Did you know that Liverpool is a Unesco World Heritage site? I’ve been coming to this city for many years as my mother lives just outside of it and I only just found out thanks to a free tour.
Liverpool gained UNESCO world heritage status in 2004, no not because of the Beatles, one of the greatest monuments of music, but because of it’s amazing waterside and cultural buildings. The city center really is quite stunning when you take a moment to look at it and the city is absolutely dripping wet with history and cultural heritage.
So it makes complete sense for their to be a Heritage Tour. The particular Heritage tour I wanted to share today doesn’t happen with a physcial guide, it’s an MP3 tour, available for free.
The beautiful and quiet St John’s Gardens is immediately behind the George Hall.
Liverpool gained the 2008 European City of Culture status. Prior to that a heritage tour was put together that takes people through some of the most stunning parts of the centre and down to the water-front masterpieces.
This past weekend I downloaded the 10 MP3s, loaded them into iTunes to sync onto my iPhone. My partner also did this with her iPod Nano. There is an accompanying map that was downloadable in PDF format. I also opted to drag this into iTunes to sync with my iPhone to save printing out a copy.
The map is numbered 1-13 and the tracks are supposed to sync with the numbers.
It was a bit windy and slightly chilly but we started our tour near Liverpool Lime Street Station at the magnificent George Hall. The tour takes you along past the hall, down to the Walker art Gallery and adjoining museum, down Whitechapel and into Matthew Street, the home of the Cavern Club where the Beatles made their name. After that you work your way down towards the waterside passing through the stunning Castille Street. At the waterside Liverpool’s iconic Liver building sits alongside Cunard’s (the owners of the Titanic) old building and along to the restored Albert Docks.
Outside the famous rebuilt Cavern Club on Liverpool’s Matthew Street.
John Lennon statue and wall of fame showing the names of everyone who has performed opposite at the famous Cavern Club on Matthew Street.
I enjoyed the tour and learned a few things, such as the balcony on the Cunard building being the place where the world learned of the Titanic’s fate and about the Liverpool Wall of Fame, opposite the Cavern Club on Matthew Street.
Pros of the tour
If you want to quickly see the city and learn some history snippets this is a great way. You are taken in a zig zag through some of the most stunning areas and quickly get a sense of the power industry once held.
The walk wasn’t too long and there are plenty of places to stop and things to explore more. If you start in the morning you can easily get the tour done, stop for a few coffees, lunch and fit in a few bits in the museum and gallery.
St Nicolas Church, rebuilt many times, the last time due to large bomb damage in the area from WWII.
Cons of the tour
Although heavily involved in UK culture I think Lloyd Grossman was a bad choice for the voiceover. I would have preferred a Liverpool native instead of an American, it would have made me feel more connected with the city.
The information can sometimes be a little lacking and I wasn’t that keen on the commercial offerings. The audio seems to lean towards telling you where to grab a bite to eat or stop off for a drink.
The last few tracks cover more than one stop on the map so it’s a little confusing, especially if you don’t know the city.
Information around Whitechapel was a little out of date but the tour is around 7 years old.
Looking down the stunning Castille Street
How the tour could be better and what you can do to get more out of it…
One immediate thing you can do is make sure that you also download the World Heritage Map (different to the walking map). It has more information on some of the key buildings.
Make sure you really study the buildings, some are adorned with amazing detail. The tour does point a few examples of this out.
It could be improved if extended tracks were introduced that can be optionally played for key buildings with stories from the past. I love hearing stories from past residents and workers.
The tour is only introductory so I would advise that you use it as a way to get a sense of the city before heading into the museums to seek out more info. Take lots of photos while walking and make sure you read up on any curiosity even if it’s just doing a Wikipedia search. There is a lot of information about Liverpool on the net.
At Derby Square this statue is famous for the wrong reasons due to an ill placed sceptre
There are also a few more tours such as the Slavery Tour and the Musical Heritage Tour, both of which I will do in the coming weeks.
All MP3 Tours and accompanying maps can be downloaded from here.
Liverpool is an amazing city and I still have so much to learn. I’m doing all this on a budget but it’s fine because there are a ton of
The famous Liver Building, part of a trio of magnificent water front buildings.
If you have done the tour, or have any other ideas / advice for me while I am here I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading.
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