British Isles Exporer: Liverpool IV (3/31/2022)

Thursday, March 31, 2022 (continued)

Our motorcoach tour of Liverpool continued:

Chinatown Gateway Arch (2000, from Shanghai,
Liverpool's sister city), the largest arch of its kind outside
of China, leads to the oldest Chinese community in Europe

Former Great George Street Congregational
Church (1840-1841, by Joseph Franklin,
in Neoclassical style) is now a
contemporary arts and communty center

L8 sculpture (2015, by Brian Dawe, the L was added
in 2020) represents the number 8 Liverpool postcode,
of which there are 65 in the metropolitan area

Princes Avenue terraced housing

Garden allotments (KSS)

Our next stop was Penny Lane.

Waiting in the sleet to have our photo taken

Our tour guide placed Kent's finger at the end of
Paul McCartney's signature on the Penny Lane sign,
but she missed photographing the 'Paul'

Kent & Tamiko in Penny Lane of the Beatles song

Oakdale Road off Penny Lane with terraced housing

The Penny Lane Hotel

"The shelter in the middle of the roundabout" on Penny Lane

"There is a barber" in Penny Lane (KSS)

The United Kingdom has Aldi and Lidl shops

The Wheel of Liverpool (2010, dismantled 2020 for
refurbishment, reopened in 2021)

Drive-by of Royal Albert Dock that now houses several
museums including Tate Liverpool

Woo-hoo, another stop! Even though we were here this morning, this time the sun is in the right position to photograph the Three Graces!

Port of Liverpool Building (1903-1907, by Sir Arnold
Thornely and F B Hobbs, in Edwardian Baroque style)

The Cunard Building (1914-1917, by William Edward Willink
and Philip Coldwell Thicknesse, in Italian Renaissance style)

Royal Liver Building (1908-1911, by
Walter Aubrey Thomas, with references to
Baroque and Byzantine styles)

Tamiko & Kent with the Pier Head Beatles
(by our photographer guide)

Paul McCartney carries a cinematic camera,
perhaps as a tribute to his wife, Linda

George Harrison has a belt with a Sanskrit inscription,
due to his embracing the Hare Krishna tradition

You cannot see the "L8" on Ringo Starr's heel,
indicating the postcode where he grew up

John Lennon hold acorns that he and Yoko sent to world
leaders in 1969, asking them to plant them as a symbol of peace

The Three Graces from the Viking Venus

Royal Albert Dock from the Viking Venus

Next: Belfast, Northern Ireland I.

British Isles Explorer: Liverpool III (3/31/2022)

Thursday, March 31, 2022 (continued)

At 14:00 we met on the dock for our three-and-a-half hour motorcoach tour of Liverpool.

World Museum (est 1853, building 1860 by John Weightman,
rebuilt after extensive damage by bombing during World War II)
with with collections and displays of life sciences, earth
sciences and human cultures around the world

Liverpool Central Library shares the building with the
World Museum, but the interior was refurbished 2010-2013 (KSS)

The Picton Reading Room (1875-1879, by Cornelius Sherlock)
was the first electrically lighted library in the United Kingdom

Wellington's Column (1861-1865, by
Andrew Lawson, statue by his brother,
George Anderson Lawson) honors the
Duke of Wellington's victory at Waterloo (KSS)

The enormous St George's Hall (1841-1854, by Harvey
Lonsdale Elmes, in Neoclassical, although mostly Grecian,
 style), which housed both law courts and concert halls (KSS)

Lime Street Railway Station (1833-1836, by
John Cunningham, Arthur Holme, and John Foster Jr,
with several expansions) is the oldest still-operating
grand terminus mainline station in the world

Liverpool Empire Theatre (1924-1925, by by W Milburn
and T R Milburn, in Neoclassical style) has the largest
two-tier auitorium in the United Kingdom, and was
the venue for the Beatles' last concert in Liverpool

Wellington Rooms (1815-1816, by Edmund Aikin
in Regency style) was used by high society for
assemblies, balls, and other social events,
but is now derelict and empty (KSS)

Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (1962-1967,
by Sir Frederick Gibbard) is the seat of the Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Liverpool; it is nicknamed "Paddy's Wigwam"

#4 Rodney Street was the birthplace of
Brian Epstein, who "discovered" the
Beatles in the Cavern Club in 1961
and became their manager

Philharmonic Dining Rooms (1898-1900,
by Walter W Thomas) was a favorite pub of
the Beatles and was where Paul McCartney
played an impromptu concert after filming
Carpool Karaoke with James Corden
in June 2018 (KSS)

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (1937-1939, by
Herbert James Rowse in Streamline Moderne style)

Blackburne House (1780) was purchased in 1844 for the
Blackburne House Girls' School, the first school
for girls in Liverpool; later the Women’s Technology and
Education Centre  was established in 1983 with the aim of
progressing women from disadvantaged backgrounds
into employment within technical professions (KSS)

Part of A Case History (1998, by John King) where
each case is labeled with the name of a famous "owner"
from the Liverpool region, such as each of the Beatles

Whew! Our first stop on the motorcoach tour!

West Door of Liverpool Cathedral (1904-1978,
by Giles Gilbert Scott), the seat of the
Anglican Bishop of Liverpool and  the
longest cathedral in the world at 189 m/621'

The grave of architect Giles Gilbert Scott

The Welcoming Christ (1993, by
Dame Elisabeth Frink, her last work) (KSS)

Dulverton Bridge crosses at the end of the nave
just before the area under the central tower

Looking back at the west window,
the Benedicite (by Carl Edwards), based
on an ancient text calling upon all creation
to sing praise to its creator

Off-white baptismal font under a
soaring baldachin with a suspended
Gothic wooden font cover

View of the chancel from under the bell tower

The foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII in 1904

A model of the complete design by Giles Gilbert Scott
that had to be modified due to cost and lack of materials

Outraged Christ (c 1971-2005, later
completed in 2011, by Charles Luytens) is
the focus of prayers and donation for Ukraine

Tomb of Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby,
who was a major benefactor of the cathedral; it is interesting
that in 1888, Stanley was appointed Governor General of
Canada, where his sons became avid ice hockey players
resulting in the gift of the Stanley Cup in 1892, originally
for the best amateur hockey club, but later exclusively
for professional teams in 1909, and the NHL in 1926

Carved on the tomb are an eagle and child, which are
also on the Stanley family crest (KSS)

Kent "volunteered" to stand at one end of
the "whispering arch" and was able to hold
a conversation with someone at the other end,
which no one else could hear

A relief of Reverend Francis James Chavasse, the Bishop
of Liverpool at the beginning of construction of the cathedral

The ornate high altar was designed by
Giles Gilbert Scott and covered with gold leaf

The choir included two paintings; this is The Prodigal Son
(1995-1996, by Christopher Le Brun)

Parts of the Henry Willis Organ (1923-1926),
which is the largest organ in the United Kingdom

A parting look at the east end of Liverpool Cathedral,
or officially the Cathedral Church of the Risen Christ (KSS)

Next: Liverpool IV.