England Guide
The Northwest
Liverpool
Once the empire's second city, LIVERPOOL spent too many of the twentieth-century postwar years struggling against adversity. Things are looking up, as regeneration brightens the centre and old docks, and the city's stint as European Capital of Culture for 2008 has transformed the view from outside. Some may sneer at the very concept of Liverpudlian "culture", but this is a city with a Tate Gallery of its own and several innovative museums. Acerbic wit and loyalty to one of the city's two football teams (Liverpool and Everton) are the linchpins of Scouse culture, although Liverpool also makes great play of its musical heritage, which is reasonable enough from the city that produced The Beatles.
The River Mersey provides one focus for a visit, whether crossing on the famous ferry to the Wirral peninsula or on a tour of the attractions in Albert Dock. The associated Beatles' sights can easily occupy another day, plus there's a fine showing of British art in the celebrated Walker Art Gallery, a multitude of exhibits in the terrific World Museum Liverpool, and a revitalized arts and nightlife urban quarter centred on FACT.
Liverpool was a humble fishing village until the booming slave trade prompted the building of the first dock in 1715. From then until the abolition of slavery in Britain in 1807, Liverpool was the apex of the slaving triangle in which firearms, alcohol and textiles were traded for African slaves, who were then shipped to the Caribbean and America where they were in turn exchanged for tobacco, raw cotton and sugar. After the abolition of the trade, the port continued to grow into a seven-mile chain of docks, not only for freight but also to cope with wholesale European emigration, which saw nine million people leave for the Americas and Australasia between 1830 and 1930. During the 1970s and 1980s Liverpool became a byword for British economic malaise, but the waterfront area of the city was granted UNESCOWorld Heritage status in 2004, and there has been major subsequent refurbishment of the city's magnificent municipal and industrial buildings.
The Beatles Story
Opening time: Daily 10am–6pm
Price: £9.99
Address: Britannia Vaults, Albert Dock
Website: www.beatlesstory.com
Documenting the personal and social history of the group, the The Beatles Story traces The Beatles' rise from the early days to their disparate solo careers.
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