Visited March 2019
In what was one of my last trips while living in London I took a train up to Liverpool and Manchester for a weekend. Both great cities - here is a quick recap!
Day 1 - Liverpool
Liverpool seems to be two things to most people. 1) A port, 2) home to what most would say is the most successful western band in history - the Beatles. I focused my attention on both of these areas, with some other stuff thrown in.
First off though I followed my all too familiar weekend travel plan by getting up early to get to the train station! This time it was London Euston which seems to service much of the northwest of England. My assigned seat was taken but the car was not full so I found a comfy spot to sit in and enjoy my Pret white filter. For the record, I love Pret. Can't say it's the most unique thing in the world, but it's a winner for me, a European version of Tim Hortons.
I arrived just before 11am and headed straight to the docks area, specifically the Royal Albert Docks. Liverpool is still involved in shipping and has an active port but it's nothing like 100+ years ago. There were many docks no longer needed and Liverpool has done a wonderful job of reclaiming the area for the arts, restaurants and general sights.
A walk around the docks - it was bloody windy and cold. River Mersey, Liverpool Wheel (smaller than London's Eye), the Inner Dock (less wind!), Titanic Memorial, one of the dockside lovely buildings and the entry to the Beatles Story.
Beatles!!
The first stop on the dock tour was to go to the Beatles Story which is a walk through the history of the band. The tour/museum is totally worth seeing - even if there was a huge gaggle of students in front of me at the start. I did find it a bit light on their core success years of 1963-67, but still very interesting and amazing to see the rocket ship rise in success followed by an abrupt end in 1970.
The story starts with history on the members families and childhood, continues on to their teen years and connection as a band, walks you through their rise to local, then domestic, then international success and finally through to the breakup and post band solo years.
Of course some of it is sad - aside from the breakup they kicked out their original drummer Pete Best, loss of their manager to drug overdose Brian Epstein and of course the murder of John Lennon and the death due to cancer of George Harrison.
The tour finishes with Imagine from John Lennon and Yoko Ono - or was it a solo song? Yoko Ono is in the video. Imagine is probably the most famous post Beatles song from the fab-four.
Some Fab-Fourtos, get it?
Post Beatles I wandered the docks for a bit stopping at the Tate Liverpool, Museum of Liverpool (which had a good John and Yoko exhibit) and then the British Music Experience. The latter was interesting and highlighted the British music scene from the last 70-80 years. I also played a bit of electric guitar at the museum which was fun but also ended up with a blister on my thumb.
Andy Warhol self portrait, Inside the MoL, Canada does not need peace by some opinions, the lyrics to Give Peace a Chance and a Queen Drum set inside the BME and Oasis Lyrics.
After walking around in the cold and rain for a long time I ended up finally checking into my hotel and had a quick rest. The hotel was right in the heart of Liverpool. I went out again in the evening and walked up and down Mathew Street which is most famous as the location of the Cavern Club where the Beatles played almost 300 times very early in their career. I did not go in the Cavern Club, but probably could have if I was willing to wait in line for 15-20 minutes.
Inside I spent a couple hours at a bar down the street watching football - ManU vs Wolves in FA Cup action. Wolves won! It was pretty rowdy due to St. Patrick's Day weekend.
I finished up the evening with a Tesco snack and a quick walk around the Mathew Street area but not staying out too late, instead settling for a photo of Eleanor Rigby.
The lonely Eleanor Rigby... I feel her pain.
I then called it a night so I could rest up for Manchester on Sunday.
Manchester!
Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.... well almost, hey I'm still on a Beatles kick.
I did get up and out pretty quickly the second morning. I jumped on the train to Manchester before 9 and was in Manchester before 10. The train is simply £3.50 each way and only 45 minutes or so. Quite a nice easy ride to get there (and back later).
Manchester is like the sister of Liverpool. Whereas Liverpool was about shipping, docks, music and football, Manchester was more about industry, manufacturing, innovation, also football and some music as well (just no Beatles).
I was almost too early as Manchester was just awaking from quiet slumbers, I'm sure more than a few people waking up to headaches from a night of St Patrick's Day drinking. One thing was for sure, they started again on Sunday which was actually St. Patrick's Day.
Also, the bloody day is changed from a celebration about St Patrick converting the Celts to good Christians and if you believe it, a testament to his snake ridding ability, to a day that has clearly morphed into a drinking and party day, which Guinness has smartly attached itself to.
Leaving Liverpool (goodbye tower) and walking through Manchester to Albert Square.
Touring
I walked from the train station to Albert Square which isn't a large square but it does touch up on the lovely but currently under planned-engineering work town hall. I hadn't thought to ask my Mancunian colleague what to see before I arrived, so I frantically messaged her on our work chat and fortunately she replied with some suggestions.
First thing I did was take the free city bus from Albert Square thinking it was going to make a loop and end me back up at Albert Square. Instead it drove me to Piccadilly Station, from where I walked back to Piccadilly Gardens and caught the tourist bus for £12.
Around Piccadilly Gardens
The bus was narrated by Dominic Monaghan of LotRs fame. I took it passed the Printworks, National Football Museum area, then past the cathedral and out to Salford a suburb of Greater Manchester. From there we passed Salford University and a Museum (blah blah) and finally over to The Quays. I noticed after that fact the basins in The Quays are named after 3 of the Great Lakes and some streets named after Canadian cities. Apparently due to the trade/shipping tie with that region.
Booting around on a bus. Old Trafford, The Quays and St George's cathedral, now flats including one very large 9 story flat in the tower.
I did make (maybe unconsciously) a decision to skip The Quays which is too bad because Old Trafford, MediaCityUK, Imperial War Museum are all there. I spent my time later in a pub watching football (name Liverpool v Fulham).
I looped around on the bus and eventually got off at Albert Square as the bus stopped there for an hour rather than continuing to loop which was annoying but I wasn't going to wait so I walked back to the Football Museum. I did walk quickly through the Printworks, which is almost like a Vegas style arcade of various bars, pubs, shops and restaurants. I was told to avoid it but during the day it was quiet enough. Apparently it's a young person hangout during the nights.
The football museum was interesting but a bit of a let down. It was also supposed to be free according to the bus, but that turned out to only be true for residents of Manchester.
The museum had a bunch of football stuff in it! Canada gets a small flag in there and the EPL and FA cups on display. Current holders are Man City and Chelsea respectively.
After the football museum I went to check out the cathedral. Like many English cathedrals Manchester Cathedral was beautiful inside and out and while it wasn't as big as some it is still worth a visit! I
The cathedral - check it out!!
Post cathedral I stopped by a pub for a very late lunch and to watch the football match Liverpool v Fulham. Since it was St Patrick's Day I also had a pint of Guinness. First time since Dublin. I had walked around the Northern Quarter looking for nice pubs, but the area seemed to have turned into a big hipster trendy restaurant, cafe type area.
After the match which Liverpool snuck away with 2-1 on a late penalty, I wandered over to Castlefield which was another old converted warehouse area like the Northern Quarter. I managed to read a bit of history on a signpost and then see the Manchester Science and Industry Museum quickly. The museum was quite interesting and they highlighted the firsts which happened in Manchester including the first computer, which was giant, and many other advancements. Apparently Manchester had a very innovative past!
The Hilton Manchester (tallest building outside London in the UK), canal, River Medlock, Castlefield, Science Museum including the first computer! Apparently current tablets have 100x the processing power.
Once I got the boot out of the museum at 5 sharp I headed back towards the centre of the city and walked around a bit more. Finally I had to call it quits and head back to London via Liverpool. Sadly there was a death on the line on the way back as a train hit someone around Watford and as a result I didn't get back until midnight. Still a great trip!
Goodbye Manchester!
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