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

Thursday, March 31, 2022
Woo-hoo! No tendering today. We could not be any closer to the center of Liverpool!

View from our stateroom of No 8 Princes Dock office building

We had our free time in the morning. We disembarked, turned right and...

Titanic Memorial (1916, by Sir William
Goscombe John) commemorates the 32
"Heroes in the Engine Room" on the luxury
liner that sank in 1912, plus all men in that
position serving on ships during World War I

The Titanic was registered in Liverpool, and the owner, White Star Line, was headquartered in Liverpool.

Mersey Ferries Terminal (2009, by
Hamilton Architects of Belfast) (KSS)

The Mersey Ferries Terminal includes the fab4store (KSS)

Kent with the Pier Head Beatles (2015, by Andy Edwards)

Museum of Liverpool (2011, by 3XN)

Heaven & Earth (2011, by Andy Plant)
is a memorial to 17C astronomer
Jeremiah Horrocks from Liverpool,
who was the first to accurately calculate
the transit of Venus

A Stena Line Ferry and River Explorer Cruise boat
on the Mersey River

Statue (1998, by Tom Murphy) of
Captain Johnnie Walker, a World War II hero
who was charged with escorting convoys of ships,
but went above and beyond by actively seeking
and destroying threatening German submarines

Liverpool Naval Memorial (1998, by Charles Frederick
Blythin and Stanley Harold Smith) commemorates the
members of the Merchant Navy who agreed to serve in the
Royal Navy during World War II and lost their lives

One of the Go Superlambananas, a 2008 art exhibition
featuring individually decorated miniature versions
of the 1998 Superlambanana by Taro Chiezo; the
creature is a cross between a lamb and a banana, two
of the most common cargos found on Liverpool docks

The Three Graces on the Liverpool waterfront are three
classical buildings: left to right are the Royal Liver Building,
the Cunard Building, and the Port of Liverpool Building
(we will see them again in better light)

Behind the Three Graces was this wonderful
Art Deco building that we later learned
was a ventilation shaft for the Queensway
road tunnel under the Mersey River; however,
it is also the George's Dock Building
(1931-1934, by Herbert J Rowse) for offices

Albion House (1896-1898, by
Richard Norman Shaw and J Francis Doyle,
based on Shaw's design for New Scotland Yard
in London, in Victorian Romanesque style) was
headquarters for a shipping company that became
White Star Line; now 30 James Street Hotel

In the window of the Albion House is a model of
the RMS Titanic (1909-1911, by Thomas Andrews of
Harland & Wolff Shipbuilders in Belfast), a White Star Line
ship, that famously sank on its maiden voyage in 1912

We stepped into the Albion House to see
the lobby floor mosaic of South America

A doorman allowed us to photograph the lobby.

30 James Street Hotel is a Titanic-themed hotel

The lobby still contains the wood war memorial
listing the members of White Star Line staff
who "Gave their lives for their country"
n the 1914-1918 Great War/World War I

A winged figure on the hotel reception
desk resembles the figure over the main door,
and brings to mind 'Rose' leaning out over
the bow of the ship in the movie Titanic

A poster for the Titanic voyage (KSS)

The doorman then opened the doors to let us into the White Star Grand Hall!

White Star Grand Hall, which was the White Star Line
First Class Booking Hall and Lounge

White Star Grand Hall is now decorated as if a
First Class venue on the RMS Titanic.

White Star Grand Hall bar, with a pair of those winged
statuettes that are not referenced as White Star Line
or Titanic, so may be a symbol of the hotel itself

The doorman then told us to take the elevator to the top floor to see the view from the terrace!

Unfortunately we were not able to see the Three Graces,
but did have a view south to Royal Albert Dock (1841-1845,
by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick), the first cast-iron
and brick (i.e., non-combustible) dock and warehouse
complex in the world, in front of the Wheel of Liverpool
(2009-2011, now owned by Dubai-based
Freij Entertainment International)

The docks of Liverpool were enclosed "wet" docks, where ships could be loaded and unloaded directly into/from warehouses, and the security was greater.

View east over central Liverpool, with
the Radio City 96.7 Tower (1969, by James A
Roberts Associates) that is, including
antennas, the tallest structure in Liverpool

The doorman was excited about the two US dollar-tip we gave him!

Queen Victoria Monument (1902-1906, by F M Simpson,
in Neo-Baroque style, with 26 bronze figures by C J Allen)

View of City Hall down Castle Street

View of Radio City 96.7 Tower
from Derby Square

Next: Liverpool II.