The Walled City of Chester

The morning Metro to Chester. The train went through the long tunnel across the Mersey and arrived in the walled city of Chester. We found the Visitors Center and took a 3 hour walking tour.

Chester is most famous for its black & white Tudor style buildings that line Eastgate and Bridge Street, the two main shopping streets in Chester.

But, before the Tudor period, Chester became the largest port in the north west of England in the Medieval period. There is still evidence of the Medieval period - the stone narrow bridge across the River Dee to Handbridge was the only river crossing into Chester, the Chester Cathedral and the city walls were built in this period. As always, some of the most beautiful architecture comes from the Victorians.

The beautiful Eastgate Clock was built at the end of the 19th century to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and was once the main gate to the city.

Our 3 hour tour flew by.

We raced back to the metro to catch the train back to Liverpool in time for scouse at the Baltic Fleet. The famous “scouse” tasted a bit like Dinty Moore stew.

It was time to try driving the city so we picked up car from car park and drove the LDS sites.
More Marks &Spencer sandwiches for dinner..

A Day Trip to Manchester

Time for a road trip and rather than deal with the crazy road network in Britain, we opted for a train to Manchester. The train pricing scheme was insane. Prices ranging from 14 day advance, 7 day advance, one day return no restrictions , one day return leaving after 9:30 am…. Confusing – and expensive! The cheapest fare was $16.00 for a 45 minute round trip train ride.

We got off at the train station and took the free city bus to the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum has five buildings, one is the world’s oldest passenger rail station (c 1830.) One of the largest buildings highlights the Industrial Revolution and was a John/Gordon dream museum. The most fascinating part was in the main building with a working cotton mill. They demo-ed the process of creating cotton cloth from start to finish and you got a sense of the awful life of the early factory workers.

After a bit of searching, we found the double decker bus tour and did a loop around the city, stopping at the Imperial War Museum.

A quick train ride home, take out sandwiches from Marks and Spencer at the train station and back to the hotel.

More Liverpool

The Merseyside Maritime Museum had a history library, so we spent a few hours in the morning searching for old photos and histories. From there, we headed to the public library and finished some of our initial research.

We couldn’t leave Liverpool without a visit to the famous Philharmonic Pub, “the Phil”. Designed by the shipwrights who built the Luisitania, it’s a truly luxury pub filled with stained glass, mosaics, wrought iron and the only heritage listed toilet in the country. The gent's toilets are made of marble.

From the luxurious to the working man’s pub, we took a taxi to the “Baltic Fleet” for a pint. This old pub served the docks and to this day serves the local working class blokes.

The Magical Mystery Tour

We met our Beatles Magical Mystery Tour guide, Ricky at 10 AM and started our tour of the Beatles sites of Liverpool. It had an odd sense of doing family history- tracking down addresses and photographing houses. Poor John- he wasn't much of a Beatles fan - but after all of my years of helping with family research, it was my turn!

1. We stopped first at the Maternity Hospital where Brian Epstein was born (#4 Roscoe Court). Evidently, most Liverpudlians were born at home even back in the 40's. Being born in a hospital was only for the wealthy.

2. Our second stop was 64 Mount Pleasant – where John and Cynthia got married. Evidently John didn't feel that Ringo was important enough to invite him- and Ringo found out that his mate had married from a friend in a pub later that week.

3. Lennon studios – but actually the old site of Maternity Hospital where John was born – by a midwife.

4. After his wedding ceremony, he stopped by the Philharmonic Pub for a drink.

5. We stopped by the Art College where John and Stuart Sutcliffe attended school. We drove by "Ye Cracke Pub" on Rice Street where John would go when he'd skip out on school.

Note- The Liverpudlians are called "Scousers". If you live in the outskirts of Liverpool, you're called a "Plassy Scouser" (a plastic scouser).

6. We stopped by the Liverpool Institute and School of Art where Paul and George attended college. Paul was so affected by his studies there that he has funded the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPER), putting in $1M of his own money. Every year he attends the graduation.

Note- Stuart Sutcliffe is also shown in photos facing to the wall. Evidently, he couldn't play the bass very well, so he turned to the side so that no one in the audience could see his lack of talent. Paul would often pull the plug on his bass.

7. We made a stop at Gambia Terrace, across from the Cathedral of Liverpool. John would meet with Cynthia illicitly here before they were married. He moved in and left a bag of his text books and other stuff. Years later, one of his text books was sold for an exorbitant sum.

8. The suitcase monument was commissioned by Paul to commemorate his friends and important Liverpool institutions.

9. At 36 Falkner Square, John and Cynthia honeymooned at Brian Epstein's rented flat. . Evidently they stayed for two weeks – and here John wrote "Do you want to know a secret". Brian evidently kicked them out- since he used the flat for his gay encounters.

10. We stopped at Admiral Grove to see Ringo's house when he was a toddler. His first solo album featured the pub at the corner, The Empress, where his mother worked as a barmaid.

We walked to his house and the woman who owns it, a charming old British woman kindly invited us into the house to show off her photos of Ringo and friends.

The entire block where the home where Ringo was born, #9 Madryn Street, is located is being demolished. Ringo has tried to buy the house and have it moved to Los Angeles –to no avail. The current rumor is that it's being dismantled brick by brick and will be put in a Liverpool museum.

11. We stopped by Sefton Park and the Palm House, a Victorian greenhouse-conservatory that has been completely renovated thanks to George Harrison's intervention.

12. On the way to John and Paul's house, we stopped by Penny Lane and saw the street signs- which have been stolen so often that the city now paints the signage on the stone walls.

13. "On the corner in the middle of the roundabout"….there's a restaurant called Sergeant Prestons which was closed down. Evidently the locals wouldn’t frequent a restaurant in the old bomb shelter- because it originally housed the public toilets.

14. On #9 New Castle Road, John lived in a modest house until he was 5 years old with his mother, Julia.

15. We passed #15 Woolton Road where Brian Epstein lived.

16. Finally we got a chance to see Paul's house at #20 Forthlin. The family had to move after the Beatles became famous because people would camp outside the house waiting to see Paul. Today, the house is part of the National Trust (as is the house of John's Aunt Mimi – thanks to Yoko Ono)

17. Aunt Mimi's house- where John grew up (1946-1963) after his mother was killed (by an off duty policeman just outside Aunt Mimi's house). The story is that his Aunt Mimi gave him his first guitar, but would not allow him to play in the house. He was forced to play in the porch. She was quoted as saying, “The guitar is all very well, John, but you’ll never make a living out of it.”

18. At Woolton village, on Church Road, we saw the building where the fete was held where Paul and John first met on July 6, 1957. A week later, Paul had joined the band – and the rest was history. Across the street in the cemetery of the Parish of Saint Peter are the graves of Eleanor Rigby and John's uncle George.

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9. We stopped briefly by the gates of Strawberry Fields- originally the gates to an orphanage – and chalked our names on the wall. John identified with the orphans, having lost his mother at a young age, and would spend time with the kids there.

20. And finally, we stopped by George's house at #12 Arnold Grove. When George would come to Liverpool after he became famous, he would use the alias, "Arnold Grove" to check into hotels.

It was quite a tour and we got dropped off at the Pier to take the "Ferry cross the Mersey". It was packed with tourists- mostly English – with hundreds of running, screaming children. The ferry started off with the obligatory song, "Ferry cross the Mersey" by Gerry and the Pacemakers – and an almost unintelligible audio track. It was, however, an interesting perspective to see the port of Liverpool from the water- as so many emigrants did.

Shattered and knackered- we walked to Marks and Spencers, picked up some wine and snacks and stopped for a drink at "The Vines", a pub visited by Bill Bryson. It was a gorgeous, ornate old Irish styled pub. A few pints and some wine and a taxi home….

Maritime Liverpool

After pinching our share of cheese from the breakfast bars, we hit the stores of Albert Dock. We found an old print/book store with great photos of old Liverpool.

We searched out the “Mormon statue”, a cheesy statue of a family looking out to sea. Next to the statue was the original Pilot house- where men were required to report on arrival (think Dan and C.V.)

We spent some time at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Their new exhibit, Magical History Tour, was intended to highlight Liverpool’s 800 year history but was a disjointed presentation with no context. The Emigration Exhibit was excellent –giving you a good perspective on the role of Liverpool in the immigration and the challenges facing the immigrants.

We managed to get a late lunch at the Spice Market, a pricey Indian restaurant at Albert Dock. Fortunately, lunch was a bit more reasonably priced.

We spent the afternoon at "The Beatles Story" with our acousta-guides walking through the history of the Beatles. The museum had a re-creation of the Cavern Club where the “Fab Four” played, the NY apartment of John Lennon….all to the background music of the Beatles.

We walked to the off-license package store, helped by a local guy who walked us all the way to the store – going out of his way. We have been stunned by the friendliness of the people.

The view from our bedroom window of Albert Dock

Liverpool!!

Breakfast at the Holiday Inn. We dined with hordes of hung-over footballers filling their plates to overflowing. (We did learn after a few days of eating out in Liverpool that pinching food from the breakfast bar could serve as dinner that night).

We started our day with a Hop on- Hop off double-decker bus tour of Liverpool. We opted for the white one with a live guide. The guide was absolutely great—an
Andy Rooney look-alike – down to the trembling hands.

Liverpool has been designated the European capital of culture 2008 so there was construction everywhere. We drove down Hope Street with the two cathedrals linked by a street of hope- the Liverpool Cathedral and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, the Catholic cathedral. The Liverpool (Anglican) church is one of the largest in the world, the largest in England. It was begun in 1903 and finished in 1978.

The Catholic cathedral, consecrated in 1967, made of concrete, stone and mosaic, topped with a glass lantern- looking very much like a teepee. The locals call it “Paddy’s Wigwam”.

The Beatles theme rings through the city. On Hope Street, there was a suitcase monument commissioned by Paul McCartney. On the stacked suitcases were initials of Charles Dickens, John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney. The Catholic Cathedral with it’s four bells, originally called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are now called John, Paul, George and Ringo.

The other major theme comes from the history of the city as a major port city. The Whitehall Shipping line on the Strand, the “Three Graces” on the pier - the Cunard Building, headquarters of the Cunard Line, the Port of Liverpool Building, and the Liver Building (pronounced lie-ver) with 2 copper liver birds on its top.

St George’s Hall is one of the most impressive and oldest of the Liverpool buildings. Built in 1854, it was one of the first neoclassical buildings in Europe.

We took the city tour again and got off half way around the second time- getting off at the Central Library. John found the 4th floor history center and a superbly written summary of how the Mormon emigration from the UK was handled in the 1860-1880's. This covered Daniel and C.V's involvement in the 1850's. I found the free internet.

After a few hours at the library, we walked down Lime Street and stumbled onto the Adelphi Hotel. This historic hotel guests was a who’s-who -Frank Sinatra, Mae West, Roy Rogers- with Trigger, Churchill, Roosevelt. The bar was packed on this Saturday afternoon. We soon found out why- Happy Hour pricing started at 11 AM and continued until 6 PM. For the first time, we were able to have a glass of wine and a pint of beer at U.S. prices. The Liverpool accent made us feel like we were in Ireland. It had the "Amm" of the Irish. We met a great couple from Bootle, a suburb of Liverpool – Jackie and Tom.

At 6 PM the entire bar cleared out and we walked down the street to a Indian Restaurant and had a huge dinner.

Merthyr Tyd Fill ---yes, really -- Merthyr Tyd Fill!

After our drive through Cardiff and navigating the roads of Wales, we realized that our fold-out map of the UK was totally inadequate for the task. We desperately needed a detail map. John met a nice guy in the parking lot who gave us some basic directions – and then flagged us down as we walked toward the shopping street and sold us a map that he had bought for his daughter. Absolutely wonderful people!

We decided to save the “Big Pit” for our next visit and headed north towards, Merthyr Tyd Fill. This small Welch town was one of the headquarters for the early Mormon missionaries. We drove into town and immediately found a place to park at the local grocery store. Parking in the town was virtually non-existent.

With some directions from the librarian, we walked to the edge of town to find the LDS building. We walked for what seemed like miles and suddenly turned the corner to see a huge LDS stake house. John immediately dubbed it the “Outback Stake House”.

Inside the stake house, a group of women were preparing the main hall for a wedding the following day- lots of diaphanous white cloth draped across the ceiling and down the walls. We met a woman whose husband had just been appointed the new president of the Preston stake. She explained that Preston is the site of the mother church of Britain and told us about “Brother Fagg” who does tours of the major LDS sites there.

The Merthyr Tyd Fill stake covers 3 wards, about 3,500-4,000 people and covers an area of 110 miles by 60 miles. David O. McKay's mother lived in Merthyr (plaque on the cottage). After the Welsh emigration to SLC, the church had to re-group- there was no one left.

We made a quick stop back at the library and John experienced a scene out of Bill Bryson- multiple people discussing routes to Liverpool. Everyone had a different idea of the roads to take, what routes to avoid and how long it would take.

We were on our way to Liverpool. We opted for the scenic route rather than taking the motorway. Armed with multiple maps and lots of opinions, we managed to find our way into Liverpool. We had our first “oh my god” moment when we filled the tank of our economy Vauxhall car and forked out $80!

We drove into Liverpool- driving through the Mersey tunnel and found our way to the Albert Dock and our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. It was a Friday night and the hotel was packed with footballers- dressed in their teams colors and their women, dressed in their finery hotel- ready for an evening out. Our room was great- a beautiful view of the inner harbor of Albert Dock and of the city of Liverpool. Our fears of drunk footballers and late night revelry was fortunately not a problem – only a bit of early AM football songs. (This was the night before the first football games of the season)