New developments at Historic Liverpool
In advance of the exciting developments in a couple of weeks’ time (more information anon!) I’ve been polishing the Historic Liverpool website, which has become a little neglected of late.
Posts by Martin
May 8
Mar 23
Refurbishing old buildings in the historic landscape
English Heritage have released a new volume of their ‘Constructive Conservation’ series, this one entitled Sustainable Growth for Historic Places. It’s all about the benefits of re-using historic buildings for new purposes, and the effects not only on the bottom line of the developer, but also the ability of these buildings to attract customers and tourists, and the benefits of creating an attractive and enjoyable place to work in. Read more
Mar 15
Peel Waters and the New Liverpool Landscape
As you’ll no doubt be aware, the planning application for Peel Waters was recently waved through by Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and there will be no public enquiry. Regular readers will remember previous posts, where I’ve come down against the scheme. But now that it looks like going ahead, it’s time to move on and consider how the development will unfold. Read more
Oct 12
Liverpool Books, and Heritage at Risk
It’s been four months (four!) since I last posted, and this is possibly the longest gap since I began the blog. It’s all in a good cause though, because my extra time has been going into finishing a book I’ve been writing, on Liverpool history of course! More info in good time, but until then I thought I’d share some photos of another Liverpool history book I recently bought, plus news of this year’s Heritage at Risk register. Read more
Jun 27
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site in Danger
Well, it happened. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, arbiters of the World Heritage Site list, met this week (as they do annually) and Liverpool was on the agenda. A decision was made to place the Maritime Mercantile City on the ‘In Danger’ list, which means that the “outstanding universal value” for which the area earned the title in 2004 (see my map of the historic sites of Liverpool for an outline of the WHS) is under threat.
It had been on the cards since Peel proposed their Liverpool Waters scheme, but the decision was finally taken in the wake of Liverpool City Council’s decision to grant that scheme planning permission in March of this year. Read more
May 1
Interactive Historic Maps of Liverpool
Historic Liverpool has always been primarily about the old maps. Well, now I’m starting to put interactive versions of the ones I own on the site for you to explore.
There are five maps on the Old Maps of Liverpool page now, but I’m hoping to add more as I get them scanned in (which isn’t the cheapest thing ever). Watch this space! Read more
Apr 12
St. James Cemetery – a typographic tour
Just a quick post today, as the interesting stuff in this case is over on another blog, that of the Liverpool-based company Banana Milk Design. A recent post consists of a tour of St. James’ Cemetery around the Anglican Cathedral, looking at the typography which can be seen.
Typography? Landscape-related?
Feb 23
Historic Liverpool is now open for your contributions
Today I’m going to introduce a new feature to this blog’s sister site, Historic Liverpool: I want you to help me write articles for it, and build a map of Liverpool history. Read more
A new year, an old controversy: UNESCO return their verdict on Liverpool Waters
Well, 2012 is just getting started, but UNESCO have set off the first fireworks in this year’s battle over the north docks.
After visiting the city in November, the UN inspectors are claiming that, should Peel’s plans go ahead, it would cause a “serious loss of historical authenticity“.
Nov 17
UNESCO visit to Liverpool: the future vs the past?
UNESCO this week are visiting Liverpool to assess the threat to the World Heritage Site (WHS) posed by the Peel Waters plans. Surrounding the visit there has been a lot of debate on the role of the WHS in a modern and changing city. Read more
