A Stroll Down Hope Street Liverpool

Hope Street is one of Liverpool’s most iconic and well known streets not least for the fact that it links the citys two cathedrals. Linking Upper Parliament Street with Mount Pleasant it was named after William Hope, a wool and textile merchant, who lived on the site of what is now the Philharmonic Hall in the mid nineteenth century.

Today Hope Street is identified as being an integral part of the city’s Georgian Quarter, named after the town houses that were built in the area, in the Georgian style, from the early 1800s.

The southern end of Hope Street is dominated by the imposing presence of The Anglican Cathedral and St James Gardens.

The design was an open competition which was won by 22 year old Giles Gilbert Scott, who later went on to design the iconic red telephone box and Battersea Power Station.

Work officially began in 1904 and was not finished until 1978, eighteen years after Scotts death. Built in the gothic style of local red sandstone it dominates the skyline and is the fifth largest cathedral in the world. You can visit the cathedral’s website here.

Crossing Upper Duke Street the building on the left is The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, although is main entrance is on Mount Street. Opened in 1996 in the building that was once The Liverpool Institute Boys School, the former school of former Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, it has become one of the leading learning centres of its type.

On the corner of Hope Street and Mount Street is John Kings 1998 art installation entitled A Case History. There are 27 cases in total which supposedly belong to people that have some connection with the Hope Street area. There is a noticeboard in Mount Street which lists the ‘owner’ of each case.

Opposite stands Blackburne House. When it was built as a private dwelling in 1788 it was in the countryside, removed from fast developing city. It is set back slightly from the road and surrounded by a wall which makes it rather difficult to see the building which is currently Grade II listed.

It became a girls school in 1844 and remained so until its closure in 1986. After laying empty for several years it was finally redeveloped into a training centre for women.

Crossing Hope Street once again we come to the statues of  Bishop David Sheppard and Archbishop Derek Worlock.

Located by The London Carriage Works restaurant it is exactly halfway between the Anglican and Metropolitan cathedrals. Both men did much for the city of Liverpool, especially during the dark days for the city in the early eighties when unemployment and poverty put the city at odds with the then Tory government. They were often seen together and they worked tirelessly to bring communities and groups together. In recognition of the work they did for their adopted home they were awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 1994.

The statue represents two open doors and has newspaper headlines and clippings about them on the reverse.

The Philharmonic Hall opened in 1939 and was built in the Art Deco style, a very popular architectural style at the time. it is home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra which can trace its origins back to 1840, making it one of the oldest musical societies in the world. As well as orchestral concerts the hall is today also used for contemporary music and comedy shows. A smaller and more intimate venue called the Philharmonic Music Room was recently opened to the rear of the hall with an entrance on Sugnall Street.

Diagonally across the road from The Philharmonic Hall stands The Philharmonic Dining Rooms. Opened originally as a gentleman club but subsequently converted to a public house it is probably one of the finest in the city.

The Phil, as its locally known, is well known for the ornate gents toilets made from rose coloured marble. They are so architecturally important that they are grade I listed, making them a higher listing than the building itself.

The Everyman Theatre stands at the northern end of Hope Street.

The current building opened in 2014 following a three year rebuild but the theatre has been on this site since 1964. The theatre is important both locally and nationally and has been a launching pad for many careers.

Although technically located on Mount Pleasant, The Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King represents the northern end of Hope Street for many people.

Built on the site of an old, victorian workhouse building began in the mid 1930s but plans were stalled by the outbreak of war in 1939. Post war austerity meant that plans had to be scaled back and the redesigned cathedral was finally consecrated in 1967. Of the original plan only the crypt was built and the entrance to this is on nearby Brownlow Hill. The cathedral is known locally as ‘Paddy’s Wigwam’.

Notes from 38000 feet.

Trying to occupy myself on the fourteen hour leg from Singapore back home I wrote a few short notes about our trip to Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. The list is below and I haven’t added anything since I got back so it really is a snapshot with little editing. If I were to compile it now it might be a little different but probably not much.  The list is in no particular order and lots of research went in to 1, 8 and 12.

  1. New Zealanders make the best coffee.
  2. Singapore is an excellent stopover en route to New Zealand, there is so much to see and do.
  3. 23Kg is a more than generous luggage allowance and you don’t need to use it all and you have to lug it around with you.
  4. I thought I knew what rain was until I went to tropical Queensland.
  5. Botanic gardens don’t have to be dull and boring
  6. New Zealand is a wonderful country in which to drive a  car, the roads are so quiet.
  7. Koala Bears are bigger than I imagined and difficult to spot in the trees.
  8. Craft beer is a big thing in New Zealand and beers are very good.
  9. The breakfast on Singapore Airlines is excellent
  10. There is so much more to the Red Centre of Australia than Uluru.
  11. Spending part of the winter in the Southern Hemisphere is so much better than spending it in the cold and damp of the UK.
  12. Old vine Grenache from the Barossa Valley really is excellent
  13. There is hardly any litter in New Zealand.
  14. Almost everyone we met on our trip were positive, friendly and helpful
  15. There is so much still to see and do in Australia. We need to go back as soon as we can.

The Daintree Rainforest

The Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland is the oldest tropical rainforest in the world. It is home to many hundreds of species of animals and plants, some of which exist only here. As a result it is one of the most complex rainforest ecosystems in the world.

Just a two hour drive from Cairns, or one hour from Port Douglas, you pass field upon field of sugar cane before you arrive in a world that is far, far removed from the hustle and bustle of modern life. You really are stepping back in time, estimates put its age at 180 million years, compare that with the Amazonian Rainforest which is a mere 55 million years old. Its hot and humid but you kind of expect that in a tropical rainforest. Its green, deep, concentrated green, there an awful lot of photosynthesis going on here. The rainforest has a damp, earthy, musty smell there is a sweetness and perfume to it. Together there is an assault on the senses.

The age of the rainforest can be seen from some of the plants that grow here. The Idiot Fruit, or Idiospermum australiense to give it its scientific name,  is sometimes referred to as the green dinosaur because of its age. Rediscovered in the Daintree in only the 1970s this tree grows nowhere else in the world. Fossil evidence indicates that it has been around for 120 million years with its flowers little changed over that time. Its fruit, which is highly poisonous, is large and contains the single largest seed found anywhere in Australia. A true living fossil and a good example of the kind rare plant found here.

The Daintree River rises in the rainforest and flows for 140Km before reaching the Coral Sea. The river has become a tourist attraction with cruises (Daintree River Cruises) to see the plants and animals living there. The number one on the list to see is the saltwater crocodile, the most aggressive of all crocodile species.

At the time of our visit the river had been in flood following a tropical cyclone. This brings a lot of cold water into the river system and the crocodiles don’t really like cold water as they need to maintain their body temperature at around 30 degrees Celsius. As a consequence they spend more time basking on the banks among the mangroves where they’re incredibly well camouflaged and difficult to spot. This is where the guide comes in as they have so much experience, while they cannot guarantee you a spot they will do their very best.

The crocodile above is well hidden (centre) and blends with the muddy bank. it was completely unfazed by our presence as it warmed itself in the morning sun. It was the largest we saw at about 4 feet in length.

 

This crocodile is a juvenile about 3-4 years old and probably still close to its mother and under her protection. Here it is basking on a fallen branch and not very active.

The mangroves in the Daintree are diverse with over 30 species found in the area. Many are salt tolerant and can either filter the salt out or have special salt glands.

There are no bridges across the Daintree River. If you want to head north further into the rainforest and visit Cape Tribulation then you must use the Daintree ferry. It is a cable operated ferry and the crossing takes only 5 minutes but there is a toll to be paid which varies depending on the size of the vehicle but is currently $28 return for a car.

Cape Tribulation is the point where the tropical rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. The headland was named by James Cook when his ship The Endeavour ran aground on the Barrier Reef and needed to be repaired. The headland encloses a superb beach. the area has probably not changed very much since Cook and his crew were here in 1770.