Decided to make the big, and much anticipated trip into Liverpool!
Left home about 10.15am and caught the train from Lea Green station to Lime Street. We arrived in Liverpool about 11am. It was so strange seeing our old stomping ground again! I was educated in Liverpool and we both worked in the city. The old landmarks such as St George’s Hall, the Liver (pronounced Lie-ver for you non-Scousers!) Building, and Lewis’s (complete with Fred on top – a naked statue which was quite a landmark – “See you under Fred” we used to say!).The main shopping area, Church Street, is now a pedestrian thoroughfare and so we had a nice leisurely stroll past old and new shops. We walked down to the Pier Head where the Albert Docks have been renovated and reborn as a trendy shopping precinct, with cafés, boutiques, galleries and gift shops. Bought a few Liverpool souvenirs and postcards and had a cup of coffee. There is a replica of a wartime house in the area and that was very interesting – how times have changed! We also went into the Liverpool Football Club shop and Ron was disappointed that there wasn’t an equivalent Everton shop in the vicinity! Never mind, a visit to Goodison Park is on the cards very soon.
We found Liverpool had changed a great deal and it has become much more modern. It is, of course, the 2008 European City of Culture, although we have a bit of a problem getting our head around that!!
After having wandered, wondered and photographed to our hearts’ content, we went to Maggie May’s for lunch – this is a family-owned and run café, very good food and extremely good value.
We continued up Bold Street, passing the place where Ron and I met (closed now, of course!) and then just ambled towards the station on our way home.
We’ll have to go back later because there was so much we didn’t see – Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (where I was confirmed), the Roman Catholic Cathedral (nicknamed The Mersey Funnel) plus lots more places of which we both have fond memories. Naturally, we’ll also have to have a ferry ride.
Tomorrow we’re off to Cheltenham (in the Cotswolds) to visit Dot’s daughter Julie and her daughter Chantelle. On Saturday we had met another of Dot’s daughters, Janet and Janet’s daughters Sabina, Nadia and Layla as well as Sabina’s husband Mark and their children Ayesha, Lewis and Morris (hard to believe Dot is a great-grandmother several times over!). Janet also has another daughter and three sons. Yesterday we met yet another daughter, Jackie! We’ve yet to meet Dot’s son Jeff and his wife Linda. Although Allan is not the children’s father or grandfather, it’s nice to see that the young ones all call him Granddad.
