Liverpool

By Sarah Ridgway

The maritime city of Liverpool sits on the river Mersey and is awash with history and culture. In 2008 the city was named the European Capital of Culture and its positive legacy put Liverpool on the map and over 67 million visits the city each year.

Liverpool is famous for its music and became a UNESCO Creative City of Music in 2015. A huge draw for tourists from all over the world is the chance to visit the birthplace of The Beatles, and their worldwide appeal brings £20 million to Liverpool each year The list of bands and musicians hailing from the city is endless, but notable ones include Gerry and the Pacemakers, who covered Liverpool football club’s anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, Grammy Award-winning Elvis Costello, Atomic Kitten, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Liverpool is home to two Premier League football teams, Liverpool FC and Everton FC, the former fans are known as Kops and the latter as Evertonians. Homegrown talent includes footballers Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, and Robbie Fowler.

Liverpool was once an important maritime city and played a key naval role during World War due to its advanced dock facilities which made it a target in World War Two. Subsequently, the city was heavily bombed and huge parts of the city centre were destroyed. By the 19th century it had grown to become one of the richest cities in the world, due to having one of the largest and most progressive ports. The port opened trading connections with all parts of the globe and was the first city to achieve this. By 1801 the city’s population had reached around 77,000 which grew tremendously by 1851 to 376,000. Many of the new population were Irish immigrants who moved to Liverpool due to the Irish potato famine. Today, an estimated three-quarter of Liverpool’s population has Irish roots and is often referred to as “the second capital of Ireland’’ by locals. The Irish influence is evident throughout the city and the city centre is full of Irish pubs playing traditional

Irish music and serving traditional food. It is no surprise that St Patrick’s day is a huge affair. The scouse accent evolved due to the large influx of Irish migrants, and the accent varies with some speaking with a softer tone, while others usually residing in innercity areas adopt a more rough and grittier sound.

Awesome Architecture

Visitors will marvel at the city’s stunning architecture and historic buildings that are dotted across the city. Liverpool is said to have more Georgian listed buildings than the city of Bath. The area has over 2,500 listed buildings with 27 of those Grade I listed making it the largest collection of Grade 1 listed buildings outside of London. The oldest buildings in the city include Speke Hall which dates to 1530, Croxteth Hall dating to 1575, and the Toxteth Unitarian Chapel built in 1618. The Bluecoat, an opulent Grade I listed building is the oldest in Liverpool City Centre, and the oldest arts centre in the UK. The property began life as a boarding school and was built between 1716-17. After the death of its owner William Lever, the building was nearly demolished before campaigners stepped in and rescued it. In 1927 the building became the Bluecoat Society of Arts and was later heavily damaged during the Blitz in 1941. It was restored to its full glory in 1951 and became Grade I listed in June 1952. In 2008 The Bluecoat became Liverpool’s Contemporary Arts Centre, opening during the city’s Capital of Culture Year.

The Albert Dock which dates to Victorian times is the largest single collection of Grade I listed buildings in the country to be made solely from cast iron, brick, and stone. The Grade I Liverpool Town Hall is another impressive structure; designed by John Wood the Elder and built from 1749. The dome was added in 1795 by designer James Wyatt after it was rebuilt due to fire damage. The Royal Liver building, an iconic feature on the city’s skyline was the first skyscraper in Europe standing at 322 feet tall to the top of its spires, and 167 feet

to the main roof. The Grade I listed building has recently opened to the public offering tours, and a trip up to the 15th floor to enjoy the spectacular panoramic views across Liverpool.

The European Capital of Culture and its Lasting Legacy

In 2008 the city of Liverpool was named European Capital of Culture, contributing factors including the city’s rich maritime history, creative culture, and arts heritage. The impressive title provided a huge boost to the economy placing Liverpool firmly on the tourist map. During 2008 9.7 million additional visitors came to the city, injecting a whopping £753.8 million into the local economy.

Liverpool went all out to celebrate their impressive accolade and more than 38,500 people gathered to watch the official start of the celebrations in the centre of Liverpool’s Cultural Quarter. The event featured 800 musicians, schoolchildren, acrobats, and a performance by Ringo Starr on the roof of St George’s Hall. The annual calendar was packed with over 40 events including Liverpool the Musical which was performed at the New Echo Arena integrating film with live performances from a variety of Liverpool celebrities. Other events included Holocaust Memorial Day, the world premiere of seven plays including the Three Sisters on Hope Street, live dance and street performances, art exhibitions, and a 50ft mechanical spider. Legendary local, Sir Paul McCartney headlined The Liverpool Sound concert at Anfield stadium and delighted crowds with almost 30 songs from his illustrious career. In July over 1 million people attended The Tall Ship Races. The event gathered one of the largest fleets of Tall Ships ever amassed on British waters, which included 60 vessels from 18 countries and a total crew of 3,000.

Since 2008 independent businesses in the area have boomed with the most successful start-up businesses in a city, even more than in London. Locals and visitors are spoiled for choice with fashion boutiques, art shops, and many fantastic food and drink outlets. Lonely Planet rated Bold Street as one of the UK’s best Shopping Streets and is full of independent stores, cafes, and restaurants. Post-2008 saw mass regeneration across Liverpool and new developments began to spring up including the shopping complex Liverpool One which opened in 2008 and welcomes around 29 million visitors a year. The Arena Convention Centre also opened in 2008, the Baltic Triangle, a popular independent creative and digital district, followed in 2009, and the Museum of Liverpool opened in 2011.

It has been 14 years since the event and the city is still reaping its benefits. The extensive media coverage put a spotlight on the city, and Liverpool is now the fifth most listed city for international visitors in the UK. Most importantly residents were united in having positive memories of the occasion, and many locals felt the city had become more creative over the last decade.

Scouse Superstar Jodie Comer

The calibre of actors hailing from Liverpool is extremely high including Stephen Graham, the Royle Family’s Ricky Tomlinson, and Sex and the City bombshell Kim Cattrall to name a few. But, over the past few years, one of the most successful actresses in the country is without a doubt Bafta and Emmy award-winning Jodie Comer. Many will know Comer for her electrifying role as killer Villanelle in Killing Eve, where the actress mastered a variety of accents for the role, leaving people stunned to learn she is a scouser, she is that good.

Jodie was born in 1993 and grew up in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall. Her mum Donna worked for Merseyrail, and her father James a physiotherapist at Everton FC. Up until recently the actress still lived at home with her parents, after stating she is a home bird, and she would live with her parents until she was old and grey if she could. Comer is an Everton fan which is not surprising since her dad has worked at the club for the past twenty years. Jodie adores her home city but has spoken out about classism issues she faced coming

Image Credit: Featureflash Photo Agency, shutterstock.com

from a working-class city and being judged on her accent.

Jodie attended the Catholic girls’ school St Julie, where she met British athlete Katerina Johnson-Thompson, and the pair have been close friends ever since, often appearing at events together. At age 11 the budding star attended a local weekend drama school in the Belle Vale area called CALS. Through the drama school, Comer entered the Liverpool Performing Arts Festival in 2006 where she performed a monologue about the Hillsborough Disaster coming first in her category. After the competition, her drama teacher sent her to BBC Radio 4 to audition for a play, which would be her first acting job. In 2012 an unknown Comer won the role in Liverpool-set series Good Cop, playing a girl being abused by a criminal played by Stephen Graham. Graham was so impressed with the talented teenager, he put her in touch with his agent. When Comer accepted her BAFTA best actress award for Killing Eve, she thanked Graham for kick-starting her career in her acceptance speech.

After earning her actor’s stripes on Holby City, Doctors, and Casualty; Jodie won parts in My Mad Fat Diary, Vera, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover before her breakthrough role as Kate in Doctor Foster alongside Suranne Jones. The thriller ran for two series and the final episodes for each season was watched by more than 10 million people. After the success of Doctor Foster, Comer secured her first leading role as Ivy Moxam in Thirteen, a BBC 3 mini-series, and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. In 2016 Comer was selected as one of Screen International’s “Stars of Tomorrow” and in 2017 she won a role in her first feature film, England is Mine. In 2018 Killing Eve hit television screens and viewers got to see Comer as they had never seen her before as a psychopathic Russian assassin called Villanelle. This role would win the actress a BAFTA and an Emmy, catapulting her into the attention of Hollywood. A role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker followed in 2019, and a female lead role alongside Ryan Reynolds in action-comedy Free Guy.

Comer was looking for an opportunity to work with Stephen Graham again and teamed up with writer Jack Thorne who wrote the drama Help for the pair. The Liverpoolset drama focused on the care sector during the pandemic, and she won a BAFTA for Best Actress for her role as a care worker. She told Channel 4 “For us to be able to explore such a relevant and emotive story through the eyes of such beautifully real characters, and in our home city of Liverpool is a real honour.” In April 2022 the actress made her West End debut in Prima Facie, a one-person play by Suzie Miller. The actress received critical acclaim for the role and the entire run sold out, the play transfers to Broadway in Spring 2023.