100 years before. Regardless, if you have some time to spare then they are well worth a visit.
What Are the Calderstones?
Head to Calderstones Park in the Allerton area of Liverpool and you will see the Harthill Greenhouses. Located within them are the Calderstones, which are six neolithic sandstone monoliths that remain from a dolmen that once stood in the area.
A dolmen is a portal tomb, which is a type of single-chamber tomb that tends to consist of one or two upright megaliths that support a larger flat horizontal capstone. The reason they are so noteworthy and why the park itself is named after them is their age, being considered the oldest monument in the city.
@livingliverpooltour Replying to @Benjamin Standing strong for over 1000 years, the Allerton Oak in Calderstones Park is a true symbol of resilience and a living monument to Liverpool’s rich history. From medieval court gatherings to picnics under its branches, this majestic tree has seen it all. Come and marvel at its beauty and feel the weight of its history. #Liverpool #LiverpoolHistory #LiverpoolParks #VisitLiverpool #LiverpoolTour #LiverpoolTourism #ThingsToDoinLiverpool #LiverpoolNature #AllertonOak #CalderstonesPark #LivingMonument #Allerton #Trees #BackToNature #LivingLiverpoolTour ♬ Autumn Leaves – Timothy Cole
It is thought that they were part of a tomb that was constructed between 4,000 and 3,000 BC. Their previous location was just outside the park gates, but in 1954 there was a concern that the weather was doing them damage and so they were moved to the Harthill Greenhouses.
There were more stones there originally, with Robin Hood’s Stone, also referred to as the Archer’s Stone, also being part of it but having been moved to the junction of Archerfield Road and Booker Avenue back in 1928 after being located in a field before then.
Why They’re Worth a Visit
If you happen to be wandering around Calderstones Park, you might well wonder whether it’s worth popping into the Harthill Greenhouses in order to see the Calderstones. The answer, for most people at least, is a resounding ‘yes’.
The stones themselves are carved with numerous intricate symbols that date from the same neolithic period through to modern times. There are spirals on them, for example, that are similar to the markings seen on tombs in the likes of Ireland and North Wales, suggesting cultural links to the Irish Sea.
The Calderstones in #Liverpool are a fascinating glimpse into the past.
These ancient neolithic stones date back over 4,000 years and were once part of a burial chamber.
The stones have a purpose built home at the rear of Calderstones Park mansion house, conserved by… pic.twitter.com/qaLKIEO6vN
— K E V yoliverpool (@YOLiverpool) January 19, 2025
Those spirals even influenced the floor of the Museum of Liverpool, such is the importance of them from an historical point of view. Then there is the fact that the stones have a basis in sandstone significantly older than the carvings that adorn them.
There is some suggestion that the stones were formed in the Triassic Era, which was about 230 to 260 million years ago. At the time they were created, Merseyside itself was part of a huge desert that was located close to the equator, only moving to its current location as the plates shifted.
Part of a Wider Park
Of course, it isn’t out of the realms of the possible that you have little to no interest in some dead old stones. Whilst that is a bit of a boring viewpoint to take, it is one that is likely to be shared by numerous people.
The good news is that if Liverpool’s version of Stonehenge doesn’t interest you, they are part of a wider park area that is well worth spending some time in. The public park in Allerton is 126 acres in size, meaning that is plenty of space for you and your family or friends to get up to whatever you wish to whilst you’re there.
Although the Calderstones themselves rightly take centre stage, they aren’t the only feature that you might wish to have a look at whilst you’re in the area. Calderstones House, for example, is a mansion that was built in 1828.
The Allerton Oak, meanwhile, is estimated to be 1,000 years old, which means that it has seen empires rise and fall. The Botanical Garden is an idyllic place to spend some time if you’re looking to unwind, whilst the nature reserve is also a peaceful setting.
The post The Calderstones: Liverpool’s Version of Stonehenge first appeared on Scouse Not English.
Clayton Square Was Liverpool’s Central Square Before Falling Into Disrepair 10 Nov 2024 12:26 PM (6 months ago)
Cities are an odd thing to discuss when you think about it. Mention ‘London’ and you might well think about it as a city, when in reality it is countless small cities all stuck together.
Yes, there is such a thing as ‘central London’, but head to Ealing, Vauxhall or Tottenham and you’ll find somewhere almost the same size as Liverpool’s city centre.
When it comes to Liverpool itself, where would you say the ‘centre’ is? You probably wouldn’t say Clayton Square, yet there was a time when that was the focal point of the area before it fell to neglect.
A Location of Beautiful Buildings
Head into central Liverpool and look at the space between Boots and Tesco Metro and you’d be forgiven for wondering what is so special about it.
Nowadays, the answer is ‘not much’. In fact, Clayton Square is the name of a shopping centre in Liverpool, but there was a time when it was essentially the most important part of the city. There was once a city centre square there that boasted some genuinely impressive buildings, offering visitors a mix of late-Georgian and Victorian buildings that could’ve been something special.
Clayton Square, late 1960s and 2024
— Liverpool: Then and Now (@keithjones84.bsky.social) 24 December 2024 at 18:35
Instead, most of them were flattened in the 1980s in order to make way for modern shops and entirely nondescript buildings that lack any sort of personality. Rather than allowing the buildings to take the edge of the brutality of St John’s Market, the new-look buildings instead simply blended into it.
Gone was the fine-looking city centre square that was the focal point for much of what was happening in Liverpool in the post-docks era, replaced instead by a more modern area that lacked any sort of personality and would for decades.
Does a City Need a Square?
It isn’t outrageous to ask whether or not a city actually needs a square. What it is that a square offers, exactly, that means that Liverpudlians should mourn the loss of Clayton Square as somewhere to congregate and enjoy themselves?
In some ways, there is not much that a square can offer that makes a huge amount of difference when compared to the rest of the city; after all, Liverpool has the Albert Docks as somewhere that acts almost like a square would anyway. Yet many of the world’s best-known cities have a square.
@explorationatlas Leicester Square, London #london #leicestersquare #travel #europetravel #europecities ♬ Makeba – Jain
There are few people that wouldn’t know of Leicester Square in London, for example. Anyone who goes to New York knows that Times Square is a must-visit. Even Moscow boasts Red Square as a place for visitors to take themselves to when they are in the Russian capital.
There are numerous world-famous places in Liverpool that will offer tourists a place to head to and a reason to visit, but how nice would it have been to have protected the likes of Clayton Square rather than allow rampant capitalism to mean it has all but disappeared?
The post Clayton Square Was Liverpool’s Central Square Before Falling Into Disrepair first appeared on Scouse Not English.
News From Nowhere: Liverpool Bookshop Run by Women’s Cooperative 28 Oct 2024 1:07 PM (6 months ago)
It isn’t exactly outrageous to suggest that Liverpool is a city that has been at the forefront of radical ideas at numerous points in the past.
The uprising in Toxteth at the start of the 1980s can be seen as one of the crucial turning points in race relations in the United Kingdom, for example, whilst the city’s dockers were amongst the first to unionise and gain associated rights as a result.
One of the more unexpected places that Liverpool saw a radical agenda being set was in a woman’s only co-operative bookshop called ‘News From Nowhere’.
A Haven for the Radical Left Wing
In 1974, man called Bob Dent and his partner Maggie opened a bookshop. The not-for-profit venue promised to be a radical location for women and those that supported women’s rights, and has been run collectively by women workers since 1981.
The co-operative nature of the venue means that there is no owner and no one to answer to, becoming extremely popular amongst Liverpool’s more radical communities. Given the left-wing nature of the city, particularly from the 1980s onwards, it is perhaps not all that surprising that it has been such a popular place to go.
Booklovers, radicals and assorted renegades!
We are open:
Mon-Sat 10-5.30pm
Sun 11-4.30pm
Plus Mail Order: https://t.co/Vs2zoLm9A3
nfn@newsfromnowhere.org.uk
0151 708 7270#ChooseBookshops
Shop with #TheRealAmazons pic.twitter.com/hBxVU01gno— News From Nowhere (@newsfromnowhere) October 25, 2024
Not that that was the case initially. During the latter part of the 1970s into the start of the 1980s, News From Nowhere, a name taken from utopian socialist William Morris’s 1890 novel, was regularly attacked.
It was set on fire numerous times, with the some of the people working in and visiting it physically harmed. It was mostly young fascists doing the attacking, growing out of the conflicts that were everywhere in 1980s Liverpool, thanks in no small part of Thatcherism and the likes of the miners’ strikes and the closing down of Liverpool’s docks.
It Still Exists Today
Having supported the miners’ strikes and campaigning against the Falklands War, to say nothing of forging strong ties with the city’s black community during the Toxteth uprisings, News From Nowhere created a feeling of solidarity with those marginalised in Liverpool.
As a result, News From Nowhere became a strong voice in the book trade, surviving even the lean times. When Bob Dent left in the 1980s, a decision was taken to turn it into a women’s co-operative, which it has remained ever since and thrived as a result.
@tiggysbooks Very cool bookshop #newsfromnowhere #indiebookstore #bookshopping #prettybookstore #liverpool #fyp ♬ Chopin Nocturne No. 2 Piano Mono – moshimo sound design
Everyone working at the bookstore has an equal share in it and an equal say in how it is run. Whilst there are still conflicts that occur from time to time, they are largely down to people believe the shop should be run and are not to do with anyone’s gender.
Having started off in a small venue close to the Birkenhead tunnel, it moved several times before settling in its current location in 1989. It is now something of a centre for Liverpool’s radical movements, from libertarians to anarchists via the gay liberation movement to those from Liverpool 8.
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