Liverpool

For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation).

City of Liverpool
Borough & City
Liverpool skyline, as seen from across the River Mersey
Official logo of City of Liverpool Coat of Arms
Location within England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Ceremonial county Historic county	Merseyside Lancashire
Admin HQ	Liverpool City Centre
Founded	1207
City Status	1880
Government
• Type	Metropolitan borough, City
• Governing body	Liverpool City Council
Area
• Borough & City	43.18 sq mi (111.84 km2)
Elevation	230 ft (70 m)
Population  (2005 est / Urban=2006)
• Borough & City	(Ranked )
• Density	12,950/sq mi (5,001/km2)
• Urban	816,900
• Ethnicity (2001 Census)	94.3% White 1.1% S. Asian 1.2% Black British 1.2% Chinese 2.2% Mixed Race
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
Postal Code	L1-L8, L9 (part), L10-L19, L24, L25, L27, L67, L68, L69(part), L70 (part), L71-L75
Area code	0151
ISO 3166-2	GB-LIV
ONS code	00BY
OS grid reference	SJ437905
NUTS 3	UKD52
Website	www.liverpool.gov.uk

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary.

Liverpool is governed by one of five councils within the metropolitan county of Merseyside, and is one of England's core cities and its fifth most populous — 447,500 in 2006, with 816,000 in the Liverpool Urban Area, the conurbation around the city that includes other towns (such as St. Helens and Haydock) on the Liverpool side of the Mersey but not those on the Wirral Peninsula. The term Greater Merseyside is sometimes used to described a broader area, which also includes the borough of Halton.

Built across a ridge of hills rising up to a height of around 230 feet (70 metres) above sea-level at Everton Hill, the city's urban area runs directly into Bootle and Crosby in Sefton to the north, and Huyton and Prescot in Knowsley to the east. It faces Wallasey and Birkenhead across the River Mersey to the west.

Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also known as "Scousers", in reference to the local meal known as 'scouse', a form of stew. The word 'scouse' is probably a contraction of 'lobscouse', the name of a Scandanavian stew which is thought to be a precursor of the scouse dish. If that is the case, then the Lancashire stew known as 'lobby' may well also have the same roots. The word scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. This year (2007), the city is celebrating its 800th anniversary, and in 2008 it will hold the European Capital of Culture title (together with Stavanger, Norway).

One of the most popular musical bands in history, [[The Beatles], originated in Liverpool.

History

Main article: History of Liverpool

A map of Liverpool from 1947

King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool and by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, Liverpool began to grow. The first wet dock in Britain was built in Liverpool in 1715. Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow. By close of the century Liverpool controlled over 41% of European and 80% of Britain's slave commerce.

By the start of the nineteenth century, 40% of the world's trade was passing through Liverpool and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irish migrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the first part of the 20th century, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe. During World War II there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also shared the horrific experience of excessive aerial bombing. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain.

The Housing Act 1919 resulteed in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from decrepit inner-city slums to well-equipped new homes on suburban housing estates which offered a far higher standard of living. A great deal of private houses were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas where also redeveloped for new homes.

The population of Liverpool peaked in the 1931 census, which reported 855,688 inhabitants. This had declined to 610,114 by 1961, and decreased further to 439,476 in the 2001 census.

In the 1960s Liverpool became a centre of youth culture. The "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian pop bands of the era catapulted the city to the front of the popular music scene.

From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerization meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. In the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were among the highest in the UK. In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.

20 Forthlin Road is one of many Tourist attractions related to The Beatles

Previously a part of administrative Lancashire, created in 1888, and more recently as a county borough in itself, Liverpool became in 1974 a metropolitan district within the newly created metropolitan county of Merseyside, but still remains part of the ancient County Palatine of Lancashire for cultural and historic purposes.

At the end of the 20th century Liverpool was concentrating on regeneration, a process which still continues today, with the city winning the accolade of European Capital of Culture for 2008.

Capitalising on the popularity of the 1960s pop group The Beatles and other groups of the Merseybeat era, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.

In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centered on Paradise Street, which will involve the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Now known as Liverpool 1, parts are nearing completion.

2007 is the anniversary of the foundation of the city (1207), for which all sorts of events are planned.

Culture

Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 flag, flying in front of the Port of Liverpool Building

Liverpool is internationally known as a cultural centre, with a particularly rich history in popular music (most notably The Beatles), performing and visual arts. In 2003, Liverpool was named European Capital of Culture for 2008. A series of cultural events during 2004-9 is planned, peaking in 2008.

Poetry

During the late 1960s the city became well known for the Liverpool poets, of whom Roger McGough and the late Adrian Henri are among the best known. The anthology The Mersey Sound, by Henri, McGough and Brian Patten, has sold over 500,000 copies since first being published in 1967.

In recent years The Dead Good Poets Society and particularly poets like David Bateman and Jim Bennett - poet, both of whom at various times have been called the best in Liverpool, have ensured that the reputation of Liverpool based performance poetry has been maintained.

Performing arts

Liverpool has a strong history of performing arts which is reflected in the number of theatres in the city, including the Empire, Everyman, Neptune, Royal Court and Unity Theatres, and the Liverpool Playhouse. The Everyman and Playhouse run their own theatre company as does the Unity Theatre.

A flourishing orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, performs in its own home, the Philharmonic Hall. The city also features a youth orchestra.

Since the 1960s, Liverpool has been famous for its thriving music scene.

Visual arts

SuperLambBanana, a well-known sculpture in the Albert Dock area, recently relocated to Tithebarn Street

Liverpool has long had a reputation in the visual arts. Painter George Stubbs was born in the city in 1724. Pre-Raphaelites are among the important paintings in the Walker Art Gallery. Sudley House contains another major collection of pre 20th century art. Liverpool has more galleries and national museums than any other city in the United Kingdom apart from London. The Tate Liverpool gallery houses the modern art collection of the Tate in the north of England, and was until the opening of Tate Modern the largest exhibition space dedicated to modern art in the United Kingdom. The FACT centre hosts touring multimedia exhibitions.

The Liverpool Biennial is a festival of arts held (as the name implies) every two years. The festival generally runs from mid September to late November and comprises three main sections; the International, The Independents and New Contemporaries although fringe events are timed to coincide. It was during this event in 2004 that Yoko Ono's work "My mother is beautiful" caused widespread public protest by exhibiting photographs of a naked woman's pubic area on the main shopping street. Despite protests the work remained in place.

The 2006 Biennial ran until mid November: exhibitions could be found dotted around Liverpool City centre and included such features as the lions in front of St Georges Hall being caged, St Luke's Church being filled with upturned boats, and an artist (Birgit R. Deubner) walking across downtown Liverpool wearing wings made from lead feathers (the "Icarus Project").

Sport

Liverpool is associated with a variety of sports, most notably football, but also a number of others.

Liverpool has two Premier League football clubs: Everton F.C. at Goodison Park and Liverpool F.C. at Anfield.

Liverpool are statistically the most successful English football team of all-time. They have so far won the league title 18 times, FA Cup seven times, Football League Cup seven times, European Cup five times and UEFA Cup three times.

Everton have also enjoyed dominance on several occasions, particularly during the 1920s, 1930s, 1960s and 1980s. Their most recent success was the FA Cup in 1995.

Professional basketball is played in the city with the addition of Everton Tigers into the elite British Basketball League in 2007. The club is associated with Everton Football Club, and is part of the Toxteth Tigers youth development programme, which reaches over 1,500 young people every year [1]. The Tigers will commence play in Britain's top league for the 2007-08 season, though their home venue has yet to be confirmed. Their closest professional rivals are the Chester Jets, based 30 miles away in Chester.

County cricket is occasionally played in Liverpool, with Lancashire County Cricket Club typically playing one match every year at Liverpool Cricket Club, Aigburth.

Aintree Racecourse to the north of Liverpool in the adjacent borough of Sefton is home to the famous steeplechase, the Grand National, One of the most famous events in the international horse racing calendar, it is held in early April of each year. In addition to horse-racing, Aintree has also hosted motor racing, including the British Grand Prix in the 1950s and 1960s.

Speedway racing was staged at Stanley Stadium in Prescott Road. The track operated in the pioneer days of the late 1920s and early 1930s. It operated a few seasons in the mid to late 1930s. It reopened in 1949, with the Chads taking part in the National League, unntil the track closed mid season 1953. A brief open season in 1959 was followed by the final season operation when the Liverpool Pirates operated in the Provincial League. Peter Craven, World Champion 1955 and 1962 started out at Stanley Stadium before moving on to Belle Vue in Manchester.

A track also operated in the mid 1930s at Seaforth Stadium.

Liverpool Harriers, who meet at Wavertree Athletics Centre, are one of five athletic clubs. Liverpool has a long history of boxing that has produced John Conteh, Alan Rudkin and Paul Hodkinson and hosts high level amateur boxing events. Park Road Gymnastics Centre provides training to a high level. The City of Liverpool Swimming Club has been National Speedo League Champions 8 out of the last 11 years. Liverpool Tennis Development Programme based at Wavertree Tennis Centre is one of the largest in the UK. Liverpool is also home to the Red Triangle Karate Club, which provided many of the 1990 squad that won the World Shotokan Championships in Sunderland. Luminaries include Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda, Sensei Frank Brennan, Sensei Omry Weiss, Sensei Dekel Kerer, Sensei Andy Sherry and Sensei Terry O'Neill, who is also famous for various acting roles.

Rugby league is played at amateur and student level within the city; the last professional team bearing the city's name was Liverpool City, which folded in the 1960s. Liverpool St Helens F.C. is one of the oldest rugby union teams in the UK.

Liverpool is one of three cities which still host the traditional sport of British Baseball and it hosts the annual England-Wales international match every two years, alternating with Cardiff and Newport. Liverpool Trojans are the oldest existing baseball club in the UK.

The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, situated in the nearby town of Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, has hosted The Open Championship on a number of occasions, most recently in 2006. It has also hosted the Walker Cup.

Landmarks

Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral

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The Royal Liver Building towers over Water Street and the Town Hall

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View of Liverpool Anglican cathedral

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Liverpool's skyline, as seen from the River Mersey. The Liver Building on the left

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The Parish Church of St. Nicholas and the Atlantic Tower hotel near Pier Head. The Atlantic Tower was designed to resemble the prow of a ship to reflect Liverpool's maritime history

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Liverpool's inner city has handsome Georgian terraced streets

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Liverpool contains over 2,500 listed buildings (of which 26 are Grade I listed and 85 are Grade II* listed). It is the inheritance of high-minded public spirit since the late 18th century, largely with Dissenter impetus, resulting in more public sculpture than in any UK city aside from Westminster, more listed buildings than any city apart from London and, surprisingly, more Georgian houses than the city of Bath. Well-known architects are represented in Liverpool, including Peter Ellis, Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, John Foster, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Frederick Gibberd, and Norman Shaw.

Waterfront and docks museums

In 2004 Liverpool's waterfront was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site, reflecting the city's importance in the development of the world's trading system and dock technology.

The docks are central to Liverpool's history, with the best-known being Albert Dock: the first enclosed, non-combustible dock warehouse system in the world and is built in cast iron, brick and stone. It was designed by Jesse Hartley. Restored in the 1980s, the Albert Dock is the largest collection of Grade I listed buildings in Britain. Part of the old dock complex is now the home to the Merseyside Maritime Museum (an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage), the International Slavery Museum, Museum of Liverpool Life and the Tate Liverpool. Other relics of the dock system include the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse, which at the time of its construction in 1901, was the world's largest building in terms of area, and is still the worlds largest brick-work building.

The Pier Head is the most famous image of Liverpool, the location of the Three Graces (a fairly recent phrase), three of Liverpool's most recognisable buildings. The first is the Royal Liver Building, built in the early 1900s and surmounted by two bronze domes with a Liver Bird (the symbol of Liverpool) on each. The second is the Cunard Building, the headquarters of the former Cunard shipping company. The third is the Port of Liverpool Building, the home of the former Mersey Docks and Harbour Board which regulated the city's docks. Kings Dock immediately to the South of the Albert dock is the site of the Kings Dock Arena and conference centre currently under construction due to open in January 2008.

In front of these buildings at the waters edge are the memorials to the men of the merchant navy who sailed out of the port during both World Wars. Memorials to the British mariners, Norwegian, Dutch and to the thousands of Chinese seamen who manned Britain's ships cluster together here. Perhaps most interesting is the Chinese memorial to the men forcibly deported from the city after World War Two and to the families they left behind. see:

Places of worship

The thousands of migrants and sailors passing through Liverpool resulted in a religious diversity that is still apparent today. This is reflected in the equally diverse collection of religious buildings, and two Christian cathedrals.

The parish church of Liverpool is the Anglican Our Lady and St Nicholas, colloquially known as "the sailors church", which has existed near the waterfront since 1257. It regularly plays host to Catholic masses. Other notable churches include the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas (built in the Byzantine style), and the Gustav Adolfus Kyrka (the Swedish Seamen's Church, reminiscent of Nordic styles).

Liverpool's wealth as a port city enabled the construction of two enormous cathedrals, both dating from the 20th century. The Anglican Cathedral, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, has one of the longest naves, largest organs and heaviest and highest peals of bells in the world. The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, colloquially known as "Paddy's Wigwam", was initially planned to be even larger. Of Sir Edwin Lutyens' original design, only the crypt was completed. The cathedral was eventually built to a simpler design by Sir Frederick Gibberd; while this is on a smaller scale than Lutyens' original design, it still manages to incorporate the largest panel of stained glass in the world. Appropriately enough, the road running between the two cathedrals is called Hope Street.

Liverpool contains synagogues, of which the Grade II* listed Moorish-revival Princes Road Synagogue is perhaps most notable. Liverpool has a thriving Jewish community with a further 2 Synagogues, one in the Greenbank Park area of L17 and a second in the Childwall district of the city where a significant Jewish community reside. Liverpool has had a Jewish community since the mid 18th century. The current Jewish population of Liverpool is around 3000.

Liverpool also has an increasing Hindu community, with a Mandir on Edge Lane; the Radha Krishna Hindu Temple from the Hindu Cultural Organisation based there. The current Hindu population in Liverpool is about 1147. In comparison, Manchester has nearly 3000. Liverpool also has the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara in L15.

The city had one of the earliest mosques in Britain, founded in 1887 by William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to Islam. This mosque, however, no longer exists. Plans have been ongoing to re-convert the building where the mosque once stood into a museum. Currently there are two mosques in Liverpool: the Al-Rahma mosque in the Toxteth area of the city and a mosque recently opened in the Mossley Hill district of the city.

Other notable buildings and main museums

The area around William Brown Street has been labeled the city's 'Cultural Quarter', owing to the presence of the William Brown Library, Walker Art Gallery and World Museum Liverpool, just three of Liverpool's neo-classical buildings. Nearby is St George's Hall, perhaps the most impressive of these neo-classical buildings. It was built to serve a variety of civic functions, including both as a concert hall and as the city's law courts. Its doors, inscribed "S.P.Q.L." (Latin senatus populusque Liverpudliensis - "the senate and people of Liverpool"), as well as its grand architecture proclaim the municipal pride and ambition of the city in the mid-nineteenth century. Also in this area are Wellington's Column and the Steble Fountain.

Liverpool's Town Hall dates from 1754 and has a beautifully-designed interior. The city's stock exchange and financial district are set immediately behind this splendid building, and show how closely government and commerce were tied in the city's development.

The term Red Brick University, applied to British universities dating from a similar period, was inspired by the University of Liverpool's Victoria Building, noted for its clock tower.

Some of Liverpool's landmarks are better known for their oddness rather than for their role. Williamson's tunnels are architecturally unique as being the largest underground folly in the world. The Philharmonic Dining Rooms are noteworthy for their ornate Victorian toilets, which have become a tourist attraction in their own right.

On Renshaw Street there is the new alternative shopping centre Grand Central Hall - which boasts not only fine external architecture but also has much to offer inside, such as the metalwork and ceiling decoration of the Ground floor and the fantastic domed ceiling of Roscoe Hall. Also in Roscoe Hall is the organ (although recent shop additions to the hall have obscured the view somewhat) which is a listed item itself.

Sports stadiums

The city of Liverpool is home to two professional football clubs, Everton and Liverpool. Liverpool is the only English city to have staged top division football every single season since the formation of the Football League in 1888, and both of the city's clubs play in high-capacity stadiums.

Liverpool have played at Anfield since 1892, when the club was formed to occupy the stadium following Everton's departure following a dispute with their landlord. Liverpool are still playing there 115 years later, although the ground has been completely rebuilt since the 1970s and only the Main Stand survives from before 1992. The Spion Kop (rebuilt as an all-seater stand in 1994/1995) was the most famous part of the ground, gaining cult status across the world due to the songs and celebrations of the many fans who packed onto its terraces. Anfield can now hold more than 45,000 spectators in comfort, and is a distincive landmark in an area filled with smaller and older buildings.

Everton moved to Goodison Park in 1892 after a dispute with their landlord caused them to pull out of Anfield. The ground is situated at the far side of Stanley Park to Anfield. It now has the capacity for more than 40,000 spectators all-seated, but the last expansion took place in 1994 when a new goal-end stand gave the stadium an all-seater capacity. The Main Stand dates back to the 1970s, while the other two stands are refurbished pre-Second World War structures.

There are currently plans for both stadiums to be destroyed and for the teams to relocate. Liverpool have been considering a move to a new stadium in Stanley Park since 2000, though seven years on work is yet to begin and the 60,000-seat stadium is not expected to be ready until at least 2010.

Everton have been considering relocation since 1996, and in 2003 were forced to scrap plans for a 55,000-seat stadium at King's Dock due to financial reasons. The latest plan has been to move beyond Liverpool's boundaries to Kirkby, but this has proved unpopular with fans and members of the local community. At one point there were plans for Everton to ground-share with Liverpool at the proposed new stadium in Stanley Park, but these were abandoned.

Education

In Liverpool primary and secondary education is available in various forms supported by the state including secular, Church of England, Jewish, and Roman Catholic. Islamic education is available at primary level, but there is currently no secondary provision. One of Liverpool's important early schools was The Liverpool Blue Coat School; founded in 1708 as a charitable school.

The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys1825 Now Closed is no longer a Grammer school or a Comprehensive school for the children of the city of Liverpool. The Liverpool Institute High School was an English grammar school for boys ages 11 to 18 with an excellent academic reputation built up over more than a century. Its list of scholarships and places at Oxford University and Cambridge University runs to some 300 names – in addition to distinctions gained at Liverpool University and at many other prominent British universities. The school was a true measure of Liverpool's intellectual capital and its old boys could and can be found in later life in many fields of professional distinction including: law, the Church, armed forces, politics, academia, government and colonial administration as well as in trade & commerce

The Belvedere School is the top-performing school in the city and will be changing its status, becoming a City Academy, in September, 2007. Other notable schools include Liverpool College founded in 1840 and Merchant Taylors' School. Another of Liverpool's notable senior schools is St. Edward's College, a former private high school located in West Derby. Historic grammar schools, such as the Liverpool Institute High School & Liverpool Collegiate, closed in the 1980s are still remembered as centres of academic excellence.

Liverpool has three universities: the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Hope University. Edge Hill University, originally founded as a teacher-training college in the Edge Hill district of Liverpool, is now located in Ormskirk in South-West Lancashire.

The University of Liverpool was established in 1881 as University College Liverpool. In 1884, it became part of the federal Victoria University. Following a Royal Charter and Act of Parliament in 1903, it became an independent university, the University of Liverpool, with the right to confer its own degrees.

Liverpool Hope University, founded in 1844, is situated on both sides of Taggart Avenue in Childwall and a second Campus in the City Centre (The Cornerstone). Hope is quickly making a name for itself within the Liberal Arts, the University has also enjoyed successes in terms of high graduate employability, campus development, and a substantial increase in student applications from outside of the City.

The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, founded to address some of the problems created by trade, continues today as a post-graduate school in the University of Liverpool and is one of only two institutions internationally that house the de facto standard anti-venom repository.

Liverpool John Moores University was previously a polytechnic, and gained university status in 1992. It is named in honour of Sir John Moores, one of the founders of the Littlewoods football pools and retail group, who was a major benefactor. The institution was previously owned and run by Liverpool City Council.

The city has one further education college, Liverpool Community College. The college will recruit around 21,000 students in the academic year 2006/07.

There are two Jewish schools in Liverpool, both belonging to the King David Foundation. King David School, Liverpool is the High School, located on Childwall Road, close to Childwall Comprehensive and Childwall Fiveways. The King David Primary School is situated at Beauclair Drive. There is also a King David Kindergarten, featured in the community centre of Harold House. These schools are all run by the King David Foundation based in Harold House in Childwall; conveniently next door to the Childwall Synagogue

Transport

Mersey crossings

There are three tunnels under the River Mersey: one railway tunnel, the Mersey Railway Tunnel; and two road tunnels, Queensway Tunnel and Kingsway Tunnel.

The Mersey Ferry continues to provide an important link between Liverpool and the Wirral, as well as a tourist attraction. Made famous by the song Ferry Cross the Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers, the song is now played on the ferryboats themselves every time they prepare to dock at Liverpool after a tourist cruise.

The Mersey is crossed upstream from Liverpool at Runcorn and Widnes, by the Silver Jubilee Bridge (usually known simply as the "Runcorn Bridge") and the Runcorn Railway Bridge.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Built between 1770 and 1816 the Leeds and Liverpool Canal links Liverpool and the Mersey to Leeds and the River Aire. Its terminus had been at Old Hall Street, Pall Mall, Chisenhale Street, but that section now ends at Eldonian Village. A flight of locks just north of there takes the canal down to Stanley Dock, famous for the Tobacco Warehouse, and on to the main dock system.

A new link across the front of the Pier Head buildings will link the northern docks to the Albert Dock is presently under construction, with the plan being to open it during Liverpool's Capital of Culture Year of 2008.

Airport

Opened in the 1930s, Liverpool Airport, is situated near Speke in the south of the city. It was renamed Liverpool John Lennon Airport in 2001, in honour of the late Beatle John Lennon. The airport's logo consists of a sketch that John Lennon had drawn of himself, and the words "Above us only sky", lyrics from his song Imagine. The sensitivity surrounding the airport's name change meant that the logo had to be designed in secret before it could be unveiled by John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. The airport was the starting point for Beatles tours in the sixties, and images of the boys boarding planes there were seen throughout the world. In 2006 the airport handled nearly 5 million passengers and now serves 64 destinations, including Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, Rome and London. New York and Toronto are recent additions to destinations available from Liverpool, with many more to come.

Port

In 2002, 716,000 passengers used the Port of Liverpool, with the Isle of Man and Ireland being the two most important passenger routes, goods trade which was very low in the past decades, is growing up now.

Railways

Liverpool is served by the Merseyrail urban rail network. The sections in the city centre are mostly underground. It has three lines: the Northern Line, which runs to Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby and Hunts Cross; the Wirral Line, which runs through the Mersey Railway Tunnel and has branches to New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port; and the City Line, only from Lime Street, for St Helens,Wigan, Warrington and Manchester.

The city's main railway station for longer-distance services is Lime Street station, one of the most famous train stations in Britain . Trains operate to destinations including London in 2 hours 1/2 with Pendolino trains, Birmingham, Manchester, Preston, Leeds, Scarborough, Sheffield, Nottingham and Norwich. Full timetable details can be found at National Rail website

The London line was one of the first electrified in Britain with wire (with Manchester and Glasgow).

Liverpool had been home to the first electrically powered overhead railway in the world. Known as the Liverpool Overhead Railway or (Dockers Umbrella) it opened on February 4, 1893 with an eventual total of 14 stations. The line suffered extensive damages during the second world war and was eventually closed down on December 30, 1956 with considerable protest. The tunnel portal in Dingle is one of the only surviving signs of the railway's existence as the iron bridges were removed for scrap.

Buses

Long distance coach services arrive at and depart from the Norton Street Coach Station. Local buses serve the whole of the city and its surrounding areas. The two principal termini for local buses are Queen Square Bus Station (located near Lime Street railway station) for services north and east of the city, and Paradise Street Interchange (located near the Albert Dock) for services to the south and east. Cross-river services to the Wirral use roadside terminus points in Castle Street and Sir Thomas Street.

Historic tramway and railways

Historically, Liverpool had an extensive tram network; however, this was dismantled in the 1950s. Other railway lines, such as the Canada Dock Branch from Edge Hill to Kirkdale, no longer see passenger services, or have been removed completely, such as the North Liverpool Extension Line.

Proposed new tram

In 2001, a plan to build new a light rail system, Merseytram was developed. After central government insisted on additional guarantees prior to the release of previously committed funds, it was cancelled in November 2005. However, it is to be included in the transport plan from 2006-2011, as it is deemed to be an important part of Liverpool's development.

Famous Liverpudlians

Many famous names have been associated with Liverpool; see Liverpudlians.

Liverpool has also played a large part in UK (and sometimes world) Pop Music culture since the 1960s. For a list of some noteworthy groups from the area, consult the list of famous bands from Liverpool. The most popular group from Liverpool is The Beatles.

The Wall of Fame is located opposite the famous Cavern Club, near the original one where bricks are engraved with the name of bands and musicians who have played at the Cavern Club.

As recently as the early 1980s, Liverpool did not have much in the way of Beatles' Tourist information, other than a small mimiographed map of a few sites like Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. It took two Americans (David Bacon and Norman Maslov) from San Francisco to publish the first real collection of Beatles related travel sites. This was in 1982 [2].

Liverpool has also been home to numerous football stars. Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Mick Quinn, Peter Reid, Tommy Smith and Steve McManaman are just some of the many footballers to have been born in the city.

Melanie C (Chisholm) who stormed the worldwide music charts with pop phenomenon The Spice Girls was born in Liverpool. She has since gone on to create a relatively successful solo career, with 4 solo albums and a live DVD. The Spice Girls have since reformed.

Television and film personalities born in Liverpool include Ken Dodd, Paul O'Grady, Ricky Tomlinson, Lesley Sharp, Dean Sullivan and Cilla Black and Tom Baker of Doctor Who fame.

Media

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BBC Big Screen

The ITV region which covers Liverpool is ITV Granada. In 2006, the Television company opened a new newsroom in the Royal Liver Building. Granada's regional news broadcasts were produced at the Albert Dock News Centre during the 1980s and 1990s. The BBC also opened a new newsroom on Hanover Street in 2006. But with both broadcasters based in Manchester, the arrangement is sometimes controversial, with Manchester's perceived influence over the region's media.

ITV's daily magazine programme This Morning was famously broadcast from studios at Albert Dock until 1996, when production was moved to London. Granada's short-lived shopping channel "Shop!" was also produced in Liverpool until it was axed in 2002.

Liverpool is the home of the TV production company Lime Pictures, formerly Mersey Television, which produced the now-defunct soap opera, Brookside, and currently produces Hollyoaks for Channel 4 and Grange Hill for the BBC. Lime Pictures is owned by All3Media. These programmes are regularly filmed in and around the Childwall area.

The city fares better with regards to other media. The city has two daily newspapers: the morning Daily Post and the evening Echo, both published by the same company, the Trinity Mirror group. The Daily Post, especially, serves a wider area, including north Wales. The UK's first online only weekly newspaper called Southport Reporter (Southport & Mersey Reporter), is also one of the many other news outlets that covers the city. Radio stations include BBC Radio Merseyside, Juice FM, KCR 106.7 FM and Radio City 96.7 as well as Magic 1548. The last two are both based in St. John's Beacon which, along with the two cathedrals, dominates the city's skyline. The independent media organisation Indymedia also covers Liverpool, while 'Nerve' magazine publishes articles and reviews of cultural events.

Liverpool has also featured in films; see List of films set in Liverpool for some of them.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Liverpool at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of pounds sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	4,394	3	950	3,440
2000	5,681	4	1,033	4,644
2003	6,595	6	953	5,636

The economy of Liverpool is beginning to recover from its long, post-World War II decline. Between 1995 and 2001 GVA per head grew at 6.3% annum. This compared with 5.8% for inner London and 5.7% for Bristol. The rate of job growth was 9.2% compared with a national average of 4.9% for the same period, 1998-2002. However, Liverpool is still comparatively poor; a 2001 report by CACI showed that Liverpool still had four of the ten poorest postcode districts in the country, and almost 30% of people aged 65 or over are without central heating.

Like the rest of the United Kingdom the city has seen a large growth in the service sector, both public and private. Government offices include parts of the National Health Service, Revenue and Customs and Home Office agencies such as the Criminal Records Bureau and the Identity and Passport Service, formerly the UK Passport Agency. Private sector service industries have invested in Liverpool too with major call centres opening of late. The activities of the port have left the site with a communications infrastructure that had for a long time exceeded requirements.

Growth in the areas of New Media has been helped by the existence of a relatively large computer game development community. Sony based one of only a handful of European PlayStation research and development centres in Wavertree, after buying out noted software publisher Psygnosis. Indeed, according to a 2006 issue of industry magazine 'Edge' (issue 162), the first professional quality PlayStation software developer's kits were largely programmed by Sony's Liverpool 'studio' — the console has since become one of the World's most successful consumer products ever.

Tourism is a major factor in the economy and will be of increasing importance in the run up to the Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. This has led to a great increase in the provision of high quality services such as hotels, restaurants and clubs. The buildings of Liverpool not only attract tourists but also film makers, who regularly use Liverpool to double for cities around the worlds and making it the second most filmed city in the UK.

Car-manufacturing also takes place in the city at the Halewood plant where the Jaguar X-Type and Land Rover Freelander models are assembled.

The owner of Liverpool's port and airport, Peel Holdings, announced on March 6 2007 that is had plans to redevelop the city's northern dock area with a scheme entitled Liverpool Waters, which may see the creation of 17,000 jobs and £5.5bn invested in the vicinity over a 50 year period.

Liverpool's main shopping area is Church Street, lying between Bold Street to the East and Lord Street to the West.

International links

Like many cities, Liverpool participates in international town twinning schemes. It has five twin towns:

• - Cologne, Germany (aka Köln)
• - Dublin (Baile Atha Cliath), Ireland
• - Odessa, Ukraine
• - Shanghai, People's Republic of China
• - İstanbul, Beşiktaş, Turkey

Furthermore the city has "friendship links" with other cities, which are less formal than twinning arrangements. These are:

• - Givenchy-lez-la-Bassée, Belgium
• - Halifax, Canada
• - Havana, Cuba
• - La Plata, Argentina
• - Memphis, USA
• - Minamata, Japan
• - Naples, Italy
• - New Orleans, USA
• - Ponsacco, Italy
• - Ramnicu Valcea, Romania
• - Valparaiso, Chile

In addition, there are links with New York, USA (which has been granted the Freedom of the City of Liverpool); Riga, Latvia; and Stavanger, Norway.

Trivia

• The RMS Titanic was registered in Liverpool
• In a competition organised by the conservation charity Plantlife in 2002, the sea-holly was nominated as Liverpool's county flower.
• Alois Hitler, Jr. the half-brother of Adolf Hitler lived in the city, was married, and had a child. There is a rumour that Adolf visited Liverpool in 1911, before the outbreak of World War I, and that he drank in the Poste House pub on Cumberland Street.
• The Catholic cathedral is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Paddy's Wigwam" due to its shape and the vast number of Irish men who worked on the construction of the cathedral and/or are living in the area.
• Grand Central Hall became the new home for Quiggins traders in mid-2006 after a compulsory purchase order forced the School Lane site to close. However, before it became the alternative shopping venue for Liverpool the Hall was a meeting place under the guidance of the Methodist Church, being built in 1905 as a Picture house with a seating capacity of around 2000. The projection room and gallery seating is still there in Roscoe Hall, although the projector is no longer there.

City districts

Districts of Liverpool include:

• Aigburth, Allerton, Anfield
• Belle Vale, Broadgreen
• Canning, Childwall, Clubmoor, Croxteth
• Dingle, Dovecot
• Edge Hill, Everton
• Fairfield, Fazakerley
• Garston, Gateacre, Grassendale
• Hunts Cross, Huyton
• Kensington, Kirkdale, Knotty Ash
• Mossley Hill
• Netherley, Norris Green
• Old Swan
• Prescot
• St Michael's Hamlet, Speke, Stoneycroft
• Toxteth, Tuebrook
• Walton, Whiston, Wavertree, West Derby, Woolton

Council wards

Liverpool City Council as of May 2007 is controlled by the Liberal Democrats with 51 seats to Labour's 35. The Green Party also hold one seat. Liverpool has been under Lib Dem control for over 9 years. City council wards of Liverpool include:

• Allerton and Hunts Cross, Anfield
• Belle Vale
• Central, Childwall, Church, Clubmoor, County, Cressington, Croxteth
• Everton
• Fazakerley
• Greenbank
• Kensington, Kirkdale, Knotty Ash
• Mossley Hill
• Norris Green
• Old Swan
• Picton, Princes Park
• Riverside
• Speke Garston, St Michaels
• Tuebrook & Stoneycroft
• Warbreck, Wavertree, West Derby, Woolton
• Yew Tree

Netherton

Parliamentary constituencies and MPs

See also: List of Parliamentary constituencies on Merseyside

Liverpool has five parliamentary constituencies: Liverpool Garston, Liverpool Riverside, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool Wavertree and Liverpool West Derby. At the 2005 general election, these were held by the Labour Party, and are represented by Maria Eagle, Louise Ellman, Jane Kennedy, Peter Kilfoyle and Robert Wareing respectively. Liberal Democrat candidates finished second in every Liverpool seat.

See also

• Big Dig (Liverpool)
• Culture in Liverpool
• List of television shows set in Liverpool
• Liverpool Garden Festival
• Port of Liverpool
• Williamson's tunnels
• 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships

External links

• Liverpool City Council
• Information about Port of Liverpool
• Official Liverpool Tourism Site
• Template:Wikitravel

53.4°N 3°W / 53.4; -3