Pool-ing power
Liverpool’s famous birds, history, music and fun guarantee a high old time
Legend has it that Bertie the Liver Bird looks out over the city to see if the pubs are open while his female pal Bella keeps watch over the sea so she can eye up visiting sailors.
Whatever the truth, these two 18ft statues have become the iconic symbol of Liverpool around the world.
You can now get a closer view of them on a tour of the Royal Liver Building – on top of which they proudly perch (€17 adult, €12 child, rlb360.com).
There’s a great story behind this Grade-i listed structure too. Back in 1850 a group of working men meeting in The Lyver Inn were lamenting the fact that poor people couldn’t afford proper burials, and the idea behind the Liverpool Liver Burial Society was born.
By the end of the 1890s the society had expanded so much that a new purposebuilt base overlooking the River Mersey was proposed.
Designed by architect Walter Aubrey Thomas, the Royal Liver Building was the first in Britain to be made from reinforced concrete.
When it opened in 1911, its crowning glory was the pair of copper Liver Birds.
They were designed by Carl Bernard Bartels, a German sculptor who had lived in Britain since 1887. When the First World War broke out, he was sent to an internment camp on the Isle of Man then back to Germany.
For decades officials hushed up the true nationality of the man behind Liverpool’s icons – it was only in 2011, when the Royal Liver Building celebrated its 100th birthday, that Bartels was posthumously awarded the Citizen Of Honour.
Today the Royal Liver Building forms part of the city’s Three Graces, which stand side by side on the Pier Head.
We went next door to the Cunard Building for the British Music Experience, a museum dedicated to post-second World War pop music (€15 adult, €10 child, €35 family, britishmusicexperience.com). My son Freddie, 10, loved the studio, where you can play guitars, keyboards and drums.
He and I were staying at the Titanic Hotel, set in a rejuvenated rum warehouse that was once at the heart of Liverpool’s world-leading docklands.
Lying just outside of the city centre, it’s been cleverly converted to reflect the grandeur of the Titanic while retaining the essence of the original building. The
Try cocktails piled up with sweets, jellies and lollipops
rooms are enormous with cool interiors. Try bagging one overlooking the adjacent wharf for calming views.
Vintage posters of the doomed vessel and White Star Line – the Liverpoolbased company behind it – adorn the walls while the menu in Stanley’s Bar and Grill contains fascinating background facts about the voyage.
The restaurant itself is charming, with tall windows and a pretty waterside terrace, and the food is excellent. I enjoyed a beautiful pan-fried salmon fillet with pickled fennel, red onion and confit tomato salad followed by a supercreamy chocolate mousse with candied hazelnuts. Freddie wolfed down minute steak and chips followed by Belgium waffle with raspberries and sorbet.
For novelty value, treat yourself to a cocktail in the hotel bar as they come piled high with lollipops, fizzy jellies and bonbons.
The next day we swapped keyboards for clubs at Liverpool’s newly opened Junkyard Golf Club, an indoor complex in the Liverpool ONE shopping and leisure zone (entry from €9pp, junkyardgolfclub.co.uk).
Freddie and I had great fun putting our way through old cars and makeshift garages. Afterwards
we headed back to the waterfront and to the redeveloped red-brick warehouses of Albert Dock, now brimming with restaurants, boutiques, galleries and museums.
For lunch I tucked into a delicious Thai green tofu curry at Rosa’s Thai Café. Freddie enjoyed crispy prawns and stir-fried noodles (rosasthaicafe.com). The views over the dock – and across to the Liver Birds – ensured our Mersey break ended on a high note. TOP TIP: One thing to remember if planning a trip to the city – be sure to check the Premier League football fixtures because if Liverpool are playing at home, hotels are likely to be sold out.