Merseyside may be the home of the city of Liverpool and The Beatles, but there’s a lot more to this area than the Liver Building and the Cavern Club. Just a stone’s throw away from Warrington (in Cheshire), many people here have Irish heritage, and you can even sail to the Emerald Isle (the trip is longer than the bumpy ship-ride from Holyhead in North wales). The journey takes around 8 hours at at 191 nautical miles (220 human miles!)
Just across the River Mersey lies Birkenhead. No longer associated with only Lily Savage, this is a best-kept waterfront secret, dotted with historic docks and invitng green spaces, offering some of the best reviews of the Liverpool skyline. Birkenhead Park was actually the inspiration for New York’s Central Park.
Southport: A Charming Coastal Resort
Just 20 miles from Liverpool is the charming Victorian seaside resort of Southport, with a pier that stretches out into the Irish sea. A riot of colour and fragrance in summer due to the Botanical Gardens, this is the ideal ‘peaceful bolthole’, if you’re not a fan of city life. The flat cycle paths are popular with outdoor enthusiasts, and one route is used as an extention of the 216 Trans Pennine Trail, which runs from Liverpool to Hull on Yorkshire’s East Coast.
Just down the road is Crosby Beach (not for walking or swimming due to quicksand). But if you stay on dry land – this is one of the best places in England to watch the sunset, as the sun ‘melts into the Irish Sea’.
Liverpool is home to England’s largest clock face (bigger than Big Ben in London, the one of the Liver Building is 2 feet larger – the building itself was England’s tallest until 1961) and is now Grade-1 listed, so nobody can knock it down. Bertie and Bella (the two Liver Birds) on top of the building look inland and towards the sea, to keep people safe. It’s said that when they fly off, the City will no longer exist! Far older is ‘Liverpool’s own Stonehenge’. The Calderstones date back 5000 years, a circle of six standing stones (the remains a Neolithic burial chamber).
Although Liverpool is mostly Irish Catholic, the Anglican cathedral is the largest in England, and welcomes anyone. The largest Catholic cathedral is in London. Westminster Cathedral has a striking red design that resembles a mosque. A few years ago, a right-wing political candidate complained that the BBC were biased towards Islam, by having a presenter report outside a mosque. Firstly it doesn’t matter anyway. And secondly, it was a Catholic cathedral!
The Birthplace of The Beatles
Of course, we can’t talk of Liverpool, without mentioning The Beatles (that remain one of the world’s biggest bands, decades after they split). John Lennon (murdered at just 40) grew up in Strawberry Fields, and his partnerships with Paul McCartney and George Harrison (who wrote Something) lives on long after his death.
Ringo Starr is widely regarded as one of the best ever drummers (some universities teach his methods). Yet he almost died as a child and was left with such severe food allergies, that he has never eaten onion, garlic or spices – or a curry!
