The Liverpool waterfront and other Liverpool, United Kingdom General Tips

Favorite Thing: The Liverpool waterfront buildings - Cunard, The Liver Buildings and the Port of Liverpool Buildings, commonly known as the 'THREE GRACES'. -are an internationally well recognsed landscape, a symbol of its historic port. Plans are afoot though to add a '4th Grace' to reflect the 21st century.

THIS could be the view of Liverpool from the River Mersey in 2008. The modern designs which have reached the final shortlist in the search for Liverpool's 'Fourth Grace' were revealed exclusively by the local paper "Liverpool Echo" on Wednesday, August 14. This pic shows one of the designer entries. For more info see
http://www.liverpoolfourthgrace.co.uk/

For the next few tips though i'd like to show you the Three Graces as they are at the moment.


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Favorite Thing: Completed in 1910, the Liver Building was one of the world's first mult-storey re-inforced concrete buildings. It is the home of the Liver Friendly Assurance Society. The clock faces on each tower, at 25 feet diameter are the lagest in Britain - London's Big Ben is just 23 feet diameter.


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Favorite Thing: The design of the Liver Building was based upon the Chicago skyline - I think you can see why when you see the resemblance in this shot.


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Favorite Thing: The liver birds are a strange cross between an eagle and a cormorant - the sailor's lucky bird. Local tales relate that the female looks across the riverfront waiting for the sailors to return whilst the male faces the back looking towards the pubs!

If you enjoy this kind of info then you need to take the river cruise trip on the ferry!


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Favorite Thing: Keeping walking past the Liver building, over a little bridge and you will come to the Titanic memorial. Its inscription reads " IN HONOUR OF ALL HEROES OF THE MARINE ENGINE ROOM" so at first you might not realise its referring to the Titanic ;-). It was originally designated as the Engine Room Heroes Memorial (RMS Titanic) but it was subsequently decided to honour all marine engineers and engine room hands lost during WWI and the (RMS Titanic) part of the inscription was not used.


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Favorite Thing: The Cunard building, the second Grace, is the former head-quarters of the Cunard Line. Its design was based upon a 16th century italian palazzo.The boardroom overlooking the river was a favourite place for the company dignitaries to watch the regular arrival and departure of their ships with pride.
Decisions to build the great liners, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were also taken here.


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Favorite Thing: This statue and sculpture of a boat in the column just outside the Cunard building caught my eye.


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Favorite Thing: The third Liverpool Grace and also an elegant building - symmetrical in the style of a renaissance palace with cupola topped towers at the corners and in the centre a large classical dome, topping a high drum. It is has been suggested that the design for this was borrowed from a competition design for the Anglican Cathedral competition by Professor Reilly in 1902. The interior is also well worth a visit.


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Favorite Thing: I wish I'd noticed this when Laura visited Liverpool with me:

Canada Boulevard, running infront of the Cunard Building with its row of maple trees, is "decidated as a living memorial to the sacrifice, valour and industry of Canadians in the defence of freedom during the battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945
And in recognition of the special relationship that developed between Cananda and the city of Liverpool during those dark days"
This memorial stone was placed here on 15th May 1995 on the 50th anniversary.

Also on the Boulevard the stones in the pavemment bear the nnames of the ships.
One I particularly noticed was HMCS Charlottetown, Canadians who contributed to the victory on the homefront.


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Favorite Thing: The former offices of the White Star Line (later amalgameated with Cunard), stands on the corner of James Street and The Strand. The balcony where the names of those lost in the sinking of the Titanic, stands to this day, as does the balcony higher on the front of the building where the directors of the Line had to move to continue the roll call, after the public's anger rose.

This building, strikingly different from the Three Graces, is designed in brick and Portland stone bands in the same style as Shaw's New Scotland Yard building in Westminster.


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