'Liverpool' is a city and
metropolitan borough in
Merseyside,
England, along the eastern side of the
Mersey Estuary.
Liverpool is governed by one of five councils within the
metropolitan county of Merseyside, and is one of England's
core cities and its fifth most populous — 447,500 in 2006, with 816,000 in the
Liverpool Urban Area, the conurbation around the city that includes other towns (such as
St. Helens and
Haydock) on the Liverpool side of the Mersey but not those on the
Wirral Peninsula. The term
Greater Merseyside is sometimes used to described a broader area, which also includes the
borough of Halton.
Built across a ridge of hills rising up to a height of around 230 feet (70 metres) above sea-level at Everton Hill, the city's urban area runs directly into
Bootle and
Crosby in
Sefton to the north, and
Huyton and
Prescot in
Knowsley to the east. It faces
Wallasey and
Birkenhead across the
River Mersey to the west.
Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as 'Liverpudlians' but are also known as "
Scousers", in reference to the local meal known as '
scouse', a form of stew. The word scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.
This year (2007), the city is celebrating its 800th anniversary, and in 2008 it will hold the
European Capital of Culture title (together with
Stavanger,
Norway).
[1]
History
Main articles: History of Liverpool
A map of Liverpool from 1947
King John's
letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool and by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the
English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a
parish by
Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the
West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, Liverpool began to grow. The first
wet dock in Britain was built in Liverpool in 1715. Substantial profits from the
slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow. By close of the century Liverpool controlled over 41% of European and 80% of Britain's slave commerce.
By the start of the nineteenth century, 40% of the world's trade was passing through Liverpool and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and
Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when
Irish migrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the
Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the first part of the 20th century, Liverpool was drawing emigrants from across Europe. During
World War II there were 80
air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with
Cologne,
Germany, a city which also shared the horrific experience of excessive aerial bombing. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the
Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain.
The population of Liverpool peaked in the 1931 census, which reported 855,688 inhabitants. This had declined to 610,114 by 1961, and decreased further to 439,476 in the 2001 census.
[2]
In the 1960s Liverpool became a centre of
youth culture. The "
Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with
The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian pop bands of the era catapulted the city to the front of the popular music scene.
From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional
manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of
containerization meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. In the early 1980s
unemployment rates in Liverpool were among the highest in the UK. In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.
Previously a part of administrative
Lancashire, created in 1888, and more recently as a county borough in itself, Liverpool became in 1974 a
metropolitan district within the newly created
metropolitan county of
Merseyside, but still remains part of the ancient County Palatine of Lancashire for cultural and historic purposes.
At the end of the 20th century Liverpool was concentrating on regeneration, a process which still continues today, with the city winning the accolade of
European Capital of Culture for 2008.
Capitalising on the popularity of the 1960s pop group
The Beatles and other groups of the Merseybeat era, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.
In 2004, property developer
Grosvenor started the
Paradise Project, a £920 m development centered on Paradise Street, which will involve the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Now known as Liverpool 1, parts are nearing completion.
2007 is the anniversary of the foundation of the city (1207), all sorts of events are planned.
Culture
Liverpool is internationally known as a cultural centre, with a particularly rich history in popular music (most notably
The Beatles), performing and visual arts. In 2003, Liverpool was named
European Capital of Culture for 2008. A series of cultural events during 2004-9 is planned, peaking in 2008.
Poetry
During the late 1960s the city became well known for the
Liverpool poets, of whom
Roger McGough and the late
Adrian Henri are among the best known. The anthology ''
The Mersey Sound'', by Henri, McGough and
Brian Patten, has sold over 500,000 copies since first being published in 1967.
Performing arts
Liverpool has a strong history of performing arts which is reflected in the number of theatres in the city, including the
Empire,
Everyman,
Neptune,
Royal Court and
Unity Theatres, and the
Liverpool Playhouse. The Everyman and Playhouse run their own theatre company
[ Everyman & Playhouse ] as does the
Unity Theatre.
[ Unity Theatre Liverpool ]
A flourishing orchestra, the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, performs in its own home, the
Philharmonic Hall. The city also features a youth orchestra.
Since the 1960s, Liverpool has been famous for its thriving
music scene.
Visual arts
SuperLambBanana, a well-known
sculpture in the Albert Dock area, recently relocated to Tithebarn Street
Liverpool has long had a reputation in the visual arts. Painter
George Stubbs was born in the city in 1724.
Pre-Raphaelites are among the important paintings in the
Walker Art Gallery.
Sudley House contains another major collection of pre 20th century art.
[ National Museums Liverpool ] Liverpool has more galleries and national museums than any city apart from London. The
Tate Liverpool gallery houses the modern art collection of the Tate in the north of England. The
FACT centre hosts touring multimedia exhibitions.
The
Liverpool Biennial[ Liverpool Biennial ] is a festival of arts held (as the name implies) every two years. The festival generally runs from mid September to late November and comprises three main sections; the International, The Independents and New Contemporaries although fringe events are timed to coincide. It was during this event in 2004 that
Yoko Ono's work "My mother is beautiful" caused widespread public protest by exhibiting photographs of a naked woman's pubic area on the main shopping street. Despite protests the work remained in place.
The 2006 Biennial ran until mid November, exhibitions could be found dotted around Liverpool City centre and included such things as the lions in front of St Georges Hall being caged, and St Lukes Church being filled with upturned boats.
Sport
Liverpool is associated with a variety of sports, most notably
football, but also a number of others.
''Liverpool has two
Premier League football clubs:
Everton F.C. at
Goodison Park and
Liverpool F.C. at
Anfield.
Professional
basketball is played in the city with the addition of
Everton Tigers into the elite
British Basketball League in 2007. The club is associated with Everton Football Club, and is part of the ''Toxteth Tigers'' youth development programme, which reaches over 1,500 young people every year
[1]. The Tigers will commence play in Britain's top league for the
2007-08 season, though their home venue has yet to be confirmed. Their closest professional rivals are the
Chester Jets, based 30 miles away in
Chester.
County cricket is occasionally played in Liverpool, with
Lancashire County Cricket Club typically playing one match every year at
Liverpool Cricket Club,
Aigburth.
Aintree Racecourse to the north of Liverpool in the adjacent borough of
Sefton is home to the famous
steeplechase, the
Grand National, One of the most famous events in the international
horse racing calendar, it is held in early April of each year. In addition to horse-racing, Aintree has also hosted
motor racing, including the
British Grand Prix in the 1950s and 1960s.
Liverpool Harriers, who meet at Wavertree Athletics Centre, are one of five athletic clubs. Liverpool has a long history of boxing that has produced
John Conteh,
Alan Rudkin and
Paul Hodkinson and hosts high level amateur boxing events.
Park Road Gymnastics Centre provides training to a high level. The
City of Liverpool Swimming Club has been
National Speedo League Champions 8 out of the last 11 years.
Liverpool Tennis Development Programme based at
Wavertree Tennis Centre is one of the largest in the UK.
[ Liverpool Sports Development website ] Liverpool is also home to the
Red Triangle Karate Club, which provided many of the 1990 squad that won the World Shotokan Championships in Sunderland. Luminaries include Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda, Sensei Frank Brennan, Sensei Omry Weiss, Sensei Dekel Kerer, Sensei
Andy Sherry and Sensei
Terry O'Neill, who is also famous for various acting roles.
Rugby league is played at amateur and student level within the city; the last professional team bearing the city's name was
Liverpool City, which folded in the 1960s.
Liverpool St Helens F.C. is one of the oldest
rugby union teams in the UK.
Liverpool is one of three cities which still host the traditional sport of
British Baseball and it hosts the annual England-Wales international match every two years, alternating with
Cardiff and
Newport.
Liverpool Trojans are the oldest existing baseball club in the UK.
The
Royal Liverpool Golf Club, situated in the nearby town of
Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, has hosted
The Open Championship on a number of occasions, most recently in 2006. It has also hosted the
Walker Cup.
Landmarks
The Parish Church of St. Nicholas and the Atlantic Tower hotel near Pier Head. The Atlantic Tower was designed to resemble the prow of a ship to reflect Liverpool's maritime history
Liverpool's inner city has handsome Georgian terraced streets
Liverpool contains over
2,500 listed buildings (of which 26 are Grade I listed and 85 are Grade II
★ listed). It is the inheritance of high-minded public spirit since the late 18th century, largely with
Dissenter impetus, resulting in more public sculpture than in any UK city aside from
Westminster, more listed buildings than any city apart from London and, surprisingly, more Georgian houses than the city of
Bath. Well-known
architects are represented in Liverpool, including
Peter Ellis,
Harvey Lonsdale Elmes,
John Foster,
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott,
Sir Edwin Lutyens,
Sir Frederick Gibberd, and
Norman Shaw.
Waterfront and docks museums
In 2004 Liverpool's waterfront was declared as a
UNESCO World Heritage site, reflecting the city's importance in the development of the world's trading system and
dock technology.
The docks are central to Liverpool's history, with the best-known being
Albert Dock: the first enclosed, non-combustible dock warehouse system in the world and is built in cast iron, brick and stone. It was designed by
Jesse Hartley. Restored in the 1980s, the Albert Dock is the largest collection of Grade I listed buildings in Britain. Part of the old dock complex is now the home to the
Merseyside Maritime Museum (an Anchor Point of ERIH, The
European Route of Industrial Heritage),
Museum of Liverpool Life and the
Tate Liverpool. Other relics of the dock system include the
Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse, which at the time of its construction in 1901, was the world's largest building in terms of area, and is still the worlds largest brick-work building.
The
Pier Head is the most famous image of Liverpool, the location of the ''Three Graces'' (a fairly recent phrase), three of Liverpool's most recognisable buildings. The first is the
Royal Liver Building, built in the early 1900s and surmounted by two bronze domes with a
Liver Bird (the symbol of Liverpool) on each. The second is the
Cunard Building, the headquarters of the former
Cunard shipping company. The third is the
Port of Liverpool Building, the home of the former
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board which regulated the city's docks. Kings Dock immediately to the South of the Albert dock is the site of the Kings Dock Arena and conference centre currently under construction due to open in January 2008.
In front of these buildings at the waters edge are the memorials to the men of the merchant navy who sailed out of the port during both World Wars. Memorials to the British mariners, Norwegian, Dutch and to the thousands of Chinese seamen who manned Britain's ships cluster together here. Perhaps most interesting is the Chinese memorial to the men forcibly deported from the city after World War Two and to the families they left behind. see:
[3]
Places of worship
The thousands of migrants and sailors passing through Liverpool resulted in a religious diversity that is still apparent today. This is reflected in the equally diverse collection of religious buildings, and two Christian cathedrals.
The parish church of Liverpool is the Anglican
Our Lady and St Nicholas, colloquially known as "the sailors church", which has existed near the waterfront since 1257. It regularly plays host to Catholic masses. Other notable churches include the
Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas (built in the
Byzantine style), and the
Gustav Adolfus Kyrka (the Swedish Seamen's Church, reminiscent of Nordic styles).
Liverpool's wealth as a port city enabled the construction of two enormous
cathedrals, both dating from the 20th century. The
Anglican Cathedral, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, has one of the longest
naves, largest organs and heaviest and highest peals of bells in the world. The
Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, colloquially known as "Paddy's Wigwam", was initially planned to be even larger. Of Sir Edwin Lutyens' original design, only the crypt was completed. The cathedral was eventually built to a simpler design by Sir Frederick Gibberd; while this is on a smaller scale than Lutyens' original design, it still manages to incorporate the largest panel of
stained glass in the world. Appropriately enough, the road running between the two cathedrals is called
Hope Street.
Liverpool contains synagogues, of which the Grade II
★ listed Moorish-revival
Princes Road Synagogue is perhaps most notable. Liverpool has a thriving Jewish community with a further 2 Synagogues, one in the
Greenbank Park area of L17 and a second in the Childwall district of the city where a significant
Jewish community reside. Liverpool has had a Jewish community since the mid 18th century. The current Jewish population of Liverpool is around 3000.
[4]
Liverpool also has an increasing
Hindu community, with a
Mandir on
Edge Lane; the
Radha Krishna Hindu Temple from the
Hindu Cultural Organisation based there. The current Hindu population in Liverpool is about 1147. In comparison, Manchester has nearly 3000.
Liverpool also has the
Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in L15.
The city had one of the earliest
mosques in Britain, founded in 1887 by
William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to
Islam. This mosque, however, no longer exists. Plans have been ongoing to re-convert the building where the mosque once stood into a museum. Currently there are two mosques in Liverpool the
Al-Rahma mosque in the
Toxteth area of the city and a mosque recently opened in the
Mossley Hill district of the city.
Other notable buildings and main museums
The area around
William Brown Street has been labeled the city's 'Cultural Quarter', owing to the presence of the
William Brown Library,
Walker Art Gallery and
World Museum Liverpool, just three of Liverpool's neo-classical buildings. Nearby is
St George's Hall, perhaps the most impressive of these neo-classical buildings, was built to serve both as a concert hall and as the city's law courts. Also in this area are
Wellington's Column and the
Steble Fountain.
Liverpool's
Town Hall dates from 1754 and has a beautifully-designed interior.
The term
''Red Brick University'', applied to British universities dating from a similar period, was inspired by the
University of Liverpool's
Victoria Building, noted for its clock tower.
Some of Liverpool's landmarks are better known for their oddness rather than for their role.
Williamson's tunnels are architecturally unique as being the largest underground folly in the world. The
Philharmonic Dining Rooms are noteworthy for their ornate Victorian toilets, which have become a tourist attraction in their own right.
On Renshaw Street there is the new alternative shopping centre
Grand Central Hall - which boasts not only fine external architecture but also has much to offer inside, such as the metalwork and ceiling decoration of the Ground floor and the fantastic domed ceiling of Roscoe Hall. Also in roscoe hall is the organ (although recent shop additions to the hall have obscured the view somewhat) which is a listed item itself.
Education
In Liverpool primary and secondary education is available in various forms supported by the state including
secular,
Church of England,
Jewish, and
Roman Catholic. Islamic education is available at primary level, but there is currently no secondary provision.
One of Liverpool's important early schools was
The Liverpool Blue Coat School; founded in 1708 as a charitable school.
The Belvedere School is the top-performing school in the city
[5] and will be changing its status, becoming a City Academy, in September, 2007. Other notable schools include
Liverpool College[ Liverpool College ] founded in 1840 and
Merchant Taylors' School. Another of Liverpool's notable senior schools is
St. Edward's College, a former private high school located in West Derby. Historic grammar schools, such as the
Liverpool Institute High School &
Liverpool Collegiate, closed in the 1980s are still remembered as centres of academic excellence.
Liverpool has three
universities, the
University of Liverpool,
Liverpool John Moores University,
Liverpool Hope University and
Edge Hill University, originally founded as a
teacher-training college in the
Edge Hill district of Liverpool, is now located in
Ormskirk in South-West Lancashire.
The University of Liverpool was established in 1881 as University College Liverpool. In 1884, it became part of the federal Victoria University. Following a Royal Charter and Act of Parliament in 1903, it became an independent university, the University of Liverpool, with the right to confer its own degrees.
Liverpool Hope University, founded in 1844, is situated on both sides of Taggart Avenue in Childwall and a second Campus in the City Centre (The Cornerstone). Hope is quickly making a name for itself within the Liberal Arts, the University has also enjoyed successes in terms of high graduate employability, campus development, and a substantial increase in student applications from outside of the City.
The
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, founded to address some of the problems created by trade, continues today as a post-graduate school in the
University of Liverpool and is one of only two institutions internationally that house the de facto standard anti-venom repository.
Liverpool John Moores University was previously a
polytechnic, and gained university status in 1992. It is named in honour of
Sir John Moores, one of the founders of the
Littlewoods football pools and retail group, who was a major benefactor. The institution was previously owned and run by Liverpool City Council.
The
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts was set up by
Sir Paul McCartney in 1996, to train artistes and technicians. It is situated in the building which formerly housed the
Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and is affiliated with
Liverpool John Moores University. LIPA is actively pursuing degree-awarding status in its own right (although as of January 2007 this has not been officially announced), and is moving towards becoming an independent higher education instution.
The city has one
further education college,
Liverpool Community College. The college will recruit around 21,000 students in the academic year 2006/07.
There are two Jewish schools in Liverpool, both belonging to the King David Foundation.
King David School, Liverpool is the High School, located on Childwall Road, close to Childwall Comprehensive and Childwall Fiveways. The King David Primary School is situated at Beauclair Drive. There is also a King David Kindergarten, featured in the community centre of Harold House. These schools are all run by the King David Foundation based in Harold House in Childwall; conveniently next door to the
Childwall Synagogue
Transport
Mersey crossings
There are three
tunnels under the
River Mersey: one railway tunnel, the
Mersey Railway Tunnel; and two road tunnels,
Queensway Tunnel and
Kingsway Tunnel.
The
Mersey Ferry continues to provide an important link between Liverpool and the Wirral, as well as a tourist attraction. Made famous by the song ''
Ferry Cross the Mersey'' by
Gerry and the Pacemakers, the song is now played on the ferryboats themselves every time they prepare to dock at Liverpool after a tourist cruise.
The
Mersey is crossed upstream from Liverpool at
Runcorn and
Widnes, by the
Silver Jubilee Bridge (usually known simply as the "
Runcorn Bridge") and the
Runcorn Railway Bridge.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Built between 1770 and 1816 the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal links Liverpool and the Mersey to
Leeds and the
River Aire. Its terminus had been at Old Hall Street, Pall Mall, Chisenhale Street, but that section now ends at Eldonian Village. A flight of
locks just north of there takes the canal down to
Stanley Dock, famous for the Tobacco Warehouse, and on to the main dock system.
A new link across the front of the Pier Head buildings will link the northern docks to the Albert Dock is presently under construction, with the plan being to open it during Liverpool's Capital of Culture Year of 2008.
Airport
Opened in the 1930s, Liverpool Airport, is situated near
Speke in the south of the city. It was renamed
Liverpool John Lennon Airport in 2001, in honour of the late
Beatle John Lennon. The airport's logo consists of a sketch that John Lennon had drawn of himself, and the words "Above us only sky", lyrics from his song ''
Imagine''. The sensitivity surrounding the airport's name change meant that the logo had to be designed in secret before it could be unveiled by John Lennon's widow
Yoko Ono. The airport was the starting point for Beatles tours in the sixties, and images of the boys boarding planes there were seen throughout the world. In 2006 the airport handled nearly 5 million passengers and now serves 64 destinations, including
Berlin,
Amsterdam,
Barcelona,
Paris,
Madrid,
Rome and
London.
New York and
Toronto are recent additions to destinations available from Liverpool, with many more to come.
Port
In 2002, 716,000 passengers used the
Port of Liverpool, with the
Isle of Man and
Ireland being the two most important passenger routes, goods trade which was very low in the past decades, is growing up now.
Railways
Liverpool is served by the
Merseyrail urban rail network. The sections in the city centre are mostly underground. It has three lines: the
Northern Line, which runs to
Southport,
Ormskirk,
Kirkby and
Hunts Cross; the
Wirral Line, which runs through the Mersey Railway Tunnel and has branches to
New Brighton,
West Kirby,
Chester and
Ellesmere Port; and the
City Line, only from
Lime Street, for
St Helens,
Wigan,
Warrington and
Manchester.
The city's main railway station for longer-distance services is
Lime Street station. Lime Street is perhaps one of the most famous train stations in Britain after
Euston and
Paddington stations in London. Trains operate to destinations including
London in 2 hours 1/2 with
Pendolino trains,
Birmingham,
Manchester,
Preston,
Leeds,
Scarborough,
Sheffield,
Nottingham and
Norwich. Full timetable details can be found at
National Rail website
The London line was one of the first electrified in Britain with wire (with
Manchester and
Glasgow).
Liverpool had been home to the first electrically powered overhead railway in the world. Known as the
Liverpool Overhead Railway or (Dockers Umbrella) it opened on
February 4,
1893 with an eventual total of 14 stations. The line suffered extensive damages during the second world war and was eventually closed down on
December 30,
1956 with considerable protest. The tunnel portal in
Dingle is one of the only surviving signs of the railway's existence as the iron bridges were removed for scrap.
Buses
Long distance coach services arrive at and depart from the
Norton Street Coach Station. Local buses serve the whole of the city and its surrounding areas. The two principal termini for local buses are Queen Square Bus Station (located near
Lime Street railway station) for services north and east of the city, and Paradise Street Interchange (located near the
Albert Dock) for services to the south and east. Cross-river services to the
Wirral use roadside terminus points in Castle Street and Sir Thomas Street.
Historic tramway and railways
Historically, Liverpool had an extensive
tram network; however, this was dismantled in the 1950s. Other railway lines, such as the
Canada Dock Branch from
Edge Hill to
Kirkdale, no longer see passenger services, or have been removed completely, such as the
North Liverpool Extension Line.
Proposed new tram
In 2001, a plan to build new a
light rail system,
Merseytram was developed. After central government insisted on additional guarantees prior to the release of previously committed funds, it was cancelled in November 2005. However, it is to be included in the transport plan from 2006-2011, as it is deemed to be an important part of Liverpool's development.
[6]
Famous Liverpudlians
Many famous names have been associated with Liverpool; see .
Liverpool has also played a large part in UK (and sometimes world)
Pop Music culture since the 1960s. For a list of some noteworthy groups from the area, consult the
list of famous bands from Liverpool. The most popular group from Liverpool is
The Beatles.
The
Wall of Fame is located opposite the famous
Cavern Club, near the original one where bricks are engraved with the name of bands and musicians who have played at the Cavern Club.
Ironically in the 1970s and early 80s, Liverpool did not have much in the way of Beatles' Tourist information, other than a small mimiographed map of a few sites like Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. It took two Americans (David Bacon and Norman Maslov) from San Francisco to publish the first real collection of Beatles related travel sites. This was in 1982
[2].
Media
The
ITV region which covers Liverpool is
ITV Granada. In 2006, the
Television company opened a new newsroom in the Royal Liver Building. Granada's regional news broadcasts were produced at the
Albert Dock News Centre during the 1980s and 1990s.
[7] The
BBC also opened a new newsroom on Hanover Street in 2006. But with both broadcasters based in Manchester, the arrangement is sometimes controversial, with Manchester's perceived influence over the region's media.
ITV's daily magazine programme
''This Morning'' was famously broadcast from studios at
Albert Dock until 1996, when production was moved to London. Granada's short-lived shopping channel "Shop!" was also produced in Liverpool until it was axed in 2002.
Liverpool is the home of the TV production company
Lime Pictures, formerly Mersey Television, which produced the now-defunct soap opera, ''
Brookside'', and currently produces ''
Hollyoaks'' for
Channel 4 and
''Grange Hill'' for the
BBC.
Lime Pictures is owned by
All3Media. These programmes are regularly filmed in and around the
Childwall area.
The city fares better with regards to other media. The city has two daily newspapers: the morning
Daily Post and the evening
Echo, both published by the same company, the Trinity Mirror group. The Daily Post, especially, serves a wider area, including north
Wales. The UK's first online only weekly newspaper called
Southport Reporter[8] (Southport &
Mersey Reporter), is also one of the many other news outlets that covers the city. Radio stations include
BBC Radio Merseyside,
Juice FM,
KCR 106.7 FM and
Radio City 96.7 as well as
Magic 1548. The last two are both based in
St. John's Beacon which, along with the two cathedrals, dominates the city's skyline. The independent media organisation
Indymedia also covers Liverpool, while
'Nerve' magazine publishes articles and reviews of cultural events.
Liverpool has also featured in films; see
List of films set in Liverpool for some of them.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Liverpool at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by the
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of
pounds sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added[9] | Agriculture[10] | Industry[11] | Services[12] |
|---|
| 1995 | '4,394' | 3 | 950 | 3,440 |
| 2000 | '5,681' | 4 | 1,033 | 4,644 |
| 2003 | '6,595' | 6 | 953 | 5,636 |
The economy of Liverpool is beginning to recover from its long, post-
World War II decline. Between 1995 and 2001
GVA per head grew at 6.3% annum. This compared with 5.8% for inner London and 5.7% for
Bristol. The rate of job growth was 9.2% compared with a national average of 4.9% for the same period, 1998-2002. However, Liverpool is still comparatively poor; a 2001 report by CACI showed that Liverpool still had four of the ten poorest postcode districts in the country.
[13]
Like the rest of the United Kingdom the city has seen a large growth in the service sector, both public and private. Government offices include parts of the
National Health Service,
Revenue and Customs and
Home Office agencies such as the
Criminal Records Bureau and the
Identity and Passport Service, formerly the UK Passport Agency. Private sector service industries have invested in Liverpool too with major call centres opening of late. The activities of the port have left the site with a communications infrastructure that had for a long time exceeded requirements.
Growth in the areas of
New Media has been helped by the existence of a relatively large
computer game development community. Sony based one of only a handful of European
PlayStation research and development centres in Wavertree, after buying out noted software publisher
Psygnosis. Indeed, according to a 2006 issue of industry magazine 'Edge' (issue 162), the first professional quality PlayStation software developer's kits were largely programmed by Sony's Liverpool 'studio' — the console has since become one of the World's most successful consumer products ever.
Tourism is a major factor in the economy and will be of increasing importance in the run up to the Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. This has led to a great increase in the provision of high quality services such as hotels, restaurants and clubs. The buildings of Liverpool not only attract tourists but also film makers, who regularly use Liverpool to double for cities around the worlds and making it the second most filmed city in the UK.
Car-manufacturing also takes place in the city at the
Halewood plant where the
Jaguar X-Type and
Land Rover Freelander models are assembled.
The owner of Liverpool's port and airport, Peel Holdings, announced on
March 6 2007 that is had plans to redevelop the city's northern dock area with a scheme entitled
Liverpool Waters, which may see the creation of 17,000 jobs and £5.5bn invested in the vicinity over a 50 year period.
Liverpool's main shopping area is ''Church Street'', lying between
Bold Street to the East and Lord Street to the West.
International links
Like many cities, Liverpool participates in international
town twinning schemes.
[14] It has four twin towns:
★ -
Cologne,
Germany (aka
Köln)
★ -
Dublin (''Baile Atha Cliath''),
Ireland
★ -
Odessa,
Ukraine
★ -
Shanghai,
People's Republic of China
Furthermore the city has "friendship links" with other cities, which are less formal than twinning arrangements. These are:
★ -
Givenchy-lez-la-Bassée,
Belgium
★ -
Halifax,
Canada
★ -
Havana,
Cuba
★ -
La Plata,
Argentina
★ -
Memphis,
USA
★ -
Minamata,
Japan
★ -
Naples,
Italy
★ -
New Orleans,
USA
★ -
Ponsacco,
Italy
★ -
Ramnicu Valcea,
Romania
★ -
Valparaiso,
Chile
In addition, there are links with
New York,
USA (which has been granted the Freedom of the City of Liverpool);
Riga,
Latvia; and
Stavanger,
Norway.
Trivia
★ The
RMS Titanic was registered in Liverpool
★ In a competition organised by the conservation charity
Plantlife in 2002, the
sea-holly was nominated as Liverpool's
county flower.
★
Alois Hitler, Jr. the half-brother of
Adolf Hitler lived in the city, was married, and had a child. There is a rumour that Adolf visited Liverpool in 1911, before the outbreak of
World War I, and that he drank in the Poste House pub on
Cumberland Street.
[15][16]
★ The
Catholic cathedral is sometimes jokingly referred to as "
Paddy's
Wigwam" due to its shape and the vast number of Irish men who worked on the construction of the cathedral and/or are living in the area.
★
Grand Central Hall became the new home for
Quiggins traders in mid-2006 after a compulsory purchase order forced the School Lane site to close. However, before it became the alternative shopping venue for Liverpool the Hall was a meeting place under the guidance of the
Methodist Church, being built in 1905 as a
Picture house with a seating capacity of around 2000. The projection room and gallery seating is still there in
Roscoe Hall, although the projector is no longer there.
City districts
Districts of Liverpool include:
★
Aigburth,
Allerton,
Anfield
★
Belle Vale,
Broadgreen
★
Canning,
Childwall,
Clubmoor,
Croxteth
★
Dingle,
Dovecot
★
Edge Hill,
Everton
★
Fairfield,
Fazakerley
★
Garston,
Gateacre,
Grassendale
★
Hunts Cross
★
Kensington,
Kirkdale,
Knotty Ash
★
Mossley Hill
★
Netherley,
Norris Green
★
Old Swan
★
St Michael's Hamlet,
Speke,
Stoneycroft
★
Toxteth,
Tuebrook
★
Walton,
Wavertree,
West Derby,
Woolton
Council wards
Liverpool City Council as of May 2007 is controlled by the
Liberal Democrats with 51 seats to
Labour's 35. The Green Party also hold one seat. Liverpool has been under Lib Dem control for over 9 years.
City council wards of Liverpool include:
★
Allerton and Hunts Cross,
Anfield
★
Belle Vale
★
Central,
Childwall,
Church,
Clubmoor,
County,
Cressington,
Croxteth
★
Everton
★
Fazakerley
★
Greenbank
★
Kensington,
Kirkdale,
Knotty Ash
★
Mossley Hill
★
Norris Green
★
Old Swan
★
Picton,
Princes Park
★
Riverside
★
Speke Garston,
St Michaels
★
Tuebrook & Stoneycroft
★
Warbreck,
Wavertree,
West Derby,
Woolton
★
Yew Tree
Parliamentary constituencies and MPs
:''See also:
List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside''
Liverpool has five
parliamentary constituencies:
Liverpool Garston,
Liverpool Riverside,
Liverpool Walton,
Liverpool Wavertree and
Liverpool West Derby. At the
2005 general election, these were held by the
Labour Party, and are represented by
Maria Eagle,
Louise Ellman,
Jane Kennedy,
Peter Kilfoyle and
Robert Wareing respectively.
Liberal Democrat candidates finished second in every Liverpool seat.
See also
★
Big Dig (Liverpool)
★
★
List of television shows set in Liverpool
★
Liverpool Garden Festival
★
Port of Liverpool
★
Williamson's tunnels
References
1. Official EU website
2. Vision of Britain: Liverpool population
3. www.halfandhalf.org.uk
4. Liverpool's Jewish heritage
5. Secondary schools in Liverpool
6. Local Transport Plan 2006-2011
7. ITV North West News
8. Published in UK as the "UK's only web-based newspaper" in January 2005 in hard copy magazine called "Web Pages Made Easy." and on the Trade Mark Register as a newspaper patent.gov.uk No. 2292469 Also see UK Office's 2007 MEP press briefing Also listed as Patrick Trollope, Editor of Southport Reporter" is a contributor and referred to in a book called Viking Mersey, written by Stephen Harding. ISBN 1901231 34 8 Published by Countryvise Publication, Wirral UK in 2002.
9. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
10. includes hunting and forestry
11. includes energy and construction
12. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
13. www.wsws.org/articles/2001/feb2001/pov-f09.shtml
14. Liverpool City Council: twinning
15. www.merseysidetoday.co.uk/hitler.php
16. Adolf Hitler - did he visit Liverpool during 1912-13?
External links
★
Liverpool City Council
★
Information about Port of Liverpool
★
Official Liverpool Tourism Site
★
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