Day 21 - Arrival at Birkenhead, Beatles Story, Mersey Ferry, Gateway to the World & The Cavern Club

Saturday 5 October 2019

As we travel up the Mersey to dock at Liverpool we rise and dress, pack up our gear and make our way downstairs to wait for disembarkation. Excitement as I walk past a framed photograph of the Beatles, but then a double take. What the? Well someone clearly doesn’t like Paul!! It’s a famous group shot of the young fab four, but to fit the image into a square frame some genius has decided to crop the photo. Bizarre.

Why on earth would you choose this iconic photo and then crop Paul out of it?

I slip outside to take a better look at the lights of Liverpool across the Mersey, then come back quickly to wait with Hubby, noting a few passengers who have just opted to sleep on the banquettes in the common areas rather than book a cabin. We glide down the very tall escalators to immigration, queuing to show our passports. Hubby is behind me and held up as one of the officials asks him about his trip and where he's going. He’s just seeming a bit stunned and unable to say. Thinking maybe he needs assistance I head back. They were just being friendly, so we have a nice chat and head out to the shuttle bus for the transfer to the train station. We couldn’t be bothered with the train as we’re staying at Albert Dock so we just grab a taxi which is waiting at the rank.

It’s daylight by the time we’re driving through very light traffic to the Premier Inn, pull up outside and find that this driver doesn’t take card only cash. Seems a bit strange to me. I note that he does have his photo ID licence on display, and the car does have a meter so he must be legit. Hubby hands over a £10 note, it’s one of the new plastic notes we got at the bank in Carrickfergus. Driver looks at it and says “What’s this?” So we explain and include a perhaps gratuitous level of detail, cheerfully adding that it’s the new plastic money that has better security features, see the clear panel, this polymer note technology was invented in Australia, so the new notes look a lot like Australian money with brighter colours. He accepts this, which is a relief because if he hadn't I don't know what we'd have done to make payment. 

Premier Inn Royal Albert Dock

Nothing unusual about dropping our luggage, but we start right away into the Beatlemania with some piped Beatles songs in the lobby.  They are playing Lennon by the time we head back out for a look around.

The Royal Albert Dock - Grade 1 Listed

The overwhelming first impression of the Albert Dock is that the scale is simply enormous. Enormous. Incredible to think that this was constructed in the 1840s. It represents so many world firsts. First to be built from cast iron, brick and stone with no structural wood, so the first non-combustible warehouse. It revolutionised operations because cargo was moved directly from the ship into the warehouse. The world’s first hydraulic cranes were installed only two years after completion. Even so, the rapid advances in shipping technology mean the dock itself was obsolete within 50 years. Having spent so long looking at maps and reviews of venues and eateries in the area, it’s great to finally be here. Of course, this early in the morning nothing is open. There's so many interesting museums we won’t have time for.

Legacy Memorial detail

There is a vast amount of space around the docks for sculptures and memorials and there’s an eclectic abundance of opportunities for contemplation of the different aspects of the life of the dock. From an expression of long-lasting admiration and devotion from Billy Fury fans, to the purely artistic work of Tony Cragg, or the Legacy Memorial calling to mind over 9 million people who travelled through Liverpool to emigrate to the new world.

Waiting by Judy Boyt

“Waiting” a memorial to working horses is well justified and brings to mind an aspect of life on the docks I probably would not have otherwise considered. My 3 x Great grandfather spent 20 years working on or around the docks in Liverpool from about 1845 – 1864, so no doubt he would have been very familiar with the presence of the many thousands of working horses without which the docks would have ground to a standstill. Even during WWII, the Liverpool carters and their working horses ensured that goods were kept moving through the docks. 

Propeller from the Lusitania

A small, fenced enclosure sits in an area which seems a bit neglected. Weeds are growing from the gaps between the cobblestones near an area closed off by temporary fencing. I walk over for a closer look, not feeling particularly enthusiastic, but figuring I may as well be thorough because I’ll probably never have another chance. I find it’s one of the four propellers from the Lusitania, the sinking of which brought the USA into the first world war. She was a Cunard liner, based in Liverpool, and sank in 20 minutes after being torpedoed off the coast of southern Ireland in 1915 at the cost of 1201 lives. How ironic, that this is the thing that seems least prominent or cared for here.

We’re making quite a habit of checking out historic docks during our travels, first Chatham where HMS Victory was built and many of my dead rellies worked back in the early 19th Century, then Portsmouth where HMS Victory is now on display, this time we are admiring the first wet dock ever constructed, opened in 1715 having cost £11,000 to construct over the previous 5 years. These modest looking stone structures are some of the mightiest pieces of architecture on the planet.

Opening time for the Rough Hand Made Bakery approaches so we turn back and walk along the covered walkways of the Royal Albert Dock to a venue of extreme temptation. Not all items are available as soon as the doors open, but a delicious spinach and fetta roll, chocolate croissant and a delectable cinnamon and walnut scroll all live up to this bakery’s reputation. Oh my, it’s perhaps just as well that I don’t live near this place.

Conveniently, we’re now very close to the Beatles Story again. I’m not sure about this but again, we’re here so we may as well take a look. I read a lot about the Beatles years ago so I’m wondering whether I’ll find this interesting, but there’s some new information for me in there and some that refreshes my memory. …and of course, there’s a constant Beatles soundtrack in the museum, so it’s hard not to enjoy yourself. Most of it is new for Hubby and he’s paying close attention and enjoying the displays. 

The final room is called Imagine and it has John Lennon’s white piano and his glasses sitting on top. Since seeing the movie Yesterday and the ending of that, I’ve being experiencing a new wave of sorrow at John’s murder. This final display brings tears to the surface once more.

Our next item today is the Mersey Ferry, but first we find the RIBA North outlet and book on for this afternoon’s walking tour. Back on our way to the ferry terminal, we join the throng of people who have gathered around the statues of the Beatles. Groups stand in front of the larger than life young Liverpudlians.  Other’s waiting volunteer to take the photos for the group ahead of them so they can all be in the photo together. Everyone is smiling and laughing and there’s a real sense of global community that makes this a pretty special experience.

We join the queue for the Mersey Ferry, penned back so the passengers disembarking can pass through and for about 30 seconds they play Ferry Cross the Mersey and then the soundtrack is cut without finishing the song. The poor crew. They must be so, so sick of that song. We tourists of course would be happy to hear the whole of it.

We concentrate to try to hear all the commentary as we cruise to the various stopping off points. My main objectives in taking the ferry are 1. It’s iconic isn’t it so it's just one of those things you have to do, and as we learn, there’s been a ferry cross the Mersey for at least 800 years. 2. Having arrived in the dark it gives us a chance to see more of the docks that run for 7 kms along the waterside, and the river itself which I am astonished to learn is about 1.6 km (1 mile) wide in this area! It’s even wider upstream.

Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse - Grade II Listed

We run down the northern side of the river, viewing the Grade II listed Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse, world’s now the world’s largest brick building, when it was opened in 1901, it was the world’s largest building of any kind. Not far away we admire the Salisbury Dock and the Grade II Listed Victoria Tower which is striking for the hexagonal design, providing 6 clock faces which assisted shipping by enabling them to accurately set their ship’s clocks as they sailed out to the Irish Sea. The bells in the tower also warned of impending meteorological changes, such as fog or high tide.

Victoria Tower aka the Dockers Clock

I run our itinerary through some logistical somersaults in my mind trying to think of some time when we might go over to the Wirral to check out Hamilton Square, which we’re told is one of the finest squares in Britain with the most grade 1 listed buildings anywhere outside London. Man, I would like to see that, but we just don’t have time.

Mersey Tunnel Ventilation Shaft by Herbert Rowse 1925-34. Steel framed with brick cladding

We start our education on Herbert Rowse as we contemplate the Art Deco styling of the Mersey Tunnel ventilation shaft at Birkenhead.  It offers a stark contrast to the 1970s construction of the Ventilation Shaft and air intakes for the Kingsway Tunnel, a brutalist edifice for which the engineers carry full design credits.

Kingsway Tunnel Ventilation Shaft 

Over in the distance the Grade 1 listed Liverpool Cathedral dominates a stretch of skyline, hardly surprising given it’s the world’s longest Cathedral. It’s on my itinerary, but is in danger from some pushing and shoving for time that will need to occur on that day. A little research during the writing up of this journal reveals that the choice of architect for the project was quite startling and it would seem very much influenced by blatant nepotism. Beating luminaries such as Charles Rennie McIntosh in the competition for the job, a youngster, and the third generation of prominent designers of such buildings, Giles Gilbert Scott won out even though he was only 22 and not yet fully qualified. Such were the reservations of the Cathedral Committee that they appointed one of the panel of the selectors, a close friend of the young bloke's father, to co-design the Cathedral just to be sure. 

Not the best view of Liverpool Cathedral

I was intrigued by the long period of construction which was quite extraordinarily long for a modern project. Commenced in 1904, the scale of the task and the disruption caused by two world wars, not to mention damage inflicted during the Liverpool Blitz, is responsible for the project slipping over the years with completion not until 1978, after the death of even Giles Gilbert Scott. I have to wonder what a complete marvel a cathedral by Charles Rennie McIntosh would have been.

We cruise in past the Wheel of Liverpool and the Royal Albert Dock, marveling at the extraordinary decision to build a two-storey ferry terminal obscuring the views of the Three Graces from the water. What on earth were the planning authorities thinking?

What the hell were they thinking blocking the view of the three graces from the water?

We still have an hour to kill until our walking tour at 2 pm. What about lunch? We ate too much at brekkie and have a substantial meal planned this evening, so we’re not keen for a sit-down lunch. Hubby wants to go to a chemist, but that doesn’t require both of us so I decide to use the time to check out the Liverpool Museum. We agree to meet back at RIBA North for the walking tour. 

Main staircase, Museum of Liverpool

I don’t have time for much, my first thought is to follow the Irish trail, but there’s some sort of amateur performance going on in the lobby area and they have a temporary exhibition on John and Yoko, called Double Fantasy, so I figure I may as well head up for a look at that. I only get enough time to decide I’d like to see more of it, before I really had better go and get across to RIBA North.
I find Hubby sitting in the RIBA café, having had a belated sit down lunch. He’s saved me half a sandwich, so I tuck in as we tell each other about our adventures. I almost regret not staying together to have witnessed his experience of the current day Liverpool Blitz. Walking along doing no harm a gull swerves out of it’s flight path on a bombing raid and having selected its target, drops a shit down the side of Hubby’s head and over his shoulder. British gulls are huge, it’s not until later Hubby finds gull shit overflow in the hood of his jacket. Judging by the copious quantity expelled, Hubby later quips “it’s clearly never had Boxty in its life.” Apparently, he’s found last night’s boxty binge in Belfast quite binding. Never mind, I laugh, clearly you must be in for luck sometime soon. 

We find our guide sitting at a table, out in the atrium he’s a volunteer and has a wealth of information to share about the city which, like Glasgow, bills itself as the second city of the British Empire, as was. As we’re already on Mann Island we learn about its five or so billion-pound redevelopment and the Longitude and Latitude buildings.

Latitude and Longitude Buildings and location of RIBA North

Soon my Art Deco knowledge is, predictably, being put the test as we pause to consider some more of Rowse’s work at the Georges Dock Building and Queensway Ventilation Tower. Do you know what style of architecture this is? Our guide enquires. Art Deco? I hedge my bets. Well done. Of course it’s Art Deco! I enjoy architecture and architecture tours, I’m no expert at identifying the different styles, but Art Deco I can usually identify quite readily since we did the Downtown Deco tour in Chicago. This has frequently proved handy because guides almost always ask you if you can tell what style Art Deco buildings are, much more so than any other style. It’s also useful to be able to tell Art Deco from Art Nouveau or Arts and Crafts. It gets trickier between Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts, but in my experience if you can at least distinguish Art Deco, you generally don’t embarass yourself too badly!

Georges Dock Building and Queensway Ventilation Tower architect Herbert Rowse

Before we move off, we look across to 30 James St and our guide discusses its history and design with enthusiasm. I feel a momentary pang of regret at having chosen to save a bit of money and stay elsewhere. Another heritage beauty is recommended to us also, that would be the Phil (aka the Philharmonic Dining Rooms) another Grade 1 listed building. Well, that sounds wonderful, but unfortunately there’s no way we’ll get time for that one.

Canada Boulevard

A short walk out on Canada Boulevard and our appreciation of the Beatles statue is enhanced by a few subtle features of the sculpture being brought to our attention. You don’t notice any of them until you examine the statue from behind. Each Beatle has something that references interests and activities. Look in the palm of John’s hand, he is holding some acorns. When he and Yoko did the bed in, they sent a pair of acorns to a number of world leaders asking that they be planted as living sculptures and symbols of peace. The acorns used to mold those in the statue had been foraged by the sculptor from the oaks growing near the Dakota Building in New York where John lived and was ultimately murdered.

Only the well informed or eagle eyed would spot the acorns in John's hand

Paul has a film camera bag slung over his shoulder, some websites say this is a reference to his wife being a professional photographer, but frankly, that seems to be nonsense. Interviewed about Magical Mystery Tour, Paul talked of having a movie camera and he would shoot many rolls of film wherever he was at the time, so appropriately, this is a reference to Paul’s own interests. George naturally has exotic script on his belt referencing his spiritual beliefs and Ringo has his Liverpool postal code L8 on the sole of his shoe.

We only need to look across to the Liverpool Museum and note the design references to its context, note for example the inspiration from the bridge of a ship. Limestone panels used in the cladding create a sympathetic colour to the historic buildings nearby. But the building has been controversial, not everyone is a fan. It was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup.  Which brings us to consider the Pier Head Ferry Terminal Building – that we were puzzling over earlier. That actually won the Carbuncle Cup and a deserving winner it is. Local people fought to stop it but lost. All you can do is shake your head.

Georges Dock in the 1860s. Now the site of the Three Graces

We consider the massive engineering challenges of the Liverpool Canal Link project which reconnected the Leeds and Liverpool Canal with Liverpool’s South Docks at Pier Head restoring the connections that were broken when the George’s Dock was reclaimed for the building of the Three Graces.

We spend some more time discussing the Three Graces and the Cunard War Memorial, Liverpool traditions and superstitions around the Liver Birds. Again, we are in luck as we are posed a question. Do you know what Pro Patria means? Ah, yes, it means for your country. Our guide is somewhat surprised we know this. It just so happens it was the motto of the school our children all attended,  that’s come in handy!

Cunard War Memorial in front of the Cunard Building at Pier Head

Then it’s time to walk on. Our destination is the Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, but as we travel and wait at the lights we consider the detail and context of the Tower Building and the long occupancy of that site, imagining the hustle and bustle of the docks as they used to be.

Liverpool Blitz Memorial by Tom Murphy

Outside the church, we spend some time on the Liverpool Blitz of World War II and the memorial to the many civilian casualties. Around 4,000 people were killed and 10,000 injured in Merseyside during the blitz. Only London suffered higher casualties (around 30,000 deaths). Liverpool was an obvious target. Without the eastern supply chain to North America, Britain would have been crippled. An even larger monument to the Liverpool Blitz exists in the bombed out shell of St Lukes Church, too far away for us to cover today.

Royal Liver Building where once there were docks crowded with sailing ships, viewed from the grounds of Our Lady and St Nicholas Church

St Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, so dedication of the church is particularly fitting. This location has been a site of worship since the 13^th Century. We contemplate the extent of land reclamation in this area over time. At one point the River Mersey reached the garden walls of the church at high tide, but in the time since, progressive waves of redevelopment and land reclamation have pushed the waters back.

We step inside the church and quietly consider stories of tragedy and notable elements of the interior, so many of which reference a nautical theme. Time to pause and reflect for a brief while and we step back outside.

Mercure Atlantic Tower Hotel 1972 

Time for some more modern construction now. Nautical references are obvious in the Mecure Atlantic Tower Hotel, and respect to the history of Liverpool is paid in the dazzle cladding appearance of the Unity Buildings nearby. There’s a lot more thoughtful creativity that’s gone into the complex of buildings and the contrasting sections, but my memory and notebook can only cope with so much new material!

The Unity Buildings

We’re heading into a quiet road that feels like a bit of a backwater for another of Liverpools most significant buildings. Savagely panned by the architecture establishment, Oriel Chambers was at the forefront of design for it’s day. It’s construction is explained and its architect Peter Ellis lauded, links to the Chicago School of Architecture via John Wellborne Root noted and then the open question. When do you think this was built?  We’re way too late. Nope, 1864.  1864!!! You’re joking. No wonder it’s Grade I listed.

Oriel Chambers - now Grade 1 Listed but it was underappreciated in its day

The building on the opposite side of the road is not listed, but our guide is fond of it, and we’re here, so we may as well spend a few minutes on the architectural features. The quality of the build is obvious given its current condition.

Up past the India Building and on to Martins Bank where they stored part of Britain's gold reserve when the country was threatened with invasion during WWII. It seems that all around us the walls could relate stories of immense power and wealth. 

Martins Bank

An architecture tour of Liverpool would not be complete without considering the Grade 1 Listed Town Hall. A wander in there sounds brilliant. 

The identity of the nearby Nelson Monument comes as a surprise. Everywhere must have a Nelson Monument let’s face it, but the design of the monument features figures in chains, so give the wealth derived from the slave trade I was easily misled. In fact, the four figures represent Nelson’s four major battle victories, those chains lead up to the mouths of the Lion, an obvious reference to Great Britain.

The Nelson Memorial

We quickly note the remarkably ornate building on the corner of Brunswick and Castle and head via the Queen Victoria Monument in Derby square and on to the final location of our walk, Liverpool One, which is apparently the most successful shopping precinct development in Britain. I can believe it. It’s open to the air and it’s absolutely crawling with people even now on an increasingly damp Saturday afternoon. It’s much much nicer than the awful caverns that companies like Westfield usually put up.  

Liverpool One

We thank our guide and bid him farewell. Now, it’s about 4:30 pm. We’ve got tickets to the Saturday Night Beatles show at the Cavern but the doors don’t open there until 7:30. Do we have time to go back to the hotel for a rest? We decide not. We’ve got our eye on Casa Italia for dinner and they don’t take bookings so we figure we should go over there in the hope of avoiding too much in the way of crowds.

There’s a wait outside the little air lock when we arrive. Hubby’s not that thrilled to queue at any time. Happily this joint knows what they’re doing and it’s quite entertaining for me to watch the concentration with which the man in charge observes the large and crowded room and turns the tables over. There’s nothing haphazard about it. He must go home exhausted. 

Tortellini all Pana from Casa Italia

Within about 15 minutes we’re tucking into a serve of warm dough balls with garlic butter dip. I’ve watched a video online where someone who’s been coming here since childhood raved about the pasta bakes. They’re not something I’ve seen on menus at home so I’m keen to try one. I settle on the Tortellini alla panna: Oven baked meat filled pasta, with chicken, bechamel and mozzarella. Hubby has gone for the Penne Boscaiola: Mushrooms, peas, ham, onions, cream and tomato sauce. Both are on our table piping hot within another 10 minutes. Our meals are beautifully prepared. The slices of chicken laid out between the tortellini and the blanket of mozzarella is cooked to perfection and beautifully moist. Fast forward half an hour and we’re tucking into bowls of gelati, a compromise choice. We take our time, but conscious of the queue waiting for a table we head on our way. Nobody rushed us, but this is not a place to linger if you care about the suffering of others.

Eleanor Rigby by Tommy Steele

Eleanor Rigby sits on a bench on the street opposite. Then we only have a short walk around to Mathew Street. Still an hour and half until the doors open for the show. Not enough time to go back to the hotel and return, the weather’s a bit iffy and there’s a queue to get into the Cavern Club, so we figure we will join that and sus things out. Make sure we know where we are supposed to be. The Cavern is crowded and noisy, there’s nowhere to sit down. Faced with standing whatever we do, I suggest we just head around and find the entrance to the Lounge and hang out there. This turns out to be an old red phone box in the souvenir sales section tucked around the corner. We can hear the music from the band that’s playing.

Hubby’s pissed off. He doesn’t want a drink. I make an effort to talk to him about the souvenir options. He’s giving of dark vibes. A Canadian couple joins us in the queue and the lady starts to spark up a friendly conversation, which I think helps the time pass. Hubby, is just being downright rude. Resisting conversation when introduced. The three of us do our best but it’s awkward. Oh isn’t this going to be fun with Hubby in a rare mood. We wait and we wait. I mean, it’s not compulsory to queue for so long, but there’s limited seating and after a long day I’m keen to nab one of them.
Eventually, after the staff help a range of apparently special people jump the queue so they can have the front row seats the doors open and we file in and choose our seats. Hubby’s still pretty dark. A support act comes on and puts a sign up with his name on it and proceeds to occupy time for what feels like a good long time. My god, is this ever going to start?

Some time around 9pm or slightly after the show proper gets going. I hope this is worth all this waiting with mister grumpy. The scene is set with a video presentation on the large screen at the back of the stage, setting the scene of the times and finally the band, dressed in the manner of the early Beatles breakthrough hits comes bounding out onto the stage. The crowd goes wild. Obviously the first song is I Want to Hold Your Hand and the crowd sings along in full voice. The atmosphere is amazing. The band is amazing. If you close your eyes you’d think it was the original band. The impersonation is extraordinary. Between songs the various Beatles interact with the audience in a manner characteristic of the originals. It probably sounds cheesy but the authenticity of it rescues it from kitsch. The show proceeds with the band playing a selection of songs from each Beatles album and each Beatle gets their turn. At one point quite early in the show, Cavern Club George launches into an obscure George number. He makes eye contact with me as I happily sing along. The look on his face seems to say… what? No one knows THIS one! I do. If a song has a good beat and harmonies I am certain to like it, so obviously I love the early Beatles albums, they are all about harmonies.

The show goes on until time enough has passed that a costume change is required. The band leave the stage and the video presentation comes on with a parade of current events showing the time passing before the band comes back in their new look to cover the next few albums. The audience is loving it. People have obviously come from all over the UK and the world but there’s locals too. There’s all ages as well. There’s a young bloke just across from us who’s so into it I wonder if he’s chemically enhanced. Next to me is an old lady wearing long white vynal boots. She seems to be on her own and she sparks up a conversation. Apparently these boots are the same as the ones she wore to the Cavern back in the early 60s. By the time she’s sparking up a conversation with me she’s as pissed as a newt.

The music continues, every album is covered. Great hits, faithfully reproduced. For some of the more complex later songs, the Cavern Club George Martin joins the band and sits discretely adding the necessary elements. Sergeant Peppers climaxes as it should with A Day in the Life. SO. WELL DONE. We get to the White Album and George does the most faithful rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Extraordinary. Its an endless hit parade. It’s nothing short of bloody fantastic.

Inevitably the band take their bows and leave the stage, but they haven’t done either Let it Be or Hey Jude, so we know the show’s not over yet. The cheering is encouraging and return and then someone starts what I suspect is a Cavern Club ritual. Nah, Nah Nah, Nah, Nah Nah Nah…. Nah Nah Nah Nah, Heey Jude!  And that’s it, the audience just keeps that up until the band returns and plays surely the most iconic Beatles hit. The audience is word perfect, belting it out. It’s absolutely brilliant. But there’s not second encore. No Let it Be. It’s coming on for midnight and the audience slowly makes their way out of the lounge. Hubby, turns to me and says. “That was worth the wait!” Yes it bloody was! Back in the Cavern’s main bar area another band is has also been doing Hey Jude and the crowd is singing along so we join in again. It’s just one huge revel in songs that mean so much to pretty much the whole world. Hubby and I are both on cloud nine as we walk back down to the our hotel on the Royal Albert Dock. We’ve done some brilliant stuff on this and other holidays, but we haven’t ever done anything better than this. To think I almost didn’t come to Liverpool. I wondered if this was just a cheesy tourist trap. If I’d had any remote idea how good this night was going to be, this would definitely have been close to the top of my bucket list. I’m so glad that item got ticked in spite of my cynicism. Gosh I hope I get to come back to do this again one day. It’s a good thing we have a decent walk home, it takes a while to come down from a high like that. What a simply outstanding experience and we both feel the same, me a Beatles tragic of longstanding, and Hubby not so. We both think this has been far and away the best thing we’ve done on this trip. Even the utterly fabulous and hilarious Game of Thrones Archery doesn’t even come close. Beatlemania is alive and well in Liverpool. For goodness sake get yourself there and experience it, be ready to sing along. As we have said to all our closest friends, it's worth the airfare and 28 hours on a plane just to go to Liverpool and the Cavern Club Beatles show. Do it!!
Best of all for me, Liverpool has given the Beatles back to me. I was a complete Beatles tragic as a teenager, somewhere between five and ten years too late, collected all their albums, knew every song by heart, but unfortunately there's a fair amount about that time of my life I'd rather forget, so I haven't enjoyed the music as much because it takes me back to places I've moved on from. Coming to Liverpool and experiencing the simple and sincere pride and joy in the Beatles and their music and partaking of the communion at the Cavern Club has given The Beatles back to me free of baggage. For that I am deeply and sincerely grateful beyond the ability to adequately express it. But I suspect that many people around the world understand what I feel. It's expressed so beautifully in the movie Yesterday, I know i'm not alone.

Sydney Sightseeing Walk - Updated 2020

This walk a great way to explore some of the wonderful parts of Sydney. I have treated the walk as one long exploration which can be done over a few hours or across a whole day or more depending on where, and how long, you stop along the way. You could also split the walk up, perhaps by simply heading straight to Hyde Park and starting there.... so off we go on a somewhat eclectic, one born and bred Sydneysider's view of a slice of our harbour city. Please follow the links for further information about different sites to see what you can do there or to get more detailed information on the context.

I have chosen to start the walk at Town Hall. To the west of Town Hall is St Andrews Cathedral, see of the Archibishop of Sydney and the home of the Anglican church in Sydney.  Choral evensong is sung on Mondays and Thursdays. They also have some musical events which when scheduled are shown on the website.

Head north along George St and cross over to the QVB.  This magnificent Sydney retail palace was saved from demolition by one of many Green Bans implemented by workers under the leadership of the legendary and still influential Jack Mundey who has made an enormous contribution to the preservation of Sydney's heritage and earned himself a slot as one of the ten Sydney visionaries celebrated at the Museum of Sydney (which is not on this walk).

The QVB could consume some time if you like to browse the shops, or stop for morning tea, but even those who loathe shopping should at least walk through and look up and around as you wander. You won't be short of options for indulging in some guilty pleasures along the way.

Emerge from the QVB onto Market Street. Head to the east to George Street and then start heading north. Cross the road. You pass the Galeries Victoria "a lifestyle and cultural destination for fashion art and music".

If you don't lose yourself in the Galeries.. perhaps in Books Kinokuniya (which seems to have a devoted set of disciples).. soon you will come to Dymocks. Dymocks is a Sydney institution and (like Kinokuniya) one of Sydney's best book stores... Plenty of Australian literature and kid's books can be found here.

Continue walking north along George St to the Strand Arcade an atmospheric and beautiful high end retail arcade.. and by far the loveliest way to get across to Pitt St Mall and on to our next destination... which is...

Sydney Tower Eye for a highrise view of our beautiful harbour with all it's winding nooks and quiet bays and across to the coast of golden beaches interrupted by craggy cliffs and headlands creating a string of sandy smiles for hundreds of miles north and south.  Access to Sydney Tower Eye is located in Westfield Sydney which can be accessed from Pitt St Mall.

With your feet back on the ground, before we move on, I must point out that another of the heritage glories of Sydney - the State Theatre is located to the west along Market St. The State Theatre is a very busy live performance venue. Originally built as a moving picture palace in the late 1920s best seats are in the stalls for modern live performances, but back in the days of silent movies best seats were dress circle which still provides excellent views of performances and is the more impressive seating in terms of appreciating the theatre itself.

Walk straight up Market St to Hyde Park and the Archibald fountain and it's lovely backdrop of St Mary's Cathedral. You can visit the Cathedral which is the "spiritual home of Sydney's Catholic community".  They are more geared up for casual visitors than the Anglican counterpart and offer a program of choral services and events. St Mary's is home to Australia's oldest ringing society in Australia the St Mary's Basillica Society of Change Ringers. Practice night is Thursday, and there are regular ringings for services listed on the website.

Back to Hyde Park: you have an option here to explore the park and take a loop down to the Anzac Memorial Hyde Park. It is a very beautiful memorial full of symbolism and has a small museum onsite. It is well worth your time. Honouring and remembering our service men and women is a fundamental element of Australian culture.

As we have included some of the largest Christian places of worship in our notes, it's also worth mentioning that just across the road from Hyde Park on Elizabeth St (west of Hyde Park) is the entrance to The Great Synagogue. "One of the finest Synagogues in the world". Check the website for tour times and information.

Moving on from Hyde Park, it's simply a matter of crossing the road to get to St James Church, Sydney's oldest church and one of our most significant historic buildings designed by convict architect Francis Greenway.  A while ago a British TV series was made about amazing buildings, for Sydney they passed over the Opera House and chose St James's Church because they felt it astonishing that it was built when and where it was. It demonstrated an awe inspiring ambition and confidence in the future of young Sydney town. Both St James's Church and Hyde Park Barracks (another Greenway building) were built in the Macquarie era. Lachlan Macquarie was a great visionary and the people of Sydney still hold him in great esteem for his work advancing the young colony, however it is acknowledged that, as part of the British invasion of traditional Aboriginal lands he was responsible for ordering the massacre of Aboriginal people at Appin. Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth are commemorated in many names and places in Sydney and across NSW. Macquarie's Grave, on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, is maintained at the expense of the National Trust of Australia and is inscribed "The Father of Australia".

Next on our agenda, is of course the World Heritage Listed Hyde Park Barracks. I would recommend allowing at least a couple of hours for exploring this site. Many early immigrants to Australia passed through the doors here, including two of my own forebears, my great great grandfather as a convict, and ten years later my great great grandmother, a free Irish orphan brought out under the Earl Grey Scheme.... both were shipped on to Moreton Bay (now in Queensland) where they married in 1850.  You will learn about both these (and more) uses of the Barracks during your visit.  Even if you choose to simply walk past the Barracks, do have a look at the Irish Famine Memorial which commemorates these young Irish women and their contribution to this country.

If you head north along Macquarie Street towards the Opera House you pass some of Sydney's other colonial era treasures including NSW State Parliament, The Mint and the State Library. Also along Macquarie St are a number of small cafes serving breakfast and lunch and entrances to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

We will follow the road as it sweeps around to the left / north and into Art Gallery Road. You will walk under the beautiful shady canopy of an avenue of Port Jackson fig trees through the Domain. As you pass, keep an eye out for the speaker's podiums on your left opposite the Art Gallery of NSW, this is  Speaker's Corner, established in 1878 as a place where people can speak to whatever issue they feel needs public attention.  Nearby is a restaurant and cafe where you might choose to take a break or have a meal.

The Art Gallery of NSW has plenty to see for art lovers including some of the nations best loved and most famous works. There is a lovely restaurant onsite with views down over Woolloomooloo Bay (pronounced Woola-malloo) and the historic Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf.

To continue down to Mrs Macquarie's Point, the best route is to follow the path on the eastern side (Art Gallery side) of the road as it veers down to the foreshore of Woolloomooloo Bay. Don't neglect to explore the little nooks and crannies along the way as they lead down to some surprises, such as the sculpture, Dual Nature, by Nigel Helyer. Along this way you will also find the Andrew (Boy) Charlton swimming pool. Boy Charlton was a champion Australian swimmer, born in North Sydney, who won the 1500 metres title in 20 minutes 6.6 seconds, setting new Olympic and world records at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.

From the Boy Charlton pool, it's a lovely walk down along Mrs Macquaries Road through an area where they have been re-establishing original vegetation, to Mrs Macquarie's Chair.which is actually a stone seat carved into the headland on Mrs Macquaries Point. Through this walk you have beautiful views of the harbour. 

As you round Mrs Macquaries Point the vista opens onto what has to be the most iconic view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour bridge. It is also one of the most attractive views of the Sydney skyline as the modern towers hover above the green of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney as it hugs the headland and foreshores of Farm Cove.

Take your time and take a stroll admiring the stunning Sydney views as you walk along the level foreshore pathway into the botanic gardens. There is plenty of scope for exploring in the gardens, or having a lie down on the grass, a meal in the cafe or restaurant, or simply use the facilities. The gardens has changing botanical exhibitions at the Calyx and there is a variety of day and night time walks. If you fancy some time off your feet there is a small road train that operates within the gardens.

The obvious next stop on the walk is the Sydney Opera House. The Opera House is on a promontory called Bennelong Point. Woollarawarre Bennelong was one of the most notable Aboriginal people in the early history of modern Australia. Spare him, and his people, a thought as you contemplate the modern metropolis. You can learn more about Sydney's first people here.  I recommend you take a tour of the Opera House. You may also choose to have a bite to eat at the Opera Bar or the Opera Kitchen. Pause for a while on a seat along the Opera House forecourt and admire "The Coathanger" as Sydneysiders affectionately call the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Luna Park (a beautiful spectacle of light in Sydney's night-time sparkle); and Fort Dennison out in the harbour.

You can end the walk at Circular Quay using transport connections to return to your base, or you can continue around Circular Quay past the various street performers. Beyond the quay you reach The Rocks, another area saved by the Green Bans discussed above.

As evening moves in, or at another time you can continue around the foreshore all the way around Dawes Point, under the bridge to Walsh Bay for access to more theatre complexes such as Sydney Theatre or The Wharf that provide a home for the world renowned Sydney Theatre Company.  The land around Walsh Bay,  Millers Point and Barangaroo  was once the scene of  intensive marine industry, ship building and repair and commercial docks. The Barangaroo Project named for Barangaroo, a prominent Aboriginal woman of early Sydney, was initiated as an urban renewal project converting the old shipping container terminals into parklands and shopping and business precincts including restoring the original contours of the headland. The Barangaroo Project website provides information on the area and activities you can do there which includes regular Aboriginal cultural tours. From Barangaroo you can connect with Sydney Trains at Wynyard, or beyond Barangaroo is Cockle Bay and then Darling Harbour where you can connect with Sydney Ferries. 

Day 20 - St George's Market, Eclectic Belfast Walking Tour, Ulster Museum and Dinner at Holohan's Pantry

Friday 4 October 2019
It's our last day so we pack up properly and check out, leaving our luggage with reception for safe keeping until this evening when we take the overnight ferry to Liverpool.  We're not away quite as early as I would have liked but we at least have a little bit of time to stick to the plan and walk over to St George's Market. Along the way we explore a little more, street art lined passageways open to lovely protected squares. There's artwork everywhere, paintings, sculptures in various media. It's brilliant.

 I love the water fountain. It's cheery yellow makes a lovely landmark. There's so much of Belfast we haven't yet seen.

 We are really pressed for time at the market. It's a mix of fresh and cooked food vendors and stalls selling bits and bobs. Luckily there's an artist selling simple artworks of scenes around Belfast and the Antrim Coast, bees and animals. They are lovely.  But first we need to seek out some breakfast. We settle on a crepe each from the creperie and watch as the vendor whips up our choices with practiced efficiency. Served in a cone we find them surprisingly easy to eat.... and delicious.
But already we're running out of time so we head back to the art stall and I get a little carried away! We're off walking in the rain, so we're a bit concerned about keeping the art dry, but not to worry, the little bundle is wrapped in bubble wrap and popped into a plastic bag. They'll be safe in Hubby's manbag while we walk. Luckily they're not heavy. Though our visit to the markets has been a bit rushed, I'm really glad we made the effort to come over here.

A quick sprint up to City Hall, admiring the copper domes of the building along the way. We're meeting Marty from Belfastology for the Eclectic City tour. I pause just long enough to take a super quick look and photo at the memorials as we pass.  One looks like a War Memorial the uniform on the soldier might be Boer War methinks. ...Titanic Memorial. Pause. Snap. We hurry on and find Marty waiting for us. Always people ask how we found out about them and what attracted us to them. I really must learn to write it down. I can never remember by the time I actually show up!  Marty notices an insect that has landed on Hubby's coat sleeve. This is a Daddy Long Legs, a harmless creature that Marty tells us is a sign of coming rain. It's lucky to have one land on you.

City Hall is not all that old having been completed in 1906, but it is very impressive, built prior to World War 1 when the British Empire was at its peak. Having admired and discussed the exterior, the symbolism of the Queen Victoria monument and some nearby buildings and their historical contexts we head inside for a quick look, Marty drawing our attention to key features and cultural and historical references. Oh, how I wish we had more time to take the tour here.

From City Hall we set off, hearing of the history of the city. Marty's overt intention is to leave his customers with a positive view of his home town, to counteract the negative messages many people have received about this place and its struggles. He quotes figures on the results of the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. A little rounding is involved. Checking on Google later when discussing our day with friends, I find that the turnout in Northern Ireland was 81%, pretty good in a place where voting is not compulsory, 71% voted for peace. In the Republic turnout was lower at 56.3% but of those that bothered, 94.4% were in favour of the agreement.

I hardly know where to start to describe the interesting sights and insider information that Marty shares as we spend what turns out to be more like 3.5 hours than than the official 2 hours exploring and falling in love with Belfast. We stop to imagine original intentions versus actual end results, pause to note lines of sight between landmarks or the best photo angles. We get encouragement to just stand in the road for a good shot or cross against the lights. This is the Belfast way. Having covered the history of the city, popped quietly into St Malachy's, stopped by the Onion Rings and explored the Entries, our mutual enthusiasm for the city tempts Marty to offer an extension if we have time. We have time.

St Malachy's

We pop back up into Victoria Square for an explanation of the symbolism of the sculptural beauty of the main features within the atrium of the shopping centre, head over to Nuala with the Hoola again and hear about Sammy the Seal and the sculpture of him and his family (how did we manage to miss that yesterday?) and then head back via the Merchant Hotel. With some preparatory advice about how we need to behave to avoid disturbing the patrons Marty leads us into the Merchant Hotel dining room. WOW! Marty asks if we need a toilet stop. Nah, that's OK we're fine. Are you sure? Marty asks with enough inflection that we take the hint. Oh. We NEED to check out the toilets here. Oh, yes, let's take a comfort stop. WOW!  We peruse the menu noting the unbelievably reasonable pricing. This is apparently how the owner likes to give back to the local community. Then we are led on a meandering route into the bowels of the hotel finally spending some time chatting to the guys in a seriously upmarket watch shop in an underground vault. I ask about one of the watches and discover that it's a collector's piece. Eye wateringly expensive, but not the most expensive in the store. If you bought it you need to not use it or it's value will be impacted. You would never know all this was in here from the street if someone didn't show you.

We emerge into the natural light and head down past the Dirty Onion and Thirsty Goat, pleased to have an opportunity to get better photos than we have done to date. Then we prowl around the Cathedral Quarter hearing about the annual Street Art festival and it's rules, seeking out hidden artworks, noting just one that pushed the boundaries for subject matter and controversy. The art is supposed to be cheerful and uplifting not political or controversial. Most are paintings on huge otherwise blank walls but there are tiny sculptures among them also. We laugh as Marty points out one trio of clay faces with a little tile stating that Winter is Coming.  Marty takes opportunties that arise to point out great places to eat or stop for a drink.

Suddenly I realise we've found our way via an unfamiliar route back to Writer's Square as Marty talks to us about the literary references. St Anne's is ahead of us so we move on to cover the history and architecture of the Cathedral and the Spire of Hope as we cross to Buoy Park and face the side of the Cathedral. Photos taken we turn to appreciate a large construction site with scaffolding which will be a new city campus for the University of Ulster bringing an influx of 10,000 more students to this part of Belfast. This is just one of many investments being made.  New hotels have been popping up each year, in one year seven new hotels opened to meet the demand for conferences and Tourists. The pending influx of students has entrepreneurs jostling, securing the most atmospheric buildings and spaces for new bars and music venues.  The energy in the city is palpable as we listen to Marty's enthusiasm for the city and its future. Into the MAC and we hear about the rainbow art installation and community building theatre and arts initiatives. Out in St Anne's Square Marty has a couple of fine surprises for us (nope, not telling, go on the tour) and finally we walk together past some more street art back to where we are intent on getting our car. We've had a wonderful time with Marty. Have had our eyes opened and our hearts filled with the spirit of this vibrant city.

Wow. That's prime real estate for a kerosene bowser.  You must use a lot more kerosene here than we do at home.

Time now for the tedious part of the day, we drive over and come out of the other side of a bicker session as we find the location of Budget Car Rentals from the petrol station. The navigational bickering is not enough to dull the impact of the beauty of Queen's University and the lovely avenue of street trees. The car return goes smoothly and concerned about how little time we have left today we get a cab to the Museum of Ulster. It's already 3pm so we need to move it. We head into the Museum and after a moment of distraction provided by some art glass that is obviously by Dale Chihuly, I am immediately mesmerised by the trio of willow dragons suspended in the atrium. They are perfectly placed so that as you go around the levels of museum displays you circle around these magnificent artworks. They represent the three dragons from Game of Thrones and I am humbled to realise that they were made by the basketmaker we talked to over at the Ulster Folk Museum. There he was sitting humbly working at his craft. The pig certainly hinted at his mastery but oh my! I wonder if he'll ever make anything more spectacular than these dragons.

We make our way around the galleries, the triceratops skeleton is something to see for sure. Hubby poses to give scale to the composite skeleton of the herbivore Edmontosaurus Annectens. However the display that most captures our attention is a permanent display gallery called The Troubles and Beyond, best described by the museum's own guide as "a creative space to share the tangible effects of the Troubles, through artefacts, photographs and personal testimony. This is not just a story of political violence. The gallery recognises that the Troubles did not take place in a vacuum. It is as much a social history as a political one." As we usually do in such galleries, Hubby and I go our own ways, each following our own path at our own pace. I start by watching a video of an older guy talking to a young woman about the pros and cons of collecting artefacts of the period and remembering the social history of the era. Shouldn't we just forget? The man mentions that his daughter thinks he should give the old bus ticket he carries in his wallet to the museum. He shows it to the young woman. It's fascinating to see her reaction to her examination of the ticket and the story about it he tells her. Display cabinets have a summary panel on the end describing the overall context of the decade and in each case the curated artefacts are displayed. On each display there is also an orange circle labled "Stop and Think".  This gallery is completely brilliant and I am sure I am not alone in feeling that this type of open discussion sensitively handled helps the community to "process" a very difficult period. I am delighted to see it, especially after Mark's quite pessimistic feeling on community building in his local area. With all that Marty has had to say and this very positive and sensitive gallery here at the museum, I feel quite uplifted and optomistic for the future here. The displays make clear that all local visitors are encouraged to think about what they have in their possession that might be worth talking to the museum about. Writing this I find myself thinking of my first forays into fiction by Northern Irish authors. Set in the era of the Troubles, it gave an interesting perspective on the times. It was a gentle way to begin to overcome what had been a pretty strong aversion to the subject on my part.

Mammoth tusk with scrimshaw

We move on to try to get a look at the upstairs galleries. I'm finding it hard to settle on standard topics of natural history. Nearing the end of my exploration of the Irish Art galleries, a friendly staff member strikes up a conversation with me. She explains to me some features of the architecture of the building and asks about historic buildings in Australia. My observation that our most treasured buildings in Sydney date from the Macquarie era, leads to some further questions about who Macquarie was... and we're down the slippery slope of discussion about a period of Australian history that I feel quite passionate about. We end up chatting away for quite a while longer than I had intended. I tear myself away to make sure I don't miss an opportunity to stick my head in the museum shop. We select some little things that we think our grandaughter might like for her birthday and that I haven't seen anything similar to at home. Another friendly chat with the men behind the counter as we pay. Hubby chooses some local chocolate to add to our bundle and we're out and intent on a quick squiz at the Botanic Gardens, making sure to pay attention to the sensitively done extension to the original museum building. It really is very well done.

My first priority is a photo of the statue of Lord Kelvin which brings back happy memories of touring the University of Glasgow. Unfortunately we're too late to enter the glass Palm House or Tropical Ravine. We don't explore very far before we decide to head down to Holohan's Pantry in the hope of an early walk up table.
We take our place among quite a number of other people trying their best to get a photograph that does the grand Lanyon building justice, not an easy task due to the scale of the thing. It's an easy walk down to Holohan's Pantry and we're in luck, shown to a table in the, as yet, quiet restaurant.  Our choices are a complete no brainer, we're here for the Boxty and we intend this to be a comprehensive investigation of the subject. Hubby takes no persuasion to go for the Leitrim Boxty with Scullerymade Black Pudding.  A bit of discussion with the man serving us and I'm having an early delivery of the Fermanagh Boxty Dumplings to start. For mains, Hubby's chosen the seafood filled Holohan's Pan Boxty so there's nothing for it but for me to get my own version to have the meat filling. Service is very friendly, we even get a quick lesson on how to make the pan boxty to try at home. It's quite similar to potato cakes my family has always made but much more finely grated potato and heavily worked mix, cooked in butter. Definitely going to give that a try! The Boxty dumplings are like a light and fluffy gnocchi, very delicious.  Apple tart and Sticky Toffee Pudding round out a most enjoyable dining experience. A wonderful way to finish our culinary explorations on this island.

Our timing is good. A nice evening walk back to the Premier Inn to collect our luggage will put us at just about the right time for getting across to check in for the ferry. It's a lovely evening and a very pleasant walk down through the night time lights, past the Crown Saloon. I set my googlemaps to take us past Kelly's Cellars for a quick squiz. A Wee Toast Tours group whizzes past, laughter brightening the street all around. At Kelly's Cellars the music's playing and there's people enjoying themselves with friends outside. The broad pedestrian plaza here is perfect for the celebrations I've seen posted online. Lights and artwork brighten the night. What a lovely way to end our time in Belfast.

It's an easy exercise claiming our baggage from the friendly ladies on duty at Premier Inn, they call us a cab and in no time we're in position checking in to Stena Line for the overnight ferry to Liverpool. When I first suggested that I liked the idea of this means of getting to Liverpool, most thought it would be better to fly but the luggage arrangements on the carriers I checked didn't seem convenient or sufficient. In the end I decided that I really do want to go by boat. Now we've been to Titanic Belfast, I'm even more keen to experience leaving these shores via the water.

We're quite early but so are many others. We're required to check our large suitcases and just take our small carry on bags with us. Luckily we're just in time for a seat in the waiting area. There's a very clear demographic on this sailing, it's almost all men. Just a few ladies with their husbands. Outside towards the docks all we can see is stacks of shipping containers. Eventually we are all shuttled to the ship via a bus that drives into the car deck for us to alight and head upstairs. We don't get a good view of the ship along the way at all.

On board, we head up a flight of escalators, the ship is pretty schmick and impressive. We keep going up to and find that our cabin is very comfortable. We have a porthole. I head upstairs to explore and check out the views of the docks.

It's getting quite late, and we arrive in Liverpool very early in the morning. It's virtually impossible to get a full 8 hours sleep even without the excitement of a new experience. We get our nightly battery charging underway, I check that Hubby's taken his sea sickness remedy and reluctantly hit the sack. What a wonderful time we've had, but another week across the stops we made would have been perfect.

Day 19 - Crumlin Road Gaol and Conflicting Stories Political Tour

Thursday 3 October 2019
This morning we're out and about by about 9:30 so we can wander down to the Salmon of Knowledge and check out the River Lagan before heading over to Crumlin Road for the tour there at 11 am. The weather forecast isn't great, impacts from Hurricane/Storm Lorenzo scheduled to hit at about three o'clock. Great, right when we're supposed to be out in it.  We walk down past the Merchant Hotel and take our opportunities to photograph the street art here and there as we go.  It seems like no time before we're at the Salmon of Knowledge. I wondered how on earth someone came up with the idea, but I find in the little book of Irish Legends I bought in Dublin that the story of the Salmon of Knowledge is among them, originating from the Boyhood Deeds of Fionn who became leader of the Fianna.

Not far away is Thanksgiving Square and the sculpture known colloquially as Nuala with the Hoola. She stands on a globe and "creates a tangible first statement of our long term objective in bringing people together to foster a happy and fulfilling life for all and a sense of gratefulness for all that life has given us". This seems like an appropriate start for our sightseeing today, when so much of our time will involve considering various angles on the historic divisions in the community.

We turn our attention to the bridges across the Lagan. Queen's Bridge is reasonably attractive, opened by Queen Victoria in 1849. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled to have the Queen Elizabeth Bridge named for me, it's a bit ordinary compared to the others. I like the pedestrian bridge across the Lagan Weir quite a lot though. It's a shame we don't have time to take a Titanic Boat ride and explore the Lagan.

Conscious that we need to make tracks towards Crumlin Road we adjust our route and head back towards St Anne's Cathedral, pleased to get a better opportunity for a look at the Albert Clock.  Hubby decides he needs to return to the hotel room for something so we agree I'll walk slowly and he can catch me up. This leisurely approach to the walk works out pretty well, I enjoy the street art and the Cathedral and from there the walking route to the gaol is very simple. Before I know it or Hubby can catch up with me, I'm arriving at a magnificent derelict building. What a beauty! Full planning permission is in place for a hotel, announces the for sale sign outside.
I cross to the gaol and redouble my efforts to contact Hubby. We've not really mastered making phone calls between these two stupid SIMs of differing national origins. I'm sure it's very simple once you've figured it out, but so far it hasn't been such an issue that we have been bothered doing more than become annoyed when the messages don't work. Email works well enough so we make do with that, we're rarely apart anyhow.
Crumlin Road Gaol was in use until not so long ago, late 1990s I think, which for oldies like us seems like yesterday. Again I am struck by the effort taken in times past to make even utilitarian places like gaols look attractive. I claim my pre-purchased tickets at the ticket office and wait anxiously for Hubby to turn up. The tour assembly point is in an indoor room with interesting information panels so there's no need to feel bored while we wait for our guide.

When I was planning I was wondering if Crumlin Road might be a bit samey given that we had the tour of Kilmainham Gaol in our itinerary. No. They are quite different and both are very very good. We hear about reception and walk down into the tunnel across to the court house. We hear an absolutely scandalous story about the sale of the court house when it was closed 20 odd years ago. A developer paid one pound for it. Yes folks. One pound on the promise of a multimillion dollar investment in a hotel. We can see for ourselves that never happened. The developer ended up selling it on, and no, not for one pound. Naturally they sold it then for tens of millions of pounds. In response to my reaction our guide suggests they would have needed to recover outlay on rates and so forth. Hmm. I'm not entirely convinced. We hear about escapes, floggings, Jeremy Bentham and his barbaric theories of rehabilitation, changes in prison population over time as Ordinary Decent Criminals became overwhelmed by the numbers of republican and loyalist prisoners. There's a tale about self segration of loyalist and republican prisoners and sectarian violence even within the gaol. But of all the fascinating information provided, the most confronting was the detailed description of the management and execution of condemned men. It was very confronting. Our group was warned before being taken into the condemned cell, so that those who did not want to hear that part could skip it. I've heard descriptions of executions before in various gaols, and some, such as Kilmainham are very moving and solemn, but they have paled in comparison to the practiced delivery and process described by our guide today. It is truly swift and savage. Even putting the issue of capital punishment to one side, I can't decide if the conduct of it here was humane under the circumstances or absolutely barbaric.

The beauty of the spaces in the gaol is sharply juxtaposed against its function

On our way to lunch at Cuffs Bar and Grill we spend some more time on the information provided at the tour starting point. I'm fascinated by the photographs of child inmates from the 1850s. They look like they could have been taken when I was a kid. One of them looks quite a lot like a boy who lived next door to us. They locked up kids as young as 7 years old in this place.  It's so weird to contemplate the horror these boys were subjected to and yet the incredible legacy for their families to have these photographs from a time when very few would have access to images of their forebears at all let alone of such quality.
We have a leisurely lunch in Cuffs. Only one other group here. Hubby has a very nice pasta with garlic bread and I'm into the BLAT. A nice job of upselling by our waitress results in the choc orange cheesecake and a little pavlova making their way to our table also.  We should have skipped those.
These days Crumlin road has arranged to have conflicting stories tours start from the gaol, but I booked yonks ago so we need to walk over to the Divis Tower for the start of our tour at 2 pm. Our route is through an area with a lot of union jacks and other signs of commitment to the United Kingdom. There's also street art focussing on the power of people within the community to lead changes that improve the area for everyone.

As we arrive at the Divis Tower, it's raining. It's hard to identify others waiting for the same tour, people don't seem inclined to talk. So we stalk about keeping an eye open and eventually we figure everyone's assembling so we confirm that's our group and get our names ticked off the list.  Our first guide is Joe and he tells us his story, from when he was a kid witnessing violence at the Divis Tower when a young boy was killed by the State and the subsequent 1969 progrom where Catholics were burnt out from a mixed area nearby, through his imprisonment and involvement with famous events and people and the deaths of close family and friends in sectarian violence. It's all very interesting but it's not for me to relate the details here. Despite the telling of his personal history, the overwhelming tone of the discussion was not focussed on the violence of the past, or the surely inevitable anger or grief which must be part of Joe's story, but on peace, reconciliation and confidence in the future. Remarkably, he says he doesn't blame the individuals who committed the acts of violence which have impacted him personally, but sees it as a symptom of a seige mentality as a minority group (over the island of Ireland as a whole) seeks to dominate the majority holding a different view. It's the regime that's to blame not the individuals. The tone of everything Joe says communicates his confidence that in time, consensus will be built and the community can move forward as one with social justice for all, and yes, reunification when and only when the majority of people vote to do so. The message and the thinking behind it is honed and practiced and there's no hint at all of any seeping internal conflict on these points. Joe is 100% confident that reunification will come in time, through peaceful means.
Joe tells us that Republican supporters have taken down the Irish Tricolours because they have decided that displaying them everywhere in people's face was a mistake and anyway they get tatty looking, so now they only fly them at the Republican memorials for those killed in the violence. I only noticed one other Irish Tricolour, hanging out of a window on the Divis Tower. The memorials where the tricolour is flown are presented with neat and solemn dignity, much like most war memorials I've seen anywhere in the world. While on the topic of flags Joe asks us if we know the symbolism in the tricolour - the white in the centre means peace between orange and green, the colours symbolic of the political and religious divide.

I've done a little research and it seemed to me that Joe's tour was pretty consistent with Sinn Fein's current talking points, positioning themselves as potential future leaders of the entire community. Which makes sense given Joe's long term involvement with and work for the party. Inclusiveness, healing the old wounds and the need for a political resolution rather than violence is the message.
Joe tells us about his community work with young people which he loves, trying to support them and keep them on the straight and narrow. As we walk, the impacts of Hurricane Lorenzo arrive. We all stand in the pouring rain, having come from all over the world, intently hanging on Joe's every word. Theres no sign whatsoever that any individual among us has even a moment's thought of abandoning this walk and talk. Lorenzo be damned.

Joe allows for a toilet stop in a local pub. I've hung back taking some photographs, but catch up as Joe is waiting for the comfort stoppers. It's time to hand over to Mark, our ex-loyalist prisoner, to hear the other side of the coin. Joe points him out and some of us head over while Joe waits for the rest of the group to catch up in a position where they can easily see him. Then there's an official and perfectly friendly and civil handover and greeting between the two guides and Joe heads back over the divide as Mark hands out nifty little audio devices which will make it so much easier to hear what he's saying. Our meeting place here is on the Protestant side of the wall. Mark gives us a detailed run-down of the nightly curfew and closure of the heavy metal gates. It's quite confronting. Neither Hubby or I had any clue this was still going on every day.

Mark relates incidents of unjustifiable violence involving bombs hurled into civilian gatherings and points out kindergartens on either side of the wall and asks how can we build peace for the future when the children don't know each other. There are still some small groups on the republican side that commit acts of violence. We head along the "peace wall." The oft repeated message is about two communities that can't live together. The tone of the message is hard to figure out. It seems to wander back and forth from frustration back to accusation with gratuitous little digs at the other side slipped in with increasing regularity. We see no sign of the section of wall that our friends wrote on. At the moment they have a lengthy display about walls that divide people around the world. Mark tells us of programs that had been funded by the EU to create opportunities for children of either community to come together to get to know each other and build bridges, but with Brexit that funding stopped so that has fallen over. I ask what the British government is doing to bring the community together, what funding do they provide?

We're told that since Northern Ireland parliament is suspended there's no local body to accept any funding. The fault for the suspension of Northern Ireland's parliament is sheeted home to Sinn Fein because they insist on the adoption of the Irish language and Marriage Equality. The tone suggests that it is a complete no brainer why those things can't be agreed to. I'm thinking, Really? You fly the Scottish Saltire, we went through areas of Scotland with dual signage in Gaelic. Is that really a deal breaker? and you fly the cross of St George here too, marriage equality is everywhere else in the UK including England. There's got to be more to it than that surely. One of our group, I think it's the lady from New Zealand, a sensible progressive nation if every there was one and where the Maori language has level pegging with English, is simply aghast at what she's hearing. The look on her face is utterly priceless. Finally she can contain herself no longer. She says in a tone of exasperation "Why don't you just put the kids in the car and take them to an agreed place?" She's just not buying the funding problem as an excuse. We walk past a new development. It's the first development in the area for decades and they are hoping that the favourable financial terms will attract residents to move back here. Population in this area has dropped by about 50,000. I suggest that this fall in population may explain the integration difficulties. Those who want to integrate have perhaps voted with their feet, leaving behind those with more extreme views. "Older people" Mark volunteers. We go along like this and come to an area almost drowning in Union Jacks and note "Does this look like a community that wants reunification with Ireland?" (or words to that effect). He says proudly that it's one of the most partriotic communities in the nation. The density of memorial artwork on the buildings increases. The digs at the other side of the conflict continue and I'm finding myself losing patience with it. He's losing me. We stop at the site of another ghastly and unjustifiable act of violence on innocent people, Repeated remarks are made emphasising the death of a two year old in this bomb attack. I drop behind photographing some relevant things that caught my eye because they directly contradict assertions Mark has made that were clearly intended to show the superiority of the Loyalist side over the Republicans.

Eventually we come to a large and grusome memorial where there are displays of graphic photographs of the aftermath of violence. The group is silent and sombre, the atmosphere among us is thick. We're nearing the end of our tour. Mostly I think all of us try pretty hard to just listen and keep our mouths shut. I can't live with myself if I don't say something about this. I summon up my courage and comment "This is just SO unhelpful."  Those who have travelled with me before have heard my rant on this subject. "What is needed" I say "is for people to talk about the things they have done to others rather than the things others have done to them. Not just in Ireland, everywhere. Until we all do this, we can never have lasting peace." Mark says he disagreed with the way this memorial was done. "We don't need to be constantly reminded." he says and he's right. Remember the dead. Remember ALL the dead, not just your own.

Throughout our tour Mark repeatedly expressed his frustration or was it verging on despair, at the slowness of  progress breaking down the wall and I don't know, was it regret? that it took so long for people to come to their senses and realise that violence was not the answer. Mark is not obliged to tell us what he was imprisoned for and noone asks, Mark's personal history and journey is not part of our walk which I guess in some ways probably makes his task more difficult. Overall for this second half of our tour I am left wondering about everything other than the fact that it is so very difficult to move forward with such a history. But it must be done and it can be done and it is being done. I hope our visit to Northern Ireland along with other Tourists helps in some little way to promote progress and provide economic rewards to encourage perseverence. Of course the danger of going on tours, especially one tour is that, obviously, you are hearing a limited range of voices. I am very glad our political tours are not the only conversations we had directly on some of these subjects, but I don't regret one single moment of the time we've spent on them. I am grateful to both Joe and Mark for the time they have spent walking and talking with us all.
Tour concluded we walk back in the rain ultimately arriving in writers square. Back in more familiar territory it's an easy walk back to the Premier Inn.

Glad to be back out of the wet, we hang our coats and chill out for a while procrastinating about what to do about dinner. We want something quick, with the late night last night and such a busy day, I'm not up for a long night of fine dining. In the end we decide to brave the weather once more and duck around the corner to Yardbird. A little nosing around in the Dirty Onion we find the stairs and head up. Seating and service is quite quick and food is great. Chicken breast perfectly cooked. Chicken wings simply wonderful. Quite possibly the best I've had - or at least equal to the wings I had with Daughter2 at Cradle Mountain. Totally delicious. Avocado salad is weird looking but also delicious. We're really glad we came here. Another dash back through the rain to get home, at least it's not as heavy as it was this afternoon.