Introducing the all new Liverpool Landscapes Blog!

Liverpool is often in the media these days, what with the Capital of Culture events of next year, and the many exciting and controversial developments in the World Heritage Site and beyond. This blog will keep you abreast of the handful of articles I come across. Feel free to add more in the Comments section.

To get going, here are a few of the pieces I’ve found in the last few months:-

• With Liverpool facing up to its placement at the Old Kent Road end of a hypothetical Monopoly board of Britain, the Guardian dedicates one of its ‘In praise of…’ columns to the city. The snub was “shrugged off with the humour for which it is famed”, with the council saying the manufacturers should be given a Go to Jail card. Still, Newcastle and Edinburgh failed to make the board at all.
• River of Life: a large feature in the Guardian Society section tells of David Ward’s journey to find the source of the River Goyt, a Mersey tributary, and a walk along quite a length of the Mersey itself. As well as the oft-celebrated salmon, cod are regularly caught by local fishermen as far upstream as Otterspool; the only reason they’ve not been found further up being that “we haven’t fished there”. Porpoises, grey seals and an octopus – predators – have followed in the fishes’ wake. (Ward’s book Mersey: the River that Changed the World will be published on December 6th by Bluecoat Press)
• Guardian National news: under a photograph of the Pier Head, including the proposed Mann Island development, an article outlining the huge events programme lined up for next year. Highlights naturally include Paul and Ringo, and the public face of the Culture year, Phil Redmond. A city-wide public arts programme, similar to the Biennial and events covering Bill Shankly, Mersey music and ‘North-West Side Story’ are also highlighted.
• Finally, on October 25th, the Financial Times contained a whole supplement dedicated to the business potential of the whole region, entitled Doing Business in Liverpool and the North West. I haven’t had a chance to look at this in detail, but unsurprisingly it concentrates on the relevant interests of the FT’s readership, and is also overwhelmingly optimistic. More on this soon.

Well, I hope this gives you a taste of what the blog will bring. No doubt there will be plenty to report on in the next 18 months, and hopefully beyond. As it stands, nothing is off topic at the moment, so if you want to contribute, feel free to get in touch. Thanks for reading!