Once more to Liverpool

My third visit in a year to a British city that somehow avoided my attentions during the 40 years I lived in Britain. Liverpool is a exemplar of urban regeneration, in particular its waterfront. Low-cost flights from Okęcie (WizzAir) and Modlin (Ryanair) open up this city to Warsaw (and yet Edinburgh and Birmingham are not connected). Anyway, a great place to visit, although on business I had a couple of hours to stroll around in the sunshine.

Below: Liverpool's Three Graces (from left) - the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building. They all date back to early 20th Century.

Below: close-up of one of the two Liver Birds - the one facing the River Mersey. The other faces the city. The legend of the 'mythical birds' only dates back to time the building was completed.

Below: between the Port of Liverpool Building (opened 1917, left) and Cunard Building (opened 10 years earlier, right), looking towards the Mersey. To the left of frame is part of the Mersey Queensway Tunnel's ventilation and control building, built in the mid-1930s in the Art Deco style with plenty of Egyptian motifs (fashionable at the time).

Below: the ventilation tower and control building. In front of it, a bus shelter flanked by lamp posts. A scene of civic pride - at the time it was opened, the 13-metre diameter Mersey Tunnel was the longest underwater tunnel in the world, a title it held for 24 years. Many Liverpudlians believe that the tower should be considered the 'Fourth Grace'.

Below: a decorative relief from one of the panels facing the tunnel entrance on New Quay, blending ancient Egyptian motifs with representations of modernity - speed, movement, electricity.

Art Deco came and went in less than two decades; by the end of WWII, it was old hat. Today, such architecture should be cherished.

This time last year:
What goes round comes around: retro is cool - again.


This time two years ago:
Warsaw's southern bypass by this time next year?
[No, it was September 2013]

This time three years ago:
Stand Easy! - a short story

This time six years ago:
God Save The Queen - I mean it, Ma'am

This time seven years ago:
Legoland, Dawidy Poduchowne