AIDAN O'ROURKE Coach & Content Creator

Photography walks - one-to-one tuition - classes - workshops - Liverpool Manchester Stockport

  • Home
  • 121 Photo Tuition
  • Liverpool Photo Walk
  • Manchester Photo Walk
  • Victoria Baths Photo Workshop
  • Languages
    • Learn German with Aidan website
    • Learn English as a Foreign Language
    • Learn French
  • About
    • aidanorourke YouTube channel
    • Clients
    • Archive
      • Blog archive page
      • Archived Eyewitness in Manchester website 1997-2005
  • Portfolio
    • Sketches of cities
  • Contact

Best view in the UK – Liverpool waterfront seen across Mersey

2015-12-20 By @AidanEyewitness

EYEWITNESS 2015 blog by Aidan O'Rourke

Liverpool Waterfront seen from across the river Mersey at dusk

Liverpool Waterfront seen from across the river Mersey at dusk


 
For years, the Liverpool waterfront has been one of my favourite subjects. I’ve photographed it quite a few times, especially at dusk. For me it’s the best view in the UK. Better than London, because the skyline is not so crowded and the river is wider. Better than Newcastle, although Newcastle’s great, with its series of bridges, and better than Glasgow which has quite a wide river but lacks the cluster of tall buildings that we have in Liverpool.

It’s been spectacular for decades. In the late nineteenth century, they decided to fill in St Georges Dock and create the reclaimed area of land known as the Pier Head. Three buildings were erected directly on the foundations of the three former docks, which explains why we have three architectural gems standing side by side.

Silhouette of the Liverpool skyline April 2005

Silhouette of the Liverpool skyline April 2005


 
Almost as soon as the Liver Building was finished 1911, it became a major landmark and symbol of the city. The Cunard and Port of Liverpool building were completed a few years after. Over the course of the twentieth century, more buildings appeared on the Liverpool skyline: The Anglican Cathedral, The Metropolitan Cathedral, St John’s Beacon, now known as Radio City Tower. A few were lost, including the Customs House, which was damaged in the war and could easily have been restored. The Liverpool Overhead Railway was another integral element of the waterfront which sadly closed in 1956.

In the 70s the ‘Three Graces’ were cleaned and for the first time, the pristine-looking white stone could literally shine in the afternoon sunlight. As a child on visit to Liverpool, I was visually captivated by the buildings – for me they seeme to sing. Out on the Mersey on one of the famous Mersey ferries, the waterfront even more magnificent than before.

Liverpool Waterfront from Seacombe 2003

Liverpool Waterfront from Seacombe 2003


 
But in recent years, still more new buildings have appeared at the north end of the waterfront, around Princes Dock, including the Beetham Tower, Katherine Tower. The Unity Building appeared just behind St Nicholas Church, now the oldest building on the waterfront.

Since 2004, Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City has been a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site

After some controversy surrounding the addition of a ‘fourth grace’, the Museum of Liverpool appeared in the second half of the 2000s. It stands at a respectul distance from the older trio, and the views from inside are stunning.

It seems the waterfront has never looked better. But there has been a threat to the UNESCO world heritage status. Officials have expressed concern at the height of proposed buildings that are part of Peel Holding’s Liverpool Waters development to the north of the waterfront. In late 2015 the situation wasn’t clear though Liverpool City Council were said to be ‘taking the threat seriously’.

In December 2015, the Liverpool Waterfront was chosen as England’s greatest place in the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Great Places award.

I’ve taken the view of the waterfront many times from both Woodside and Seacombe, the two ferry terminals on the Wirral side of the river. But perhaps my favourite view is at dusk from Magazine Promenade. I often go for a walk there and like to look back at the waterfront as the light fades. There’s nothing more magnificent than the skyline, its light shimmering above the water.
 

Liverpool waterfront with rainbow and rainy skies

Liverpool waterfront with rainbow and rainy skies

Filed Under: Cityscapes, Liverpool, Wirral Tagged With: Architecture, Liverpool, Pier Head, River Mersey, Three Graces, UNESCO

Follow Aidan O'Rourke @AidanPhotoVideo on Twitter Link up with Aidan O'Rourke on Facebook Subscribe to my YouTube channel Instagram Linked In

Better Photography Blog

  • Photos of Edgeley and Cheadle Heath, Stockport from my portfolio
  • Portfolio of sketches by Aidan O’Rourke – Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, Salzburg, Berlin and other locations
  • The beauty of the baths captured on the Victoria Baths Photo Workshop
  • How I chose the winners in the Sale Festival 2019 photo competition
  • Video: Around the Manchester Airport Orbital Cycleway by electric bike
  • Video: 7 reasons to use ‘analogue’ photography – Editorial style video presented in two languages
  • Video: A Very Insecure Exhibition – with Karen McBride and Shari Denson
  • Video review of Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg – YouTube video in English and German
  • Video: Discover the Beatles in their early years in this multilingual YouTube video
  • My review of Ed Glinert’s Friedrich Engels walking tour in Manchester

ON LANGUAGES AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

  • The UK and German healthcare systems compared
  • Video: Eleven reasons to learn German from job finding to brain jogging.
  • Video on AidanExplorer my YouTube channel for languages
  • Why more people need to learn German

Copyright Aidan O'Rourke © 2019 - Privacy Policy

On some pages, this website uses cookies. You can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

necessary Always Enabled

non-necessary