Sunday 26 July 2009

Ferry across the Mersey.

Weather wise today has been the best day we have had in Liverpool and was certainly the best day to take the trip on the Mersey Ferry and the open top tour bus.

Liverpool 300 Mersey Ferry Snowdrop at Seacombe terminal.

With the River Mersey being about 1 mile wide the view from the Liverpool side is deceiving because the area’s of Birkenhead, Wallasey and New Brighton are actually quite scenic. There has actually been a ferry on the Mersey for six hundred years even before Liverpool was built. The Mersey is not a river to be trifled with as it has a rise and fall of 9m and runs so fast that if you fell in, by the time you surfaced  you could be 500 yards away from where you fell in.

Liverpool 286 Former offices of the White Star shipping Company, the owners of the Titanic. The loss of the Titanic was announced from one of the balconies.

Even the open top bus tour showed us a completely different picture of Liverpool and after doing the circuit we headed back to St George’s Hall which only reopened in 2007 after a £23m restoration. The hall originally incorporated the Crown Law Courts and you can follow the path of the prisoners from the cells to the dock and stand as they did in front of the Judge. Depending on the Judge of the day whether you got 30 lashes and hard labour, deported to the colonies or an appointment with the hangman. Men, women and children were all treated equally.

Liverpool 320 St George's Hall Liverpool.

Within the Hall is what is known as the Great Hall where a beautiful organ which the 3rd largest in Britain after The Albert Hall and Liverpool cathedral, stands at the end of the Minton tiled floor which is protected by a wooden floor. The wooden floor is only lifted on special occasion’s for people to view the beautiful tiled floor.

Liverpool 343 The great hall, St Georges Hall, Liverpool houses this organ which is the 3rd largest in the country.

After another busy day pounding the cobbles of Liverpool we retired to the Walkabout pub to watch the All Blacks play South Africa. Unfortunately the All Blacks were not the better team of the day and lost.

Liverpool 347 Not quite the Guinness clock but close.

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