Liverpool Landmarks Tour (Part One)
This walk takes around one hour. So if you have only a wee hour, this is what we would recommend - for the city centre essential tour and a very quick walk.
Starting and finishing point - Liverpool Lime Street Station.
Lime Street Station is the place where the greatest revolution in transport
took place, and it is the oldest railway station still in use in the
world.
Its vast iron and glass arched roof and massive red columns are the characteristics
of the station and mark the unique construction methods developed at the start of the Industrial
Revolution.
One of the first locomotives to be used at that time, the Lion, is on display in the Museum of Liverpool.
The hall is Liverpool's heart, it represents the civic pride of 19th-century city, and it served as centre stage for Liverpool cultural and social life.
Charles Dickens had given a number of public readings here. Prior to his sailing off to America, a banquet was hosted in the Great Hall in 1869. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited St George's hall in 1851.
St George Plateu - many memorable moments took place here - public rallies, strikes, suffragettes protests, soldiers going to WWI, mass gatherings after the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, and still it is used for similar purposes.
Walker Art Gallery - It houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside London, and is called "the National Gallery of the North". You need to walk in for a few minutes to experience one of the most remarkable interiors - a major sculpture collection in.
The Museum opened its doors in 1860 with 400,000 people attending the ceremony.
Hit by firebombs during the Blitz in 1941, the building was rebuilt. Key parts of the museum's collection consist of Archaeology and Egyptology.
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Starting and finishing point - Liverpool Lime Street Station.
Opened in 1836, a year before Queen Victoria started her long rule, it served first railway passengers ever. The line linked Liverpool and Manchester, the first industrial city in the world. First post mail in the world was sent by train from Lime Street.
One of the first locomotives to be used at that time, the Lion, is on display in the Museum of Liverpool.
Next to the station is the grand building of a Victorian hotel. It was a custom to built palace-like structures at such locations during the 19th century; one of the grandest is at the St. Pancras station in London.
The North Western Hotel is located on the east side of Lime Street is in the National Heritage List for England as Grade II listed building. It used to be students accommodation but the new plans are to restore it to the original function as a hotel.
St George Hall - walking
out of the Lime Street station main exit, you will see the grandiose of St.
George Hall, part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some knowledgeable
experts say this is one of the best examples of neo-classical
architecture in the world. It is the world's first air-conditioned building and the largest of its kind in the whole of Europe.
The hall is Liverpool's heart, it represents the civic pride of 19th-century city, and it served as centre stage for Liverpool cultural and social life.
Charles Dickens had given a number of public readings here. Prior to his sailing off to America, a banquet was hosted in the Great Hall in 1869. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited St George's hall in 1851.
Statues of four lions and cast iron lamp standards with dolphin bases. There is a Heritage Centre. Guided tours, exhibitions and talks are arranged.
Equestrian monuments of Prince Albert and young Queen Victoria. On the steps is a statue of Benjamin Disraeli (bottom left).
St George Plateu - many memorable moments took place here - public rallies, strikes, suffragettes protests, soldiers going to WWI, mass gatherings after the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, and still it is used for similar purposes.
Hillsborough monument - round bronze (bottom right) casting to mark the Hillsborough disaster - 96 Liverpool FC fans died in a stadium tragedy in 1989. Because of the lies published in the Sun after the disaster, you may see many black cabs around the city wrapped with the paper's crossed logo and words: Don't' buy the Sun. Anyway, the tabloid is a real gutter, so who would?
Wellington Column - monument to
the Duke of Wellington, made from the melted-down bronze
from cannons captured at the Battle of Waterloo. The foundation stone
was laid in 1861. The statue was positioned facing south-east so that
Wellington looks towards the site of Waterloo - his greatest victory
over Napoleon Bonaparte.
Empire Theatre - since
2004, the theatres have been on a remarkable journey, described as “a
theatrical renaissance on Merseyside” (The Observer) with over 20 world
premières, the majority by Liverpool writers. Each year a musical is
produced at the theatre. The theatre dates way back to 1866 but was
demolished, re-built and re-opened in 1925. The theatre has the largest
two-tier auditorium in Britain. It is now one of the country leading
theatres.
During its time it has hosted many types of entertainment, including variety shows, musicals, operas, pop concerts, and plays. The Beatles appeared in the theatre in their early days. The Empire Theatre continues to stage productions in various genres, including musicals, pop concerts, comedians, plays, opera, and wrestling.
Steble Fountain - donated to the city by a former mayor. Steble had been Mayor of Liverpool from 1845 to 1847. Unveiled in 1879 adorned with statues of Neptune, Amphitrite, Acis, and Galatea, decorated with scallops, Lancastrian roses, and marine grotesques. From the centre rises a bowl surmounted by a mermaid holding a cornucopia.
Museum and Library - The Library opened in 1906 and it was the first electrically lit library in the UK.
Hit by firebombs during the Blitz in 1941, the building was rebuilt. Key parts of the museum's collection consist of Archaeology and Egyptology.
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To be continued...
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Sources:
http://yourliverpoolview.com/
https://www.pressreader.com
https://www.stgeorgeshallliverpool.co.uk/about/heritage/
Sources:
http://yourliverpoolview.com/
https://www.pressreader.com
https://www.stgeorgeshallliverpool.co.uk/about/heritage/