U.K. Trip - Part 3

On the penultimate day of my 5-day trip I went down to Liverpool, on my own.

The direct train from Preston chugged along, passing through Leyland of Leyland Trucks fame, Wigan, home of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls - a delicacy worthy of U.N. Heritage status - and Pilkington's Glass in St Helens, to Liverpool Lime Street. Liverpool city centre has undergone great changes in recent years, although the city is still rather schizophrenic, with modern concrete palaces in the centre, and boarded up houses and very poor areas just down the road. In a sense, it is very similar to most northern British cities; Manchester, Hull, Leeds etc.

My trip was a cultural one, so the Liverpool museums were the main focus. The entrance to major museums in the UK is free, or to be precise visitors make a contribution as they see fit, which means it is possible to visit a museum, look at some parts and leave, without feeling obliged to go through all the exhibits to justify paying a high entrance fee.

My museums trip started with a look round some of the rooms of the Walker Art Gallery and then a couple of floors of the World Museum. Then it was time for lunch, and what could be more British than fish'n'chips. (In the William Gladstone, North John Street. Verdict - OK, but nothing to write home about.)

After lunch I headed off down to Albert Dock, a renovated dock with a host of tourist attractions: museums, cafés, bars, boutiques etc. I went to parts of the Maritime Museum, which I enjoyed immensely. Wandering around the exhibits I remembered when I wrote, as a teenager, to Cunard's and P&O to enquire about careers at sea.

After all the museums I wandered around in the sunshine for a while and then went for some shopping in the Everton Football Club shop, Everton Two, situated in the new Liverpool 1 shopping complex. (Mailing Address: Everton 2, Liverpool 1; geddit?!)

Then it was back to Preston on the train; "Calling at Edge Hill, Huyton, St Helens Central, Wigan, and all stations to Preston."

Below a few photos of my day out.

A Lambanana in the World Museum.


Part of Albert Dock.


The Liver Building and Crown Court (?) at the rear, modern buildings in the middle, and the Great Western Railway warehouse in the foreground.


The Pumphouse and glass-fronted high-rise blocks.


The futuristic Museum of Liverpool, due to open in July 2011.

Liverpudlians are still flying the flag for non-acceptance of London-based government policies, below a photo of a small demonstration.

Anti-cuts demonstration in front of the Town Hall.

Britain has become a rather Orwellian society, with millions of CCTV cameras watching people's moves. The next photo was taken surreptiously, since certain British police forces have a poor reputation.

They are watching you!!

And so was the short-haired leather-jacketed man resting nonchalantly in a shop doorway. It reminded me of my visits to East Berlin in the former German Democratic Republic.