34,361 Deaths

 Great George Street pedestrians heading into Liverpool centre will have noticed a sobering use of the black hoardings which are hiding their view of the overgrown waste ground to their left. This is where the amazing New Chinatown is supposed to have been built (see previous post).

Whilst developers, lawyers and city council attempt to sort out the mess,  an Amsterdam based organisation, UNITED for Intercultural Action, have posted a list of '34,361 documented deaths of refugees and migrants due to the restrictive policies of "Fortress Europe".

UNITED have facilitated up-to-date and translated versions of The List in several countries using public display structures such as ad-boards and newspaper supplements.The Liverpool list was produced by London's Chisenhale Gallery and Liverpool Biennial. It was printed and distributed by The Guardian for World Refugee Day  (20th June, 2018).

The 34,361 death toll is from 1993 to May 5th, 2018. The 2018 list can be downloaded from http://www.list-e.info

All of the images in this post were photographed in Great George Street within the last few weeks.

New Chinatown?

Let's take a walk down Liverpool's Great George Street. We'll start at The Wedding House (by the St James Street junction) and head into town with the Anglican Cathedral ahead to our right.
Something is happening on the left as we begin the walk. We can't see what because it's fenced off with 8ft high black paneling. Naturally this has been used as poster boarding for music events and other entertainments. (See the next post for a much more important use of a section of the boards)

 

If you were able to look over the fencing you might be disappointed to see 5 acres of overgrown waste ground. This was the site for New Chinatown - trumpeted in 2015 as a world class development of homes, retail and leisure facilities. A city within a city. The paneling originally showed glittering artist impressions of the New Chinatown.

An artist's impression of Liverpool's New Chinatown from 2015. Image: www.newchinatownliverpool.com/

 Sadly, plans have foundered. The contractor went into administration in 2016 and no building has taken place on the site. The photo mock-ups have now disappeared, leaving the 8ft high black boarding to hide the waste ground. There might still be some hope that the ambitious project can be rescued - a new consortium is hoping to fight through the legal tangle and has entered into discussions with Liverpool City Council. They optimistically hope to start a  14 month building programme before the end of the year. We will watch with interest.

A good place to view the waste ground is from the Cathedral tower. For a fiver you can go up to the top for the best view of the city - I thoroughly recommend it!

A view of Great George Street from the Cathedral tower. Look hard and you can see the black paneling (one third of the way up from the bottom of the frame) which hides the waste ground above it. 

Part of the 5 acre plot - nothing much has happened there in 3 years!

200 Umbrellas

The Umbrella Project 
200 vibrantly coloured umbrellas are suspended above Church Alley in Liverpool city centre, in front of the Bluecoat Gallery. They were installed in June 2017, and are expected to stay until the end of August. 

The installation was created by the Liverpool based ADHD Foundation, and is intended to raise awareness of Autism and ADHD.

The umbrellas have also been personally signed by children from St Oswald’s primary school in Old Swan, many of whom have ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopment conditions.

Save the Futurist? It's too late now!

August 2015 - still the subject of a 'Save' campaign

Lime Street's redevelopment has claimed another piece of Liverpool's heritage. The Futurist Cinema with it's imposing facade has been flattened. Despite a campaign to save the Edwardian gem, it has now been completely demolished. It was hoped that the facade could be saved but the best that can now be hoped for is that a small part of the original design (perhaps the bricks that formed 'Picture House'?) can be incorporated into the new building. The Futurist is one of 10 buildings that are being knocked down in Lime Street to make way for new commercial, retail and leisure premises.

August 2016. Too late now! A few days later it was completely demolished.

The Futurist was built in 1912 as the Lime Street Picture House (it was renamed in 1920) and closed in 1982. It has been allowed to decay ever since and whilst it wouldn't have been realistic to refurbish it and reopen as a cinema, surely the iconic frontage could have been saved (as with Manchester's Free Trade Hall for example)?

If you'd like a bit more history there is lots of information here - https://thefuturistcinema.wordpress.com/

30,000 Reasons to visit Liverpool in August

For 11 months of the year the amazing tiled floor in Liverpool’s St. George’s Hall is covered up.

A removable floor is used to protect the tiles from damage and wear whilst allowing dancing and other events in the vast Great Hall. It always proves hugely popular with visitors when, every August, the covering is removed.

The stunning mosaic which is revealed consists of over 30,000 tiles. They were hand crafted at the famous Minton factory in Stoke-on-Trent. The mosaic was designed by architect Sir Charles Cockerell - as were most of the Hall’s spectacular interiors.

This year, for the first time since St. George’s Hall was reopened in 2007 following the lengthy £23 million restoration, there were opportunities for visitors to walk on the fabulous Minton tiles.

At its reopening, Prince Charles described the Hall as the finest neo-classical building in Europe. It should certainly be on every Liverpool visitor’s ‘must see’ list. There is plenty to admire apart from the Great Hall mosaic but an August visit would prove especially rewarding.

inside the Great Hall (also known as the Concert Hall)

the Royal Arms

Liverpool's city coat of arms

the world famous Liver bird - the symbol of the city of Liverpool

classical figures surround the various crests

stunning design and detail in Minton

the south entrance at night

Further reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Hall,_Liverpool
http://liverpoolcityhalls.co.uk/st-georges-hall

the MTUCURC mural

The badly peeling mural in the rotunda dome of Liverpool’s former Royal School for the Blind is an impressive work of social documentary. First though a little background. The school was founded in 1781 (the first blind school in Britain). The first premises were on Commutation Row and in 1800 a purpose-built school was opened up on London Road. The 'new' Hardman Street school was built in 1849-51 when it was necessary to move from London Road due to railway expansion. In 1957, following the move of the school to Wavertree (where the junior school was located) the building was sold to Liverpool Corporation. It then became Merseyside Police HQ. When the police moved to new premises in 1982 the old Blind School became the Merseyside Trade Union Community and Unemployed Resource Centre (MTUCURC).

The mural was painted (in socialist realist style) by the late Mike Jones in 1986 to commemorate the ‘Peoples March for Jobs’. It features Karl Marx amongst the marchers and depicts scenes from industrial Liverpool (e.g. the docks, Halewood’s car factory and the foolishly demolished Overhead Railway). The MTUCURC closed in 2004 since when the building has remained empty. It would be folly to lose this important mural, but unless it is hastily restored by the building’s new owners (Hope Street Hotel), it will soon be gone forever. I worry that its restoration may not be part of the plans which will soon see the old Blind School turned into apartments, pub, restaurant and offices.

The mural's central figure is Edward Rushton, a Liverpool radical and founder of the school. He was an anti-slavery campaigner and a poet. He lost his sight at a young age by contracting opthalmia whilst serving in the merchant navy. The Everyman Theatre are staging 'Unsung', a play of Rushton's life, in March 2015. The following photos show sections of Mike Jones' mural.

Karl Marx joins the marchers and is that Arthur Scargill in front of him? Notice how part of the scene has peeled off. Is it really likely that the new owners will go to the trouble of restoring this important mural?

L to R - The Peoples March for Jobs (Liverpool - London, May 1981), the Women's Technology Centre (located within the MTUCURC), Tate and Lyle warehouse demolition.

the docks and Liverpool Overhead Railway. (The ship's name is M.T.U.C.U.R.C.)

a 1980s union march against budget cuts - the Militant Labour councillors adopted the slogan 'Better to break the law than to break the poor' (centre banner)


POST SCRIPT
In 1993 Mike Jones painted a companion piece to this mural. Many of the same elements were included. It is called 'Unemployment on Merseyside: Campaigning for the Right to Work' and is housed in the Museum of Liverpool (the one by Pier Head)

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/visit/galleries/peoples/unemployment.aspx

Lark Lane

I love this grungy, distressed old painted sign for a garage in Lark Lane (what a beautiful alliterative street name that is). It's in an area of Dingle (near the Welsh Streets) that may well be demolished before long. I thought I'd better record it whilst I can. The faded colours came up much better than expected - I'm going to have this printed BIG,  it'll look amazing. Maybe I should do a project on old street advertising - it's a great aspect of social documentary.

Inside the Orphanage

From a distance this Grade II listed building looks stately - perhaps an important and prestigious academic institution.Closer examination reveals that the huge building is derelict with all its windows boarded up. The location is the lovely Newsham Park, Liverpool - well worth a visit if you've never been. The building is the Seamen's Orphanage (later the Royal Liverpool Seamen's Orphanage) which was opened in 1874 to provide support and education for the orphans of British seamen. It could accommodate up to 400 children. The orphanage closed in 1949 and was sold to the Ministry of Health in 1951. It became Newsham Park Hospital until it finally closed in 1988. It is now derelict and in private ownership.

There are plans to reopen part of the building (around the main assembly hall) for leisure purposes. In order to test the public's interest, access to parts of the building (ground floor only) was made available over the weekend of 13-15 Sept 2013 as part of Liverpool Heritage Open Month. There was a great deal of interest - the first time in over 100 years that the public had been allowed access to this important building. Inside, it was like stepping into a time warp.

The balcony of the assembly/dining hall. Perhaps a hospital governor looking down at 25yrs of dereliction,

The walls with their flaking paintwork and plaster, the old hospital beds and equipment, ancient wheelchairs and commodes - all evidence of its latter function. Hopefully the leisure project will be successful - this is a very important part of Liverpool's maritime heritage. Twenty five years of closure and neglect is not what the Seamen's Orphanage deserves!

P.S. 
Project Newsham Park is a useful website if you would like to learn more about Newsham Park (and the orphanage)

Disappearing Heritage

The former Liverpool offices of Harland and Wolff (the world famous Belfast shipbuilders who built The Titanic) are about to be lost forever. The demolition of this fine building in Regent Road is now happening (why did Sefton Borough Council ever sanction this?). This photo was taken on 6th May 2013. The interior is largly demolished and when I visited last week the dismantling of the famous facade appeared to be underway. There may be nothing left in a few days!


UPDATE (August 2013)
it's all gone! Looks like they destroyed our heritage for container storage! See below
 

 

The Great Money Trick

Liverpool City Council commissioned local artist David Jacques to produce this artwork as part of the City of Radicals programme in 2011. It is inspired by Robert Tressell's socialist novel 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'. Tressell, who died in Liverpool in 1911, was a house painter and signwriter. The Great Money Trick is a key chapter in his political novel. Jacques' Dale Street awning pays tribute to Tressell by creating the lettering in century old signwriter style.

'Tinned Up' Anfield

I recently visited a few of the Victorian terraced streets near to Liverpool's football stadium which are scheduled to be demolished as part of the Anfield and Breckfield Regeneration scheme ('creating neighbourhoods for the future'). Once levelled they will disappear beneath the large housing estate that is currently being constructed over the graves of recently demolished neighbouring streets.

This is no.154 Hartnup Streer. Six months ago the bay windows of Hartnup Street were given a makeover with scenes of Liverpool captured by students from Alsop High School. The idea was to make the street look more pleasing for the April 2012 Sea Odyssey spectacular. It was hoped that the large crowds following the the Little Girl Giant, her Uncle, and faithful companion Xolo as they pass through Anfield wouldn't be offended by the shabby dereliction that is Hartnup Street. The photos are still there (Oct 2012) but I was told by one local that the street only has a couple of weeks left before the bulldozers appear!

Hartnup Street becomes a photo gallery to welcome the giant puppets.

Granton Road, bathed in autumn sun, looks too good to demolish (was refurbishment never a viable option for these houses?). 

I've wandered through several 'regeneration' areas of Liverpool where whole streets have been emptied and 'tinned up'. One familiar sound breaks the silence in all of these places. It's the hopeless 'cheep' of a smoke alarm - calling to a long departed occupier to replace the battery. Somehow that seems so sad!

A REMINDER OF SOPHIATOWN IN TOXTETH

Learning often comes unexpectedly. Recently I was wandering through the ‘Welsh Streets’ in Liverpool’s Toxteth district. Because of my interest in social documentary and heritage I have spent many hours with my camera walking around the silent streets of ‘tinned up’ houses in Liverpool 8. This is one of several areas in the city where a whole community has been cleared of residents, their properties having been compulsory purchased in preparation for demolition – all part of the council’s grand regeneration plan.

Madryn Street as a poetry and songbook!

One of the ‘Welsh Streets’ is Madryn Street where Ringo Starr was born. (There is still some debate about whether no.9 should be preserved as a national treasure!) I noticed that most of the small terraced houses along Ringo’s side of Madryn Street have had sheets of song lyrics / poetry pasted onto their sealed up doors and windows. Most of the lyrics are entirely appropriate (Ghost Town, Anthem for Doomed Houses, We Shall Not Be Moved etc.) resulting in the whole street becoming a cultural installation. I photographed several of them before the sun, wind and rain hides their messages.

 One of the poems was called ‘The Day They Came for Our House’. The prose included “Armed with bulldozers / they came to do a job / nothing more / than hired killers”. The poem was credited to Dan Mattera – that’s all I knew from the photocopied sheet of lyrics - so I educated myself later in the day. It  was written about the clearance and obliteration of Sophiatown in the 50s and early 60s in South Africa. Sophiatown was a vibrant, urban, multi-cultural community – one of the oldest black suburbs of Johannesburg. Under apartheid, it was cleared, demolished and rebuilt as a white suburb (renamed as Triomf). The township had been famed for its culture of writing, art and music – notably jazz and blues. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu were both Sophiatown residents. 

Don Mattera ('Dan' is a misprint) was an activist in the struggle against apartheid but he subsequently became a poet, writer and journalist. ‘The Day They Came for Our House’ was published in Mattera’s book ‘Azanian Love Song’ in 1983. To my shame I didn’t know the history of Sophiatown and hadn’t read any of Mattera’s books or poetry until I researched these things when I returned home. I’m glad I did – the shameful story of racial clearances in South Africa is something that we should all know about. Sometimes learning comes from unexpected sources – in this case my walk down Ringo’s old street resulted in my learning about 50yr old events from 6000 miles away!

Wilfred Owen's 1917 poem - 'Anthem For Doomed Youth' reworked for condemned housing

The Missing Years

If you take a look at any social documentary photography before the late 1980s you will see images of children playing in the streets with bikes, carts, skipping ropes etc - reflecting the way they spent their leisure time within their own environment. This is important documentary information. Sadly, in this age of exaggerated fear for our children's safety, we have now made it unacceptable for photographers to record them in their surroundings. In the coming years we will find that we have lost a huge amount of information about how our children and their friends played and entertained themselves in their own neighbourhoods. The Facebook age will have recorded plenty of camera-phone images of children in the safety of their family surroundings, but little of the documentary material that previous generations of photographers have recorded.

This photograph was taken last week when I was returning to my car in Jamaica Street, Liverpool after a day in the city with my camera. I love the old warehouses in the area and when I saw two boys racing towards me on their bikes I thought it might be a chance for a vintage shot. Not wanting to alarm the children I had to 'shoot from the hip' - with my heavy DSLR this usually results in dismal failure, but on this occasion I got fairly lucky. I converted the image to B/W in order to recapture a feel of 60s Liverpool. It might not be great photography but it's social documentary and I'm happy with it!

STRIKE!

Wednesday 30th Nov, 2011 saw the biggest one day strike in the UK for a decade. Unions had called members out to support their demands that the government rethink plans to reform public sector pensions. It is claimed that 2 million people went on strike throughout the UK. Two thirds of schools in England were closed (almost all schools were closed in Scotland), 7000 operations were cancelled in hospitals, emergency services couldn't deal with all 999 calls, no buses or trains were running in Northern Ireland ...... the list goes on. David Cameron called the strike "a damp squib" in Parliament. I'm sure he doesn't really think that but if he does then he is SO out of touch. I photographed the strike rally in Liverpool where 15,000 people marched through the city - I was amazed by the turnout at St George's Hall, and the strength of anti-govt feeling. (See how the Prime Minister is portrayed in the Socialist Worker placard below - top photo, r/h side)