Five views of Google Earth’s 3D Liverpool you might not have seen
Exploring Liverpool's history from a unique vantage point: Google Earth's 3D visualisations introduced in 2015.
Mar 2
Feb 19
Culture of Capital by Nicky Allt
An alternative view of Liverpool as it picked up the baton of Capital of Culture, from someone who wouldn't fall for the hype.
Feb 13
Liverpool’s decline, it’s resurgence and it’s celebration
Some of Liverpool’s most fascinating history comes out of its darkest days, and to look back on it summons feelings of fascination, astonishment, but maybe even a little nostalgia for ‘simpler’ times. The links in this edition of the blog cover those times, as well as the vibrant history community that is alive and well on the web today. Read more
Jan 30
The riverside, high rises and shopping centres – old landscapes of Liverpool
Liverpool Landscapes is all about the discovery of Merseyside’s historic landscape. This week we take a look at photographic, video, text and map evidence for what once made up the city of Liverpool.
Jan 11
Cornucopia of historical treasures: maps, talks, Ged Fagan and Peter Ellis
Happy New Year!
Well, by the time you read this we’ll be well into 2015, but it seems the right thing to say, as I’m planning to reinvigorate Liverpool Landscapes, which has gone a bit quiet over the last couple of years. My excuse is that I’ve become self-employed, and only just getting to grips with managing my time! Read more
Oct 28
Heritage at Risk in Liverpool
Great work has been done to improve the lot of certain vulnerable historic buildings in Liverpool. Four buildings have been removed from the Heritage at Risk Register:
- North Warehouse, Stanley Dock Village;
- the ex-Royal Insurance HQ Building, North John Street;
- the Laundry and Laundry Cottage, Croxteth Park;
- the former St Andrew’s Church, Rodney Street.
You can read about the plans for these buildings in the not-proofread Liverpool Echo article: English Heritage praises Liverpool for historic buildings.
Read moreSep 8
The historic villages of Liverpool – built to a template?
Despite the variety of suburbs and old villages in Liverpool, a pattern can be seen in their shape.
Jul 25
Croxteth Park from the air
Having written about Liverpool history for a while now, I’m lucky enough to be copied in to a lot of interesting tid-bits of the city’s past. This happened recently when the Croxteth Park Twitter account posted several aerial shots from the middle of the last century. I’d like to share them with you here.
The first photo is from November 1954, and is taken from the north west. West Derby village is right at the top of the shot. There are a lot of puddles around the grounds, and as one Tweeter put it, it looks like the ground is very waterlogged.
The other features of these photos which interests us historians is the lack of houses. The housing estates around that area were being constructed from the 1930s. As you can see, even by the middle of the 1950s they were only just starting to encroach upon the Croxteth estate. The second tweet shows the same scene from the opposite direction – with the photographer flying over West Derby village and looking north east. From this angle, the lack of houses is extremely easy to see!
The final aerial photo is taken from the north west again, looking from the walled garden across towards Melwood Drive, although the number of houses and roads is much fewer than in the present day. You can also see Croxteth Hall Lane, Home Farm, and many of the paths through Croxteth Park.
These photos are all from Croxteth Park’s own archive. It’s great to see how interested people got. Just look at the discussion which got going under the aerial shot of Croxteth Hall from the west!
There are a few other tweets I’d like to share in the future, but I’ll leave it there for now. I hope I’ve shown how Twitter is a great forum for historiphiles to get together and discuss this kind of things. If you’re on Twitter, or thinking of jumping on that particular bandwagon, have a look at the following people:
- Historic Liverpool (@histliverpool): Me! Sharing articles of interest on Liverpool history and updates to Liverpool Landscapes and the Historic Liverpool website;
- Croxteth Park (@CroxtethPark): The photos you’ve seen here are from Croxteth Hall and the estate. They often share photos and maps;
- Liverpool1207 (@Liverpool1207): A tweeter who has an accompanying blog at http://liverpool1207blog.wordpress.com;
- LiverpoolPast (@LiverpoolPast): This is a recent addition to the Twitter / Liverpool history pantheon, but is already looking good with a regular supply of old photos;
- Museum of Liverpool (@MuseumLiverpool): The obvious source of Liverpool heritage news! The museum’s been on Twitter since before the place opened in 2011, and will keep you up to date on their exhibitions and other events in the city.
I hope I’ve given you a little overview of the benefits of Twitter, through some of the things which have been shared through the service. If you’re on Twitter, do follow the people above, and say hi!
The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire
A catalogue of religious crosses around Merseyside, with a decent description of the landscape as a whole.
Dec 6
The Liverpool History Geek’s Gift Guide
A round-up of the best books, society membership and other gifts for the history buff in your life.
