As you step off the train at Liverpool’s
Lime Street for the first time don’t be surprised if you’re
gradually overcome by strange feelings of dčja vu. As you amble
past Corinthian columned buildings and glorious Georgian squares
you may ask yourself why it all seems so familiar.
The answer lies in the film industry. The next time you go the
pictures or sit glued to the television forget the action, look
carefully at the background if you can’t actually see Big Ben,
the Kremlin or the Grand Canal, there is a fair chance you might
not be looking at London, Moscow or Venice but at Liverpool. The
extraordinarily rich architecture of the city is exemplified by
Georgian terraces. Victorian mansions, steamy dockland alleys, and
shiny modern facades. Parts of the city have doubled as Germany,
France, St Petersburg, Venice and Dublin - no wonder it’s such
a popular student city! Put simply Liverpool is a city of inspiration
whose inhabitants live life to the full. Whether you are thinking
of moving to Liverpool to study or already live here, a mature student
or coming straight from A levels, all is a lifetime experience never
to be forgotten.
LET IT BE HISTORIC
Liverpool began life in 1207 when King John established it as a
free borough and port Two plots of land were given to people willing
to move to the new settlement which at the time consisted of a few
mud huts around a creek on the Mersey Estuary. As with many cities
in Britain, real growth wasn’t sustained until the eighteenth
century. Trading in slaves, sugar, manufactured goods, tobacco and
rum, the population mushroomed to 700,000 by the middle of the nineteenth
century. It was one of the world’s richest cities but its citizens
had an average life expectancy of 32. Undertakers had never had
it so good! Something obviously had to be done and for the next
few decades Liverpool led the world in medical, social and charitable
innovation and reform. With the exception of two World Wars, the
Twentieth Century has seen an overall economic decline in shipping,
manufactured goods and inevitably jobs.
In the past 30 years the media has largely been responsible for
cultivating Liverpool’s two contrasting faces to the world.
One is the face of the famous scouse wit, Liverpool Football Club
and a variety of other showbiz entertainers who started their careers
in the city. The other is a reputation for being the ‘bad news
capital of England’ complete with militant politicians, unemployment
and tragedies. Much has changed since the dark days of the 80’s
when Yosser Hughes and Militant seemed to symbolise the city’s
desperate plight. The Liverpool of the 90’s has undergone a
renaissance of urban regeneration, positive change and achievement.
The Albert Dock is typical of the city’s determination to compete
on equal terms with the major cities in Europe as a place to live,
work, shop and visit. After a period of post-industrial dereliction
the site has been transformed into one of the biggest tourist and
leisure facilities in Britain attracting five million visitors per
year.
LET IT BE CREATIVE
Liverpool has never been a city short of artistic energy. It was,
after all, the pool of life to Carl Jung, a phrase revived in the
1960’s when the Beatles put Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields
on the world map. That golden age of teenage screaming has been
captured in the vaults of the Britannia Pavilion in the Albert Dock,
where the Beatles Story is a ‘walk-through experience’
which tells the amazing rags to riches story of John, Paul, George
and Ringo. A series of eighteen features includes the reconstruction
of the Cavern Club, Mathew Street, the Yellow Submarine and Hamburg’s
Reeperbahn. There is also a daily Magical History Tour that takes
visitors to these and all the other important places from their
childhood and the Merseybeat days.
LET IT BE CHOICE
Of course the legendary sea port on the Mersey has spawned numerous
other chart topping pop groups, comedians, entertainers and artists
down the ages whose collective influences have shaken the world.
Opportunities to hear live music range from the Philharmonic Orchestra
(now returned to the newly refurbished Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Hall) and local bands playing in pubs, to frequent tours of popular
music groups in many of the city’s major venues. Art galleries,
theatres and museums are also numerous, the largest being the Merseyside
Maritime Museum. It is virtually three museums in one an you will
need half a day to do it justice. Highlights include the Emigrants
to a New World Gallery, the National Museum of HM customs and Excise
and the Museum of Liverpool Life. Its next door neighbour is the
Tate Gallery. Here the exhibits, from the National Collection of
Twentieth Century Art and special exhibitions, are right up-to-date
and often controversial.
Clustered around William Brown Street are some of Liverpool’s
oldest and most popular attractions, all housed in magnificent neoclassical
buildings. The Walker Art Gallery displays outstanding examples
of European art from 1300 to the present day, Liverpool Museum is
home to more than one million exhibits from around the world while
the Natural History Centre and the Space Gallery are certainly worth
a look.
By the year 2000 it is predicted that Liverpool will have more
than 50,000 students in higher education. Out of a population that
currently stands at 475,000 it’s not surprising that Liverpool
is geared up to being a student shopper’s paradise.
It is amazingly compact an ideal for getting around on foot. You
will find all the shops you’ll ever need ranging from big department
stores like George Henry Lee, something of a Liverpool institution,
and large shopping complexes such as the St John’s Centre and
Clayton Square to the multitude of markets, backstreet clothes shops,
jewellers, record and antique stores. Bold Street is a particular
favourite with its galleries, cafes, book stores and speciality
food shops while Quiggins in School Lane offers the Liverpool student
originality and style in every corner.
LET IT BE HAPPENING
Night life will undoubtedly be high on your list of priorities
and it’s in the evening that Liverpool’s heartbeat rockets
into overdrive. A huge range of clubs, pubs and bars ensures that
nights in, watching the television, won’t be on your list of
priorities. For the all night clubber the Nation club with the now
legendary ‘Cream’ on a Saturday night mixes garage with
progressive dance. Importing the UK’s top DJ’s every week,
the venue mixes together students, locals and media personalities
into a cauldron of high energy and excitement.
As you would expect, live music is also strongly represented in
Liverpool. The Royal Court Theatre and the Empire attract all major
live acts in addition to spawning talented new artists be they music
or comedy based. Flannagans is a must for everyone, not just the
Irish. It’s two floors of perfect drinking environment and
if Guinness is your forte then it makes for a hugely appealing venue.
Complementing your pints of creamy stout are live Irish bands which
add a touch of ambience to the Irish/Liverpool experience. A more
relaxing time awaits those who visit Bourbon Street, Kirklands and
Heebeejeebees where jazz to alternative dance is the speciality
of the evening.
This article first appeared in Educational Courses in Britain
