The Idea of North - Part 5 - The Old and the New

Once upon a time a lot of people locally worked in the Giro Bank in Bootle. It brought the Manhattan to the lands north of Liverpool. Towers rising on the lands of northern England. Everyone knew someone who worked in the Giro. They even had a members only social club that my circle of friends would go to at times for a game of snooker. Later it was taken over by Santander - which one year was apparently bank of the year... I mean.... how bad can things get... The once grand tower - the Sears Tower of Bootle, the Empire State of Sefton - is a shell of its former self. A grand building of old now a skeleton from some post-apocalyptic movie. Sure there will be huge hangars here soon, or depots like on surrounding lands, maybe a factory or even new houses.

My old secondary school, Mos Eisley Space Station, is located behind this. There was once a huge fight on the park to the left after school between two girls. It was a disgusting and terrible fight. All it lacked was a David Attenborough commentary, as two vicious animals straightened things out on the wastelands. Most teenagers locally would have kissed someone in this park. Maybe they still do if they can look up from their phones.

My mate used to live in the pub to the rear of the photographer - Maggie Mays. That was our pub growing up and in our twenties. It is closed now. A private nursery. Was only built in the late 80s or 90s. We used to go there before the Everton game. And often spent a Thursday, Friday or Saturday in there. Thursday was quiz night. We used to have six odd pints and then go to work the next day fresh as a daisy.

Youth is wasted on the youth.

We used to go the "Maggies" mainly, sometimes the BA along the road, sometimes the Giro Club. All closed now.

This is the view from the restaurant at the top of the new Royal Liverpool Hospital. 10th Floor. Quite a view. Nice day too. My son takes in the sights. The new Royal ran out of money when Carillion went under a few years ago. Needless to say, the funding of public buildings and Private Finance Initiative schemes are a minefield. Very impressive new building though, even though the car park is situated for the old building and is quite a walk away if you have any mobility issues.

Another shot. They nearly knocked down the restaurant tower, later the Radio City Tower, which has come to capture the quirky nature of Liverpool. The two cathedrals are out of shot to the left. Note the Liver Birds atop the Liver Building to the rear of the Tower.

Where old meets new. It is fair to say the Old Royal was not designed with aesthetics in mind back in the day. At nearby Fazakerley Hospital they completely redid the outer shell of the main building (see below) but kept it. The above shot shows the newer parts to the left and the old chimney. It literally looks like the hammer from the Hammer and Sickle on the old Soviet flag. Still quite quirky though.

I spent a rough rough two weeks in this building in 2007. Now it lies empty and will at some point be demolished. You know when they say a dog looks like its owner, well how anyone was expected to get better in such a building is beyond me. Saying that, I did get some great care in there, and was very lucky to be treated on the NHS.

New hospital to the left. Old one to the right.

I am a bit partial to connecting bridge corridors between buildings. Very Manhattan, but on a much lesser scale.

August 2024. Site of the old clock tower used by shipping back in the day. A canal barge came under as we looked. River Mersey beyond, and the Wirral Peninsula.

Everton's new stadium, scheduled for first use August 2025. Built on an old dock called Bramley-Moore. Lots of investment going into the old docks that were targeted by German bombers during the war.

The old rotating bridge on the Dock Road, Liverpool.

Bramley-Moore taken from the excellent Dockland's Trail Museum Galleries. Lots of history in there about the new stadium and the docks.

One of the exhibits at the Docklands Trail Galleries.