June 28th 2010 - Well Worn Steps In York Street

Just tucked behind Liverpool One shopping centre there is this magical piece of Liverpool. It is like stepping back in time; the old doorways, steps and brickwork still survive and it is not hard to imagine life here 250 years ago. One company who established themselves in York Street in 1758, were Fawcett Preston. They made pans, kettles, guns and other iron goods. They also produced sugar boiling pans and sugar cane crushing machinery and steam engines for use in the Caribbean sugar plantations around 1813.

June 27th 2010 - Toxteth Cathedral - Princes Road

I was surprised, yet again, by Liverpool's history; this is a photograph of Princes Road and the church on the right is the, now derelict, Welsh Presbyterian church known as the Toxteth Cathedral. The spire is 200ft and it dominates the Toxteth landscape. The church opened in 1868 and was designed by architectural brothers William and George Audsley. It was a focal point for the 30,000 Welsh Presbyterians living in Liverpool.At that time it was said that there were more Welsh speakers living in Liverpool than in the Welsh capital Cardiff.

June 26th 2010 - China Town

A view looking up towards China Town with the Metropolitan Cathedral poking above the Chinese arch. I like this view because it makes a change from seeing China Town from the other end of the road.

June 25th 2010 - Are you Happy?

Graffitti asking us to consider whether or not we are happy. It formed part of Liverpool Biennial and can be found in Duke Street. The bulding on the left is now a `gentlemens' club', but it appears to have been a warehouse in its glory days.

June 24th 2010 - Come on England

This splendid house in Windermere Terrace L8 has taken supporting England to a another level by painting the front door as the cross of St. George! England played this afternoon and beat Slovenia one nil. The next game is against Germany, so I think I would be heading down to B & Q for a tin of white gloss paint. This house was once home to Liverpool poet Roger McGough.

June 23rd 2010 - Echo

An Echo van parked up at the Echo Offices on the Strand. The Echo has gone through a few changes in recent years, notably not being printed in Liverpool and being delivered to newsagents with the other morning papers! An iconic vechile taken for granted, to me it stands alongside red double decker buses, taxis and red telephone boxes.

June 22nd 2010 - The Florrie

The Florence Institute For Boys was built in 1889 soley paid for by a West Indies' Merchant, Sir Bernard Hall, as a lasting memorial to his daughter Florence, who died in Paris at the age of 22.
It was the first building in Britian to be built as a Boys' Youth Club. Fitted out with a gym and library, Bernard Hall built it, as the plaque on the building states, as `an acceptable place of recreation and instruction for the poor and working boys of this district of the City'. Funding dried up in 1987 and this outstanding Victorian building fell into disrepair. Funding has been promised and restoration work will hopefully get under way very soon.