July 2009 Archives

AN INTERESTING snippet in today's Daily Post:

A SOUTH African historian is touring Merseyside to explain why a stand at Liverpool FC's Anfield ground was named after a bloody Boer War battle.

Historian Raymond Herod, who is currently travelling around Britain lecturing about South African history, with wife Lynette, said: "At the time of the Anglo-Boer war, most big football stadiums being built were near completion.

IT'S Red versus Blue as two of Liverpool's most distinguished historians kick off a trip down football memory lane tomorrow.

St George's Hall Concert Room will provide the setting for a light-hearted derby debate at 7pm.

The 1978/79 Everton-Liverpool derby with Andy King just having scored a goal

It will focus on the achievements and traditions of both clubs, and seek to unearth little known facts and hidden gems of their past.

Community Historian Steve Binns MBE will be aiming to score for the Blue half of the city and famed local historian Frank Carlyle will be tackling the Reds.

Fans are being urged to go along, contribute and cheer on their favourite side to victory.

Radio Merseyside presenter Alan Jackson will be refereeing the discussion.

Tickets cost £4.95 and are available from St George's Hall Heritage Centre, or by calling 0151 225 6909.

ST MICHAEL'S in the Hamlet, is opening its doors to the public on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.

Built in 1815 by the entrepreneur builder John Cragg, the building was designed as a prototype for churches which could be easily erected on difficult terrain - a sort of flat pack church for the Empire.

It was also the place where Arthur Askey got married.

Guides will be on hand to explain the history of the building but plans are afoot to have a range of activities there including music, poetry, guest celebrity speakers and a fashion show.

The church, on the corner of St Michaels Road and St Michaels Church Road, is open from 10am to 4pm.

THIS interesting blog post by Hilary Burrage about Princes Park inspired me to do a bit more research.

A Flickr slideshow of photographs of Princes Park

Here are the links I found:

HAVE you seen the This Day in Music website? It's a great nostalgia trip for people of all ages and is searchable by artist or date.

Naturally, as the Capital of Pop, Liverpool bands almost always put in an appearance. For today (July 26) it's mainly all Beatles...

SAD news today that Private Harry Patch, believed to have been the last surviving British soldier to have gone into action on the Western Front, has died aged 111.

ITN news footage showing Harry Patch

He was from Somerset so there's no direct Liverpool angle, except that his death made me think of a feature one of my colleagues David Charters wrote back in 2006, collating the memories of First World War veterans from Merseyside.

It's a very evocative picture of life in the trenches, which Harry Patch said he still dreamed about. Among the dead on the Somme on the first day were around 200 Liverpool soldiers, 300 were wounded.

JOHNSONS Cleaners has been going through its archive and sent in these pictures of working life at its Bootle base.

Today, the firm is headquartered at Prescot and has grown to become the UK's largest and market leading cleaning company, with 506 branches throughout England, Scotland and Wales. But it's origins date back 192 years to when the Johnson Brothers set up their silk dying company on Raneleigh Street, Liverpool, in 1817.

A THEATRE production of The Gondoliers by Hoghton Players at Southport Arts Centre in 1974.

THE Queensway Mersey Tunnel celebrated its 75th anniversary on Sunday when it was opened up for the public to walk through.

A slideshow of Flickr photos from the commemorative event

Daily Post feature writer Peter Elson wrote this feature to mark the occasion...

IT WAS built without any of the technical aids taken for granted today. Yet the Queensway, or Birkenhead Mersey Tunnel, which celebrates its 75th anniversary on Sunday, was superbly engineered.