MERSEYSIDE |
| Albert Dock |
On dockside, Liverpool |
The Albert Dock, opened in 1846, expresses Liverpool's
total optimism in itself as a seaport, but as the steamship got bigger and bigger, and
required ever-deeper docks, deeper than the Albert could offer, the dock declined to
servicing coastal traffic and closed altogether in 1972. Albert Dock and the surrounding
dockland have gained a new lease of life. Granada TV News has its headquarters in the Dock
Traffic Office and the Pump House has been converted into a pub. Boat hire, boat
trips and watersports are offered and a Riverside Walk leads to a warehouse, home of
the branch of London's Tate Gallery. The Albert Warehouse contains the Merseyside Maritime
Museum. |
| Croxteth Hall and Country Park |
Off A580, 5 miles north-east of Liverpool |
The atmosphere of Victorian and Edwardian days is well
preserved at Croxteth, former home of the Earls of Sefton; but there are up-to-date
attractions too. This was once a vast country estate covering thousands of acres. Now
fewer than 600 acres remain, but there are plenty of reminders of bygone country-house
life. Furnished rooms and costume groups maintain the 'Croxteth 1905' theme, and an
exhibition tells the estate's story. There is a walled garden and Croxteth's home farm is
packed with livestock and has a centre for rare breeds. |
| Liverpool Cathedrals |
Near city centre |
They stand at either end of the largely Georgian Hope
Street, dominating the Liverpool skyline. They are very different. Work was begun on the
Anglican Cathedral in 1904 and continued through two World Wars to the triumphant royal
dedication in 1978. The medieval style cathedral is largely the work of Sir Giles Gilbert
Scott. To go directly from the Gothic of the Anglican Cathedral to the ultramodern Roman
Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King takes a little adjustment. As with the Anglican
Cathedral, there were delays in the building. Sir Edwin Lutyens made a start with the
crypt in 1933, but by 1940 it was realised there was no chance of completing so vast a
project. Work on the present, smaller building did not begin until 1960, but five years
later it was completed. It stands on the earlier crypt, half of whose roof serves as a
piazza. |
| Liverpool Museum |
William Brown Street, in Liverpool city centre |
The exhibits in this fine museum range from Egyptian
mummies to space exploration; from Benin bronzes to the unique Anglo-Saxon Kingston
Brooch; from fish to desert animals. There are classical sculptures, plants and geological
specimens from all over the world. There is also a planetarium and an aquarium. |
| Meols Hall |
Off A5267, 1 mile north-east of Southport |
The manor of North Meols existed before the norman
Conquest. A house has stood on the site since the reign of King John, and it has been
passed through 24 generations of the Hesketh's. The house has a fine collection of
pictures by artists such as Jan Bruegel, Lawrence, Romney and Wright of Derby - as well as
china, glass, silver and period furniture. |
| Port Sunlight Village |
On A41, 2.5 miles south of Birkenhead |
Port Sunlight Village is today a monument to William
Hesketh Lever - later the 1st Viscount Leverhulme. The best starting point for any visitor
is the Heritage Centre opened in 1984. When Lever founded his Port Sunlight factory in
1888 he had the idea of creating a community nearby. Most houses in the 130 acre village
are fronted by unfenced garden plots. One of the village's larger houses, Bridge Cottage,
was once the home of the 1st Lord Leverhulme. The Lady Lever Art Gallery, created by the
1st Lord Leverhulme as a memorial to his wife, contains outstanding English 18th century
paintings and furniture. The Classical Renaissance building in which the gallery is housed
forms an impressive centrepiece to the village. |
| Speke Hall |
Off A562, 7 miles south-east of Liverpool |
The beauty of a great black-and-white Tudor building
can hardly be seen to better advantage than at Speke Hall, one of the best preserved
half-timbered houses in Britain. It was built between 1490 and 1612 under the direction of
successive generations of the Norris family. A late Elizabethan stone bridge leads the
visitor to the house and its cobbled courtyard where the atmosphere of the past is
enhanced by two yew trees more than 400 years old. Inside, the great parlour has a
magnificent stucco ceiling. |
| Walker Art Gallery |
William Brown Street, in Liverpool city centre |
The imposing exterior of this art gallery is matched
inside by the largest collection of paintings in Britain outside London. It includes such
treasures as the 14th century painting by Simone Martini, Christ Discovered in the
Temple, a Rembrandt self-portrait, and works by Cranach, Van Ruysdael, Degas, Poussin
and Rubens. The collection is particularly strong in English painting, from Stubbs,
Hogarth and Gainsborough to the Pre-Raphaelites and Turner and, in the 20th century, David
Hockney, Victor Pasmore, Paul Nash and Patrick Caulfield. |
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