Football success fed Liverpudlian pride during the city’s darkest days, but the home of the Beatles is flourishing once again – as our own day tripper Paul McNamara discovers
Issue 14
The Mersey Ferry carefully switches direction, beginning the last leg of a 50-minute journey that provides bang for your buck. On a bright and brisk early afternoon, Liverpool’s enticing waterfront – to use the words of the commentary provided for passengers – “takes your breath away”. The Three Graces, a trio of soaring buildings that qualify as stunning feats of architecture, stand guard over the city. A city that, we are informed, has “undergone a thrilling renaissance”. No need to apply the past tense, given the regeneration under way in the north of Liverpool. Our ferry adventure is still young when we pass the skeleton of Everton’s new stadium, improbably rising out of the formerly neglected Bramley-Moore Dock as the centrepiece of a landscape-changing £500m project.
We’ve got the other major local club in mind on this particular day, however. Liverpool, whose Anfield home we see cresting a distant hill as we aim north on the river, are Champions League royalty. Our first glimpse of the Reds’ famous symbol comes here on the water, perched almost 100 metres up on the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building. The tallest of those Three Graces, this is perhaps the most recognisable landmark thanks to its two liver bird sculptures, wings outspread and a sprig of seaweed in their beaks.
You can go to the summit of the Royal Liver Building for a closer look at these mythical creatures that – as legend has it – would cause the city to fall if they ever flew away. One, we are told, is called Bella. She is looking out to sea, waiting for sailors to return home. The other, Bertie, has his eyes directed inland, checking whether the pubs are open.
If Bertie wanted a pint in salubrious surrounds, he’d be advised to travel slightly off the beaten track to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a Grade I listed pub. Its toilets (bear with us) count as a tourist attraction in their own right, the Victorian design commensurate with the building’s elaborate interior. The pub is on Hope Street, aptly named given that to journey from one end to the other is to move between the city’s two grand cathedrals.
Separating them is our eating destination. Two ladies sit beneath one of six green-and-white striped canopies protruding from The Quarter restaurant, so named for its position in Liverpool’s elegant Georgian Quarter. Their table is full of watercolours, A4 pads and sketches of the picturesque view; our own is soon topped with delicious pizza and pasta.
The Mersey Ferry carefully switches direction, beginning the last leg of a 50-minute journey that provides bang for your buck. On a bright and brisk early afternoon, Liverpool’s enticing waterfront – to use the words of the commentary provided for passengers – “takes your breath away”. The Three Graces, a trio of soaring buildings that qualify as stunning feats of architecture, stand guard over the city. A city that, we are informed, has “undergone a thrilling renaissance”. No need to apply the past tense, given the regeneration under way in the north of Liverpool. Our ferry adventure is still young when we pass the skeleton of Everton’s new stadium, improbably rising out of the formerly neglected Bramley-Moore Dock as the centrepiece of a landscape-changing £500m project.
We’ve got the other major local club in mind on this particular day, however. Liverpool, whose Anfield home we see cresting a distant hill as we aim north on the river, are Champions League royalty. Our first glimpse of the Reds’ famous symbol comes here on the water, perched almost 100 metres up on the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building. The tallest of those Three Graces, this is perhaps the most recognisable landmark thanks to its two liver bird sculptures, wings outspread and a sprig of seaweed in their beaks.
You can go to the summit of the Royal Liver Building for a closer look at these mythical creatures that – as legend has it – would cause the city to fall if they ever flew away. One, we are told, is called Bella. She is looking out to sea, waiting for sailors to return home. The other, Bertie, has his eyes directed inland, checking whether the pubs are open.
If Bertie wanted a pint in salubrious surrounds, he’d be advised to travel slightly off the beaten track to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a Grade I listed pub. Its toilets (bear with us) count as a tourist attraction in their own right, the Victorian design commensurate with the building’s elaborate interior. The pub is on Hope Street, aptly named given that to journey from one end to the other is to move between the city’s two grand cathedrals.
Separating them is our eating destination. Two ladies sit beneath one of six green-and-white striped canopies protruding from The Quarter restaurant, so named for its position in Liverpool’s elegant Georgian Quarter. Their table is full of watercolours, A4 pads and sketches of the picturesque view; our own is soon topped with delicious pizza and pasta.
Read the full story
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It is a fair reflection of the ability to lose yourself in this city that we’ve barely mentioned the football so far. But the game is never far from view, and vendors peddling shirts, scarves and flags spring up before midday. By then there is already a proliferation of bodies dressed in red strolling the pavement. A throng of supporters also congregate on Bold Street, a Liverpool institution with its independent shops, coffee houses and cosmopolitan restaurants. Ninety minutes before kick-off, the vibe tends towards party time. The Fratellis’ Chelsea Dagger booms from one establishment as the remnants of the day’s shoppers mingle with match-goers and those starting nights out.
The hum of activity underlines how much times have changed. Soon after the Toxteth riots in 1981, Margaret Thatcher’s government discussed a “managed decline” of Liverpool. In the ten years to 1982, the closure of docks, coupled with a diminishing manufacturing industry, cost the city 80,000 jobs. The area was sustained by Liverpool and Everton occupying the summit of domestic and European football.
The abiding effect of the Reds’ continental hegemony is visible in the wave of overseas visitors for every home fixture. Hotels typically refuse requests for one-night bookings either side of Champions League fixtures, but Liverpool loyalists might fancy the Shankly Hotel, opposite the Everton-themed Dixie Dean Hotel, on Victoria Street. Wherever they stay, Anfield pilgrims will find a city that is thriving again. European City of Culture for 2008, Liverpool is rich in galleries and museums, and each grants free admission. The waterfront Museum of Liverpool houses an exhaustive account of local history and the Maritime Museum, on the Royal Albert Dock – a tourist hotspot and home to Tate Liverpool – does likewise for the region’s nautical heritage.
The artistically inclined can also revel in the city’s world-renowned musical legacy, not least at the Beatles statue on Pier Head, where folk boasting a panoply of languages and accents form a stereotypically well-mannered British queue for pictures with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Don’t forget the Cavern Club on Mathew Street too, which regularly played host to the band in their early years.
Last stop, Anfield. Terraced houses squeezed onto compact roads line the base of the 20,500-capacity Main Stand, opened in 2016. The renowned Arkles Pub on Anfield Road is thrumming, as are other popular watering holes in the shadow of the ground. We succumb to the temptation of a styrofoam tray of chips and curry sauce; bellies full and minds nourished, we squeeze through our turnstile into the citadel of the six-time European champions.
The Mersey Ferry carefully switches direction, beginning the last leg of a 50-minute journey that provides bang for your buck. On a bright and brisk early afternoon, Liverpool’s enticing waterfront – to use the words of the commentary provided for passengers – “takes your breath away”. The Three Graces, a trio of soaring buildings that qualify as stunning feats of architecture, stand guard over the city. A city that, we are informed, has “undergone a thrilling renaissance”. No need to apply the past tense, given the regeneration under way in the north of Liverpool. Our ferry adventure is still young when we pass the skeleton of Everton’s new stadium, improbably rising out of the formerly neglected Bramley-Moore Dock as the centrepiece of a landscape-changing £500m project.
We’ve got the other major local club in mind on this particular day, however. Liverpool, whose Anfield home we see cresting a distant hill as we aim north on the river, are Champions League royalty. Our first glimpse of the Reds’ famous symbol comes here on the water, perched almost 100 metres up on the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building. The tallest of those Three Graces, this is perhaps the most recognisable landmark thanks to its two liver bird sculptures, wings outspread and a sprig of seaweed in their beaks.
You can go to the summit of the Royal Liver Building for a closer look at these mythical creatures that – as legend has it – would cause the city to fall if they ever flew away. One, we are told, is called Bella. She is looking out to sea, waiting for sailors to return home. The other, Bertie, has his eyes directed inland, checking whether the pubs are open.
If Bertie wanted a pint in salubrious surrounds, he’d be advised to travel slightly off the beaten track to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a Grade I listed pub. Its toilets (bear with us) count as a tourist attraction in their own right, the Victorian design commensurate with the building’s elaborate interior. The pub is on Hope Street, aptly named given that to journey from one end to the other is to move between the city’s two grand cathedrals.
Separating them is our eating destination. Two ladies sit beneath one of six green-and-white striped canopies protruding from The Quarter restaurant, so named for its position in Liverpool’s elegant Georgian Quarter. Their table is full of watercolours, A4 pads and sketches of the picturesque view; our own is soon topped with delicious pizza and pasta.
Available now
Issue 21
Get your copy for interviews with Carlo Ancelotti, Stormzy and Xabi Alonso
Football success fed Liverpudlian pride during the city’s darkest days, but the home of the Beatles is flourishing once again – as our own day tripper Paul McNamara discovers
The Mersey Ferry carefully switches direction, beginning the last leg of a 50-minute journey that provides bang for your buck. On a bright and brisk early afternoon, Liverpool’s enticing waterfront – to use the words of the commentary provided for passengers – “takes your breath away”. The Three Graces, a trio of soaring buildings that qualify as stunning feats of architecture, stand guard over the city. A city that, we are informed, has “undergone a thrilling renaissance”. No need to apply the past tense, given the regeneration under way in the north of Liverpool. Our ferry adventure is still young when we pass the skeleton of Everton’s new stadium, improbably rising out of the formerly neglected Bramley-Moore Dock as the centrepiece of a landscape-changing £500m project.
We’ve got the other major local club in mind on this particular day, however. Liverpool, whose Anfield home we see cresting a distant hill as we aim north on the river, are Champions League royalty. Our first glimpse of the Reds’ famous symbol comes here on the water, perched almost 100 metres up on the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building. The tallest of those Three Graces, this is perhaps the most recognisable landmark thanks to its two liver bird sculptures, wings outspread and a sprig of seaweed in their beaks.
You can go to the summit of the Royal Liver Building for a closer look at these mythical creatures that – as legend has it – would cause the city to fall if they ever flew away. One, we are told, is called Bella. She is looking out to sea, waiting for sailors to return home. The other, Bertie, has his eyes directed inland, checking whether the pubs are open.
If Bertie wanted a pint in salubrious surrounds, he’d be advised to travel slightly off the beaten track to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a Grade I listed pub. Its toilets (bear with us) count as a tourist attraction in their own right, the Victorian design commensurate with the building’s elaborate interior. The pub is on Hope Street, aptly named given that to journey from one end to the other is to move between the city’s two grand cathedrals.
Separating them is our eating destination. Two ladies sit beneath one of six green-and-white striped canopies protruding from The Quarter restaurant, so named for its position in Liverpool’s elegant Georgian Quarter. Their table is full of watercolours, A4 pads and sketches of the picturesque view; our own is soon topped with delicious pizza and pasta.
The Mersey Ferry carefully switches direction, beginning the last leg of a 50-minute journey that provides bang for your buck. On a bright and brisk early afternoon, Liverpool’s enticing waterfront – to use the words of the commentary provided for passengers – “takes your breath away”. The Three Graces, a trio of soaring buildings that qualify as stunning feats of architecture, stand guard over the city. A city that, we are informed, has “undergone a thrilling renaissance”. No need to apply the past tense, given the regeneration under way in the north of Liverpool. Our ferry adventure is still young when we pass the skeleton of Everton’s new stadium, improbably rising out of the formerly neglected Bramley-Moore Dock as the centrepiece of a landscape-changing £500m project.
We’ve got the other major local club in mind on this particular day, however. Liverpool, whose Anfield home we see cresting a distant hill as we aim north on the river, are Champions League royalty. Our first glimpse of the Reds’ famous symbol comes here on the water, perched almost 100 metres up on the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building. The tallest of those Three Graces, this is perhaps the most recognisable landmark thanks to its two liver bird sculptures, wings outspread and a sprig of seaweed in their beaks.
You can go to the summit of the Royal Liver Building for a closer look at these mythical creatures that – as legend has it – would cause the city to fall if they ever flew away. One, we are told, is called Bella. She is looking out to sea, waiting for sailors to return home. The other, Bertie, has his eyes directed inland, checking whether the pubs are open.
If Bertie wanted a pint in salubrious surrounds, he’d be advised to travel slightly off the beaten track to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a Grade I listed pub. Its toilets (bear with us) count as a tourist attraction in their own right, the Victorian design commensurate with the building’s elaborate interior. The pub is on Hope Street, aptly named given that to journey from one end to the other is to move between the city’s two grand cathedrals.
Separating them is our eating destination. Two ladies sit beneath one of six green-and-white striped canopies protruding from The Quarter restaurant, so named for its position in Liverpool’s elegant Georgian Quarter. Their table is full of watercolours, A4 pads and sketches of the picturesque view; our own is soon topped with delicious pizza and pasta.
Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!
It is a fair reflection of the ability to lose yourself in this city that we’ve barely mentioned the football so far. But the game is never far from view, and vendors peddling shirts, scarves and flags spring up before midday. By then there is already a proliferation of bodies dressed in red strolling the pavement. A throng of supporters also congregate on Bold Street, a Liverpool institution with its independent shops, coffee houses and cosmopolitan restaurants. Ninety minutes before kick-off, the vibe tends towards party time. The Fratellis’ Chelsea Dagger booms from one establishment as the remnants of the day’s shoppers mingle with match-goers and those starting nights out.
The hum of activity underlines how much times have changed. Soon after the Toxteth riots in 1981, Margaret Thatcher’s government discussed a “managed decline” of Liverpool. In the ten years to 1982, the closure of docks, coupled with a diminishing manufacturing industry, cost the city 80,000 jobs. The area was sustained by Liverpool and Everton occupying the summit of domestic and European football.
The abiding effect of the Reds’ continental hegemony is visible in the wave of overseas visitors for every home fixture. Hotels typically refuse requests for one-night bookings either side of Champions League fixtures, but Liverpool loyalists might fancy the Shankly Hotel, opposite the Everton-themed Dixie Dean Hotel, on Victoria Street. Wherever they stay, Anfield pilgrims will find a city that is thriving again. European City of Culture for 2008, Liverpool is rich in galleries and museums, and each grants free admission. The waterfront Museum of Liverpool houses an exhaustive account of local history and the Maritime Museum, on the Royal Albert Dock – a tourist hotspot and home to Tate Liverpool – does likewise for the region’s nautical heritage.
The artistically inclined can also revel in the city’s world-renowned musical legacy, not least at the Beatles statue on Pier Head, where folk boasting a panoply of languages and accents form a stereotypically well-mannered British queue for pictures with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Don’t forget the Cavern Club on Mathew Street too, which regularly played host to the band in their early years.
Last stop, Anfield. Terraced houses squeezed onto compact roads line the base of the 20,500-capacity Main Stand, opened in 2016. The renowned Arkles Pub on Anfield Road is thrumming, as are other popular watering holes in the shadow of the ground. We succumb to the temptation of a styrofoam tray of chips and curry sauce; bellies full and minds nourished, we squeeze through our turnstile into the citadel of the six-time European champions.
The Mersey Ferry carefully switches direction, beginning the last leg of a 50-minute journey that provides bang for your buck. On a bright and brisk early afternoon, Liverpool’s enticing waterfront – to use the words of the commentary provided for passengers – “takes your breath away”. The Three Graces, a trio of soaring buildings that qualify as stunning feats of architecture, stand guard over the city. A city that, we are informed, has “undergone a thrilling renaissance”. No need to apply the past tense, given the regeneration under way in the north of Liverpool. Our ferry adventure is still young when we pass the skeleton of Everton’s new stadium, improbably rising out of the formerly neglected Bramley-Moore Dock as the centrepiece of a landscape-changing £500m project.
We’ve got the other major local club in mind on this particular day, however. Liverpool, whose Anfield home we see cresting a distant hill as we aim north on the river, are Champions League royalty. Our first glimpse of the Reds’ famous symbol comes here on the water, perched almost 100 metres up on the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building. The tallest of those Three Graces, this is perhaps the most recognisable landmark thanks to its two liver bird sculptures, wings outspread and a sprig of seaweed in their beaks.
You can go to the summit of the Royal Liver Building for a closer look at these mythical creatures that – as legend has it – would cause the city to fall if they ever flew away. One, we are told, is called Bella. She is looking out to sea, waiting for sailors to return home. The other, Bertie, has his eyes directed inland, checking whether the pubs are open.
If Bertie wanted a pint in salubrious surrounds, he’d be advised to travel slightly off the beaten track to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a Grade I listed pub. Its toilets (bear with us) count as a tourist attraction in their own right, the Victorian design commensurate with the building’s elaborate interior. The pub is on Hope Street, aptly named given that to journey from one end to the other is to move between the city’s two grand cathedrals.
Separating them is our eating destination. Two ladies sit beneath one of six green-and-white striped canopies protruding from The Quarter restaurant, so named for its position in Liverpool’s elegant Georgian Quarter. Their table is full of watercolours, A4 pads and sketches of the picturesque view; our own is soon topped with delicious pizza and pasta.
Available now
Issue 21
Get your copy for interviews with Carlo Ancelotti, Stormzy and Xabi Alonso
The home grounds of Liverpool and Everton lie a short walk apart – for now
Park Life
Anfield is barely 1km from Everton’s Goodison Park stadium as the crow flies. These two old adversaries are separated by Stanley Park, the 45-hectare patch of green space where once there was talk of constructing a modern home for both clubs.
The idea united the two sets of supporters in their ire and Liverpool ultimately opted to remain at the stadium they’ve occupied since forming in 1892. Intriguingly, Anfield was home to Everton for the eight previous years and the Blues won the first of their nine league titles playing at the ground in 1890/91.
When landlord John Houlding proposed a rent increase, Everton chairman George Mahon exercised an option to buy Mere Green Field, north of Stanley Park, where Goodison Park was officially opened in August 1892. Confronted with the possibility of owning a white elephant, Houlding formed Liverpool Football Club, whose stadium capacity will climb beyond 61,000 when the Anfield Road End renovations are completed for 2023/24.
Everton dearly hope to preserve their Premier League status ahead of decamping to their glittering new waterfront arena at the outset of the next campaign. Either way, the sight of both sets of fans striding across Stanley Park on Goodison Merseyside derby days will be consigned to the past.
The home grounds of Liverpool and Everton lie a short walk apart – for now
Park Life
Anfield is barely 1km from Everton’s Goodison Park stadium as the crow flies. These two old adversaries are separated by Stanley Park, the 45-hectare patch of green space where once there was talk of constructing a modern home for both clubs.
The idea united the two sets of supporters in their ire and Liverpool ultimately opted to remain at the stadium they’ve occupied since forming in 1892. Intriguingly, Anfield was home to Everton for the eight previous years and the Blues won the first of their nine league titles playing at the ground in 1890/91.
When landlord John Houlding proposed a rent increase, Everton chairman George Mahon exercised an option to buy Mere Green Field, north of Stanley Park, where Goodison Park was officially opened in August 1892. Confronted with the possibility of owning a white elephant, Houlding formed Liverpool Football Club, whose stadium capacity will climb beyond 61,000 when the Anfield Road End renovations are completed for 2023/24.
Everton dearly hope to preserve their Premier League status ahead of decamping to their glittering new waterfront arena at the outset of the next campaign. Either way, the sight of both sets of fans striding across Stanley Park on Goodison Merseyside derby days will be consigned to the past.
The home grounds of Liverpool and Everton lie a short walk apart – for now
Park Life
Anfield is barely 1km from Everton’s Goodison Park stadium as the crow flies. These two old adversaries are separated by Stanley Park, the 45-hectare patch of green space where once there was talk of constructing a modern home for both clubs.
The idea united the two sets of supporters in their ire and Liverpool ultimately opted to remain at the stadium they’ve occupied since forming in 1892. Intriguingly, Anfield was home to Everton for the eight previous years and the Blues won the first of their nine league titles playing at the ground in 1890/91.
When landlord John Houlding proposed a rent increase, Everton chairman George Mahon exercised an option to buy Mere Green Field, north of Stanley Park, where Goodison Park was officially opened in August 1892. Confronted with the possibility of owning a white elephant, Houlding formed Liverpool Football Club, whose stadium capacity will climb beyond 61,000 when the Anfield Road End renovations are completed for 2023/24.
Everton dearly hope to preserve their Premier League status ahead of decamping to their glittering new waterfront arena at the outset of the next campaign. Either way, the sight of both sets of fans striding across Stanley Park on Goodison Merseyside derby days will be consigned to the past.
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