Chelmsford & District National Trust Supporter Group

Report by Keith Otter

We didn’t use the coach today. However our driver, Mark, did join us all for a morning trip on the Mersey Ferry. I was amused by the name of the ferry, “Royal Iris”. My mother’s name was Iris. Apparently both Mersey ferries took part in the raid on Zeebrugge in the First World War and were granted the right to add “Royal” to their names as a result.

Pat and I learned this from the recorded commentary given on the ferry during the trip. We were able to hear it clearly because we had found ourselves two seats at the front of the upper cabin immediately under a speaker. Others weren’t so lucky because of the noise of the conversations taking place in other parts of the ship.

The ferry took us down the Mersey as far as the container dock while the commentary explained various interesting structures that we could see on the banks. I am ashamed to admit that I have already forgotten most of it!

The ferry then turned and brought us gently to the Seacombe ferry terminal on the other side of the river. Words painted on the land side of the promenade told us is stretched from there to New Brighton.

The ship then took us upriver before turning slightly above the Liverpool ferry terminal. It stopped there and all our group got off.

After that we were all to free explore Liverpool (or not) as we wished. Pat and I opted to visit the Museum of Liverpool.

This is a modern building by the riverfront. It stretches over three floors. The person manning the information desk suggested we start at the top. We did, and spent so long there we never got to explore the other galleries.

The top floor is devoted to the history of the people of Liverpool. One exhibit is about the Liverpool regiments that served in the First World War, with harrowing eye-witness accounts from some who had served on the front line and some of the wives and others who had remained at home. Another dealt with daily life in the city and the Liverpool industries. We were also reminded of the twentieth-century conflicts between the ordinary working people and their employers and the government.

Other items of interest on the top floor included a model of the Roman Catholic cathedral as it was originally intended to be (see the accompanying photograph) and a life-sized replica of one of the two famous Liver Birds on top of the Royal Liver Building. We got a better appreciation of the size; both birds are over six metres high. Apparently the Liver Birds look as they do because an artist confused the original eagles with cormorants. Each bird carries seaweed in its beak. A popular local story says that the female bird faces the sea to encourage sailors in and the male bird faces inland looking for the nearest pub. There’s sexism for you!

I was taken with the carriage from the old Liverpool Overhead Railway but didn’t look at it more closely as we both felt we had been looking round the museum long enough. We made our way to the café on the ground floor for a bite to eat before moving on.

We then walked upriver through the dock area, crossing the entrance to Canning Dock by way of a small footbridge. I recognised the statue of Billy Fury near the opposite end of the bridge because a secretary where I first worked was a great fan of his.

We turned back just before we got to Queens Dock, retraced our steps and made our way to Liverpool’s parish church, the Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas. St Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors as well as children. The main part of the church was destroyed in a bombing raid in the Second World War. Only the Bell Tower remains, the rest being rebuilt in 1952.

A display in the narthex gives a short history of the church. From that we learned for the first time that Liverpool was founded by King John in 1207 when he wanted a base from which his troops could sail to Ireland to support his war efforts there. Over the centuries the original small settlement has grown to the important city it is today.

The inside of the church is very peaceful. To the north of the sanctuary is St Peter’s Chapel. The burnt cross on the altar was made from timbers recovered after the bombing.

The Maritime Chapel is to the south of the sanctuary. A wooden statue depicts Mary the Virgin standing in the prow of a ship. Both chapels contain ships’ bells, the one in the Maritime Chapel being from the last HMS Liverpool.

Outside the church, the churchyard to the north is now a commemorative garden. It contains a poignant metal statue in memory of Liverpool residents who died in the World War II bombing raids. It depicts a young woman, holding a baby, trying to persuade her young son to come down from spiral stairs, where he is more intent on playing with his toy aeroplane.

Some memorial stones on the river side of the garden commemorate Liverpool VCs from the First World War.

There are wooden benches on the path circling the main part of the garden. What at first sight looks like a homeless person lying on one of the benches, wrapped in a blanket with his feet sticking out, is actually a metal sculpture. Approach closer and you realise the feet bear the marks of nails. It is the homeless Christ lying there. That comes as both a shock and a challenge.

Having spent sometime in the church and garden, we crossed the road back to our hotel. In the evening some members of our group who had been on one of the “hop on - hop off” tourist buses told us they were disappointed with Liverpool as it was all about the Beatles. That was apparently the case on the bus tour but we got a very different impression from our own look at the city. I found Liverpool a much nicer place than I had expected.