For our first walk of 2026, we had a large turnout – twenty four Stramblers hoping we wouldn’t get too much of a soaking. We met at Lime Street Station for a “walk and talk” trip around Liverpool City Centre.
We had a meeting with Ken and Bessie on the concourse and saw the recently returned Frank Hornby plaque, before hearing about Simon Faithfull’s journey and artwork outside the station. Along Lime street we saw Anthony Brown’s “Quantum Timeline” panels depicting the history of Lime Street. Across into Renshaw Street we had the history of Lewis’s and its famous statue. We passed Grand Central Hall and saw the site of the 1960’s “Mersey Beat” magazine’s office. At the “Bombed Out Church” (St Luke’s) we heard the history of the Malta Stone, the Irish Famine memorial and Roy Castle’s memorial. The major work here is Andy Edwards’s “Christmas Truce Statue”. Officially called “All Together Now”, and had a full history of its conception, inspiration and struggle to complete by the 100th anniversary of the truce. Around the corner in Berry Street, we entered Chinatown – guarded by two “Fu Dogs”. We saw the Black-E Community Building and the largest ‘triple arch” Chinese Arch outside mainland China – a present from our twin city, Shanghai. Here we heard of the disgraceful “Compusory Repatriation of Undesirable Chinese Seamen” in 1946. We passed the “Quirky Quarter” in Duke Street, before seeing Paul Curtis’s painting of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk. Seel Street took us past the Convent of the Missionaries of Charity – founded by Mother Theresa, and St Peter’s Tavern (once the Alma de Cuba and before that, St Peter’s Church). We went back to Duke Street where we learned what happened to Van Gogh’s Ear. Ha ha! At the bottom of Duke Street we saw the site of the first American Consul outside the USA and the Sailors Home Gates. Liver Street took us to the “Great Escape” ropewalks sculpture and we then crossed into the Royal Albert Dock. A boat was was sailing across the dock with a large fishing net. I think it was fishing for strewn rubbish rather than fish! We left the dock and heard about the life of Billy Fury and saw the “Crossing” statue donated to Liverpool by the Mormon Church. “Waiting” is a tribute to the 20,000 horses that kept goods moving from the docks before the railways. We passed the Lusitania propellor and stopped at the Museum. Lynne told us of the tribute to the son of U3A Committee Member Keith Williams. Cyclist Phil Williams died in a cycling accident in Majorca and his bike and equipment are displayed in the Museum as a permanent memorial to him. A Ten Mile Time Trial is being held in his honour on 28th March in Rainford. We then made our way to the Georges Dock, Mersey Tunnel Ventilation Shaft Building and heard a short summary of the Queensway Tunnel’s construction. At the Pier Head we saw the anchor from HMS Conway, the Johnny Walker statue, the memorial to the repatriated Chinese seamen and the Jeremiah Horrocks tribute. It wasn’t too busy here and we only had a short wait to have the regulation photo with The Beatles. After a history of its origin and completion we walked along past Sir Alfred Jones’s monument and learned why the Liver Building clocks first ticked at 13:40 on 22nd June 1911. We saw the Engine Room Workers tribute and made our way across The Strand, passing the Simpson Fountain and entering the grounds of Our Lady and St Nicolas Church. There are a number of memorials here and after a walk around them we moved on to Exchange Flags. There are a number of statues and memorials here too, with the Nelson Statue taking pride of place. After hearing its history, we heard how the American Civil War ended in Liverpool Town Hall. We left the square via High Street – one of Liverpool’s original seven streets. We saw the sculptures on the old Martins Bank Building – soon to open as a hotel – and the Tigers Teeth opposite. In Castle Street we saw the Sanctuary Stone and then took Harrington Street to see Paul Curtis’s “Swimming Baby Ethan”. Mathew Street (once Mathew Pluckinton Street) known mainly for its Beatles connections has many musical references to Liverpool’s other famous artistes. The “Wall of Fame” bricks show the acts that performed at the Cavern and the Gold Discs show all the Number One Hit records the city has produced. New murals are added each year at the Mathew Street Festivals and the most recent – “The Crowd” shows one hundred famous Liverpudlians – not all musicians. Around the corner in Stanley Street we visited Eleanor Rigby and then followed round to Whitechapel to see Brian Epstein. We were now outside the Welkin Wetherspoons and finished here for lunch. We’d had some rain during our walk but luckily not the drenching that had been forecast.
(Some of the photos make it look like we had sunshine. These are the ones I had taken on previous walks.)