I would like to express support for Liverpool by reposting this visit. The city was recently stripped of it's UNESCO World Heritage status because of new construction developments around the waterfront.
Liverpool was based on both the Industrial Revolution and on elements in Europe being hostile to Britain. In the days of sailing ships, Bristol was the most important port. We saw this in the recent visit there. But when the Industrial Revolution began, it brought much larger ships that were based on steam engines. As long as Europe is friendly, Southampton is the best port because it faces toward Europe. But, if there is some conflict with Europe, Liverpool becomes a safer port for ships because it faces away from Europe.
Liverpool became the port of the Industrial Revolution, the route by which raw materials were imported for the new industries of England's Midlands, and finished products were exported.
Liverpool is much more than just it's docks. It has started so many innovations that spread across the world that there is not room to go into them here. For one thing the world's first railroad, running on the new steam engines of the Industrial Revolution, began service between Liverpool and Manchester.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool#/media/File:Opening_Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway.jpg
This was the world's first building of glass over a metal frame. This set the precedence for modern architecture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriel_Chambers#/media/File:Oriel_chambers.jpg
The city is also known for the Beatles, although they were far from the only rock music band to emerge from Liverpool. A good band would release an album with ten songs and one, or possibly two, of the songs might be hits. The Beatles would release an album of ten songs, and all would be hits. In fact, unique in the rock music era, there is no such thing as a Beatles song that was not a hit song.
The dock at Liverpool was also where my family left by ship for North America, when I was a young boy. We sailed on the Empress of England which, at the time, ran the Liverpool to Montreal route. I still have the written instructions that we were given explaining how to disembark at Montreal. Years later, I would revisit the dock where we got on the ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_England#/media/File:Empress_of_England.jpg
The three prominent buildings along Liverpool's waterfront are known as the Three Graces. The two statues of birds atop the Royal Liver Building are of the Liver Birds, which are a legend in the city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool#/media/File:The_Three_Graces,_Liverpool_-_2012-05-27.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_bird#/media/File:Liver_Bird.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_bird#/media/File:Royal_Liver_Building.jpg
Here is a look around the waterfront area of Liverpool. Liverpool is just about the most walkable city that I have ever seen.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.404951,-2.9898743,3a,75y,71.99h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAP1JIuOO89QR_i_yXVCXjQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DAP1JIuOO89QR_i_yXVCXjQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.39656%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here are some photos of the central city area.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250901.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250902.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250903.jpg
This is where I arrived in Liverpool, at the Lime Street Station.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.407798,-2.9784961,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s63BAq7TtdnqKBipSWmFN-g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D63BAq7TtdnqKBipSWmFN-g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D160.63925%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Liverpool's Anglican cathedral is a massive structure that is the longest cathedral in the world and the largest cathedral in Britain. It is not old, having been built only in the Twentieth Century. I did not really like the photo on the travel photo blog of Europe of the cathedral it was evening and there was not enough light to take a good photo.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250907.jpg
The long central hall of a cruciform (shaped like a cross) cathedral is called the nave. "Nave" means "ship" in Latin and a cathedral is indeed a ship that carries one by faith through the unpredictable sea of life down here on earth. The nave of Liverpool Cathedral is the longest in the world, and this fits with the city's heritage of bring founded around ships. This is the best image that I can see to convey how massive it really is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Cathedral#/media/File:Scott-Liverpool-ILN-7-January-1911-p17.jpg
Here are some scenes of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral, beginning inside the cathedral. This is a vast cathedral, people are like ants inside it. This area also shows how people from all around the world came to Liverpool. Chinese sailors who docked at the port started businesses in the city, and now there is the famous Chinese gate.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3967465,-2.9735308,3a,75y,83h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-MWKIDtpZrVY%2FVfv6irx0hEI%2FAAAAAAAASzY%2F_9dAMFXPpF4mDS9PFz0H31cCaQWgL_97ACJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-MWKIDtpZrVY%2FVfv6irx0hEI%2FAAAAAAAASzY%2F_9dAMFXPpF4mDS9PFz0H31cCaQWgL_97ACJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya342.35834-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
At the other end of Hope Street is Liverpool's Catholic cathedral. It is a modern building, even newer than the Anglican cathedral, and was built during the 1960s. England went on the Protestant side during the Reformation, but a significant number of Catholics remained and Liverpool is the most Catholic city in Britain. Part of it is also due to immigration, particularly from nearby Ireland.
The following scenes begin inside the Catholic cathedral.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4047122,-2.9686375,3a,75y,19h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-2ryzdBF_048%2FVw1eVRy17XI%2FAAAAAAAA-Mg%2Ft8CYIpzgAesNQ2ppBdljOqzF16q6NkGOwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-2ryzdBF_048%2FVw1eVRy17XI%2FAAAAAAAA-Mg%2Ft8CYIpzgAesNQ2ppBdljOqzF16q6NkGOwCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya39.641644-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
Like many cities, Liverpool has been through having the entire basis of it's economy pulled out from under it. The industries of the Industrial Revolution moved elsewhere. With Europe at peace, Southampton is a better location for a port because it faces toward Europe. Jet airplanes brought the era of travel by passenger ship to a close anyway.
But Liverpool has come through all of this and is better than ever. It has undergone what is likely the most successful program of urban renewal anywhere. An example is the shopping area known as Liverpool One.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_One#/media/File:Wall_Street,_Liverpool_ONE.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_One#/media/File:One_Park_West,_Liverpool_ONE.jpg
There is no medieval Liverpool, it only became an important city with the Industrial Revolution. It is not really that big of a city, with a metro area population of just over two million. But it is still one of the most visited cities in the world, people come to see it just because it's Liverpool.
The city on the other side of the Mersey River from Liverpool is Birkenhead. When we were leaving for North America, I remember being told that we were entering the Mersey Tunnel. The dock of Liverpool was at the other end of the tunnel, where our ship would be waiting. Today there are two traffic tunnels, the Queensway and the Kingsway, but this was before the Kingsway was open so it would have been what is now called the Queensway Tunnel that we went through.
Here are some scenes of Birkenhead, beginning at the entrance to the tunnel. Liverpool is on the other side of the river. If something seems out of place in street and traffic scenes, it is because cars in Britain drive on the left side of the road.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3907663,-3.0150471,3a,75y,65.44h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sN9wLUu_sF1-4yrk6S9GgXw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DN9wLUu_sF1-4yrk6S9GgXw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D52.538116%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is one of the newer residential neighborhoods, toward the outside of Liverpool.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4522093,-2.8792114,3a,75y,188.46h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTlTWdua-LaSSzJNx5lho7A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DTlTWdua-LaSSzJNx5lho7A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.06421%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
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