Day out | Postcards From Here and There

Secret Liverpool Part 1

I am a great fan of travel guides and usually have one for each trip we take. For me they are essential in planning a trip and making sure you get the best out of the time you have available and see all the major sights. What they don’t always do is let you explore deeper into a city and take you to the curiosities, the secret places and the downright strange. For that you need local knowledge and its here that the internet and travel blogs can sometimes be most useful.

Many visitors to Liverpool will do something Beatle related, may visit one or both cathedrals, spend time in one or more of the excellent museums and may even travel to see the two famous football grounds. In doing many of these things they may pass some of the equally interesting aspects of the city that are rarely in the guide books. This post looks at some of them. Try to take in some as part of your stay in the city.

Night and Day. The Georges Dock Building and ventilation system can be found behind The Port of Liverpool Building at Pier Head. It is often overlooked yet it is close to the Three Graces and is certainly well worth a few minutes of your time. Built in the Art Deco style in the early 1930s it also houses a ventilation shaft for the Birkenhead Tunnel which was opened in 1934 but its hidden gems are round the back of the building on Georges Dockway. A pair of black basalt statues by Edmund C Thompson entitled Night and Day.

Big Cats. A short walk from the two statues is the site of the former Bank of Liverpool building (7 Water Street) which dates from 1899 and is Grade II listed. What is remarkable here are the entrance doors, each has the bronze head of a big cat. Are they lions, tigers, panthers? There seems to be some debate but what is not in question is how good they are and yet easily missed.

Martins Bank. The old Martins Bank building is also on Water Street but the real interest is on the side of the building on Exchange Street West. Here you will find a small plaque on the wall. During the Second World War most of the countries gold reserves were moved out of London and put into the vaults of Martins Bank.

The Seven Streets. Liverpool can trace its origins back to 1207. It its beginnings it consisted of just seven streets which still remain today though names have changed in some cases. Castle St, Bank St (now Water St), Chapel St, Dale St, Juggler St (now High St), Moor St (now Tithebarn St), and Whiteacre St (now Old Hall St). The streets are marked with a plaque. The one for Castle Street is on the eastern side of the street nearest to Derby Square.

The Sanctuary Stone. A short walk from Water Street brings you to Castle Street. This was the location of the old medieval market and the boundary is marked by the Sanctuary Stone embedded in the pavement on the western side of the street. Medieval markets and fairs had their own rules and laws and were quite separate from those of the town. An individual being sought for breaking laws or owing money in the town could seek sanctuary in the market and so the boundaries of markets were marked with stones.

Queens Avenue. Queen Avenue on the eastern side of Castle Street looks, at first glance, like the entrance to a Victorian shopping arcade. However looks can be deceiving and you find yourself here looking down one of the most picturesque streets in the whole of the city and one so often missed by visitors. It is home to a small gallery and a rather fine wine shop.

Maltese Cross. Church Street is one of the major shopping streets in the city. On the pavement just outside Top Shop is a brass Maltese cross. It marks the location of the alter of St Peters Church which was built in 1700 and demolished in 1922. It gives the street its name.

Bluecoat Garden. Running from Church Street is Church Alley which leads to the magnificent Bluecoat Chambers. A Grade I listed building built in 1717 it was originally a school but is now an arts centre. The garden is to be found in the courtyard at the back of the building and it is an area of peace and tranquility in the heart of the city. It is a great stopping off point and if the weather is nice a good place to sit and enjoy a coffee.

A Stroll Down Castle Street

Castle Street may not be anywhere near the longest street in Liverpool but it certainly manages to pack a lot in. You could easily walk its length in just a couple of minutes but to do so would mean missing out on some real treasures. Today it is home to bars, restaurants and cafés but Castle Street was formerly the place for banking and commerce in the city. Its financial importance is reflected in the grand architecture of its buildings, seventeen of which are Grade II listed.

Castle street is one of the original seven streets of the city (along with Water St, Chapel St, Dale St, High St, Tithebarn St and Old Hall St) and can date its history back to the thirteenth century. It was the main route from the river to Liverpool Castle, which stood where Derby Square and the Law Courts are found to day. It would have originally been much narrower, it was widen to its current width around 200 years ago. Most of its buildings date from the middle of the nineteenth century.

Castle Street was the location of the old medieval market and the boundary is marked by the Sanctuary Stone embedded in the pavement on the western side of the street. Medieval markets and fairs had their own rules and laws and were quite separate from those of the town. An individual being sought for breaking laws in the town could seek sanctuary in the market and so the boundaries of markets were marked with stones.

On the corner of Castle Street and James Street is the grand building of the old Alliance Bank, built in 1868. It later became home to the North and South Wales Bank followed by the Midland Bank. It is now a hotel going by the name of 62 Castle Street.

On the corner with Cook Street stands the Bank of England building built between 1845 and 1848 as one of three branches of the bank. It now sadly stands empty and is awaiting redevelopment.

27 Castle Street 1848
44 Castle Street 1890s

Two fine buildings frame the junction with Brunswick Street. On the south side is the old Adelphi Bank, built in 1892, which has some superb decorative features. The doors are well worth investigating, designed by Stirling Lee, they are made from bronze and show pairs of famous friends along with the name of the bank. The Adelphi Bank incorporated with Martins Bank which in turn became part of Barclays in the late 1960s. The building later became a branch of the Co-operative Bank and is now home on the ground floor to Café Nero.

31 Castle Street
31 Castle Street

To the north, at 36 Castle Street, is the former home of the Leyland and Bullins Bank. Designed by Grayson and Ould and opened in 1895 the ground floor now houses a Brazilian restaurant but the buildings is an important part of the city banking history. Thomas Leyland, a merchant of the city, won a considerable sum of money in a lottery at the end of the eighteenth century and went on to open the bank with his nephew in the early part of the nineteenth. The bank prospered and became part of the North and South Wales Bank in 1901 which in turn was absorbed by the Midland Bank, later to become part of HSBC.

The old offices of the Leyland and Bullin Bank.

Across the street is another building designed by Grayson and Ould. Built between 1888 and 1890 to house the offices of the British & Foreign Marine Insurance Company it is a fine Victorian piece of architecture and looks very imposing with its red sandstone and terracotta facade. The building incorporates some fine mosaic work by Frank Murray.

Queen Avenue on the eastern side of the street looks, at first glance, like the entrance to a Victorian shopping arcade. However looks can be deceiving and you find yourself here looking down one of the most picturesque streets in the whole of the city and one so often missed by visitors. It is home to a small gallery and a rather fine wine shop.

As you look up Castle Street from Derby Square the centrepiece of the street appears to be the rather grand Town Hall. If you think it looks slightly left of centre you would be correct as it was never designed for what today is a rather iconic view, being initially obscured by other developments. Built between 1749 and 1754 it actually is on Dale Street but no stroll down Castle Street would be complete without it.

The Ria Formosa

The Ria Formosa is a coastal lagoon in the Algarve, southern Portugal and covers an area of 18,000 hectares, stretching from Tavira, in the eastern Algarve to just west of Faro. It was made a National Park in 1987 and is of ecological importance, particularly for its bird life.

A series of barrier islands gives protection from the Atlantic Ocean and as a result the waters are usually flat calm and are relatively shallow.

A number of companies offer tours of the Rio Formosa from the quayside in Faro. A popular option is a 5 hour tour which includes visits to four of the islands and a lunch stop on Culatra Island for which you cover your own costs. Our trip was in a very comfortable catamaran, seating up to 12 people, with guide who is able to give a commentary in a number of different languages.

Ilha Deserta (the deserted island) is a popular island for visitors, especially in the summer, with its beautiful beach facing the Atlantic Ocean You can reach it by Ferry from Faro which runs all year round. It’s deserted in the sense that nobody lives there but there is a cafe/restaurant and toilet facilities. Visiting in early March was fantastic as the number of fellow tourists was very small indeed and you could appreciate the peace and tranquility of the place.

A short boat ride then takes you on to Farol Island complete with is lighthouse built in 1851. There are also some lovely little cottages here, many of which are now holiday homes and rentals. A busier island but still peaceful and quiet at this time of year.

Armona Island is opposite the town of Olhão from where you can pick up a water taxi to the island. Armona is busier with more of a resident population, a small convenience store and a number of cafes.There are still no cars or roads here as on previous islands and its is a nice place to wander aimlessly through the narrow, twisting streets.

The final stop was Culatra Island, also known as Fishermans Island. Here there is a harbour for the fishing boats that service the lslands main economy.

Here you can have lunch if you so desire and what else would you eat but fish. I am a huge fan of simply grilled fish and nowhere does it as well as its done in Portugal. Washed down with a zingy, fresh glass of Vinho Verde its a perfect end to an excellent tour.

It is then a 20/30 minute boat ride back to Faro where you get excellent views of the old town as you approach.