IF you're lucky on your way to Liverpool, the flight path will take you over Liverpool Bay and follow the Mersey down to John Lennon Airport. If your luck holds, the day will be clear.
At the mouth of the river, on Crosby Beach, Antony Gormley’s cohort of cast-iron men stand mute and immobile, 100 sentinels greeting the sea with stoicism, gazing west with ancient longing and mythic intent. Like the city, they look outward, their backs to the land, their eyes fixed on far destinations and on the travellers who come from them.
Along the waterfront new docks are being built, near the elegant Three Graces and the sturdy Albert Dock, and the Museum of Liverpool, like giant lazy cross on a ballot paper; all looking towards new prospects.
Liverpool, they say, is in England, but not of it. It’s a city that belongs to itself, but also to each and every one who comes and spends even the briefest of times there. Whether you are Dickens, or Melville, or Hawthorne, or any one of the nine million people between 1830 and 1930 for whom Liverpool was the gateway to a new world, or maybe if you’re just there for a hen party, the city stays with you, a souvenir you can’t throw away, a hangover you remember with a smile.
Lippy, bolshy, stroppy, sarky, ozzy, lecky, and dock, Walt Disney would have made a completely different film had he set it here, even if he could have found a Snow White. It’s a city that is easy to romanticise – and it’s easy too to mock that sentimentality – but there’s a magic here. The magic may be cocky-coated and at times overbearing, but it’s there all the same.
Not too long ago, a different kind of magic was at work, as some tried to make the city disappear. But when the cabinet was opened, the conjuror found the city had turned the tables. Instead of vanishing, it was emerging new and freshly vital, determined to re-establish itself.
And that magic trick is one Liverpool is celebrating now, as it presents itself as One Magical City, tempting people to come and share the abracadabra, especially with Christmas coming, when magic works best.
A giant Christmas tree in the centre of Liverpool One, a city centre shopping, residential and leisure complex, stands close to an ice rink and Ice Bar, the city's major stores all within easy walking distance.
The Albert Dock is just there, home of the Beatles Museum, and there’s where you catch the ferry. Up the road is the Anglican Cathedral, and Paddy’s Wigwam is at the opposite end of Hope Street. But Liverpool is an alternative city, and there are alternative experiences available, some right under your nose.
The city centre offers a range of hotels and short-stay apartments, all within easy reach of shops, bars, and restaurants. On Seel Street and Duke Street, in the old dock buildings and along the river, the means of every pocket is met. Up on Hope Street is the refined and friendly Hope Street Hotel, while further out of the centre, in Allerton, is the Penny Lane Hotel, run by a bunch of lads who are nice and thoughtful, even though they are Liverpool fans.
Wherever you stay, go for room only. Get out and have breakfast at Leaf, or the East Avenue Bakehouse, or the Soul Café, all on Bold Street, or at the wonderful Lunya, full of Catalan dash, or the Neighbourhood on Woolton Road.
Get out early and see the city yawning and stretching and rubbing its eyes, having one last ciggy before the shutters go up and the lights go on. Walk – it’s such an easy city to walk around – and explore.
Dale Street, Castle Street, Queen Avenue, Water Street, the side streets off Bold Street and Hope Street – look up and around at the range of architecture the city offers, the glimpses of the river and the Liver Birds, the range of tastes and manners they suggest – overlapping, obscuring – Victorian assurance, Edwardian humour, bold modernism, the possibilities of the current.
Instead of the cathedrals, visit England’s oldest mosque, on Brougham Terrace, or the amazing Princes Road Synagogue, or the mild St Bride’s.
Alongside the chain stores and brand names, independent shops have emerged, or bravely stood their ground. Bold Street – once toney and serving the carriage trade – is full of surprising little stores you’ve never heard of, but there are plenty of others, outposts of independence near the heart of the major label.
In Bluecoat Chambers, as well as the daring art, there’s a wonderful store selling the one-off pieces of talented young designers and craft-workers from around the country. Kernaghan’s is there too, a serene oasis of second-hand books and first editions. The defiant Probe Records is just outside the Bluecoat gates, where you’ll find music you had no idea you were looking for.
At the Metquarter, on Whitechapel, upstairs from the Armani Exchange, is Rex, where they sell a unique collection of work by independent artists, designers, and dressmakers, many from the Liverpool area. A gang of Liverpool artists has taken over the first floor of a unit opposite Next, from which they sell their work.
At night, try the pubs along Renshaw Street, or follow a pub-crawl from Catharine Street down to the Bombed-out Church – Peter Kavanagh’s, the Blackburne Arms, the Belvedere – a tiny pub where you might have to fight your way past the brass section of the Phil, if you happen to be there during the concert interval – Ye Cracke, the Fly in the Loaf, the Philharmonic Pub.
The restaurants on Bold Street and in Chinatown are varied and inviting. Maray is simply wonderful, while the Raggas rum cocktails seem so innocent until you wake up. The Bakchich serves terrific Lebanese food, while the Mei Mei is a bustle of crispy duck and steaming noodles and sizzling beef.
Or take in a film. The Woolton Picture House, dating from the 1920s, is worth a trip out of town. FACT, on Wood Street, always has an interesting selection of films, while the Philharmonic Hall has a mighty screen which rises out of the stage.
Or head to Camp and Furnace for Johnny Bongo’s Bingo Night. Or see what’s on at the Epstein Theatre.
Before you leave, take a trip on the Dazzle ferry, and read the history behind Peter Blake’s design for the ship. And look at the war memorials that punctuate the walk to the ferry terminal. They tell a story of a city that has been a brave home – no matter how temporary – to many nations, that has suffered, but always come back.
The screen that rises from the stage of the Philharmonic was once forgotten and derelict, but is now restored thanks to people who weren’t prepared to give up.
Spending a few days in Liverpool is a great chance to see a city rising to its full height again. And that’s magical in itself.
FACT FILE
:: Flying from City of Derry Airport, with Ryanair, prices start from £12.99 one way.
:: At Epic Apart Hotels, prices for a two-bedroom apartment start at around £92 per night.
:: Useful websites: liverpoolconfidential.co.uk; independent-liverpool.co.uk; rexshop.co.uk.
CHRISTMAS MAGIC
LIVERPOOL'S Christmas celebrations this year spread from Chavasse Park like the warm glow from a Yule log.
The park, on the roof of Liverpool One shopping centre, features an ice rink, après bar, ice slide, and continental food stalls. There’s also an ice lounge, an igloo serving schnapps and cinnamon vodka to customers wrapped in foil capes, with a magician on hand to entertain.
Beneath the nearby giant Christmas tree are a number of party chalets, as well as a Caroloke Bar for a festive singalong. Chavasse Park overlooks the Mersey and Albert Dock, where a ferris wheel provides views of the famous waterfront.
:: For more see onemagicalcity.com
