26th May 2010
Ferry cross the Mersey
Gerry & The Pacemakers
I
was back in Liverpool for the day; a day to be a tourist and visit both
cathedrals, the Catholic 'funnel' and the more traditional looking Protestant,
before taking a ferry across the Mersey to a Bed & Breakfast.
First
cathedral visited was the Catholic funnel, a modern concrete construction which
to me is beautiful inside if rather bland on the outside. Look at the shape
outside and it is easy to see why it is called rather disparagingly 'Paddy's
Funnel'. Rather a racist term maybe, especially as one side of my family, my
Mother's side, are Irish Catholics. Indeed Great Grandmother is reputed to have
had twenty three children. “Blimey!” I hear you say. So did she!
Inside I remembered a concert there by a synthesizer group called Tangerine Dream way back in the mid-70s. The group, with their array of synthesizers, were in the middle of the circular church, with maybe a third of the seating area being taken up by hundreds of large candles. The rest of the seating space was taken up by student types, including me resplendent in my Afghan coat and strings of seed necklaces. Long hair down my back completed my Peace, Love and Flowers image. The group played almost motionless with their sounds echoing beautifully within the cavernous space.
Taking the time to explore the crypt, what a contrast to the modern church above ground. Here were vast areas of oppressive Victorian-looking architecture, designed though in the 1930s by Sir Edward Lutyens.
Next a visit to the Anglican Cathedral, vast against the Liverpool skyline on the approach road with a vast interior. The only church I can remember visiting which might be comparable in size is St Peter's in Rome. A modern Cathedral but totally different to the Catholic architecture, being of a more traditional design. I climbed the stairs to get to the top of the central tower and what views of the city and the Mersey greeted me there. Fabulous!
Back
inside the main transept I recalled seeing Paul McCartney here, my first ever
view of a real Beatle, back in 1991. He was there for a concert performance of
one his pieces of music. I was visiting the cathedral with a very dear
girlfriend, Diane. If I had £1 for every time my parents said to me, “you
should have married that one,” I would be a rich man.
Speaking
of the Beatles; many years ago I managed to get a framed gold disc of a Beatles
LP album and a smaller one of a single. I cannot remember which ones either
were, my memory says Abbey Road for the LP and Please, Please Me for the single
but I do remember how I got them. A friend had to leave the country rather too
quickly for some reason that I never did find out. I gave him the money he
required to do so and a package arrived months later from him. Inside were the
framed discs. Now as The Beatles was my, sadly now late wife, Karen's favourite
band. She put them up on the wall in the beautiful house we used to live in in
Swanage, Dorset. Unfortunately, these were amongst many items stolen when we
were burgled!
Down again and out to cycle to the ferry terminal at Albert Dock. Ferry across the Mersey and a comfortable night in a bed and breakfast. In fact the stay was at a wonderful, new Bed & Breakfast, The Liver View Hotel, owned by an enthusiastic young man who spent the evening refurbishing it in places. Newly opened he had got a few rooms up to scratch and was building up a business. He spent a couple of hours telling me his plans for the future. I hoped he would succeed.
Tickle My Feathers
No comments:
Post a Comment