An Open Letter To The Lord Mayor Of Liverpool
I spent four years in Liverpool in the 1960s and as I met my late wife there, although like me, she was a Londoner and we had forty good years together, I have a great affection for the Second City. I also know the city well, although that is in part memory from nearly fifty years ago.
On Friday, I took the Virgin train up from Euston for a meeting with Liverpool University. As I had an hour to spare, instead of going straight to my meeting, I decided to awake an old memory by going to see the Richard Huws fountain by the Pier Head. I took the Wirral Line to James Street station and I must say, the Underground looks very good after refurbishment.
The fountain didn’t disappoint, especially as it was working.
I then needed to find my way up to the University. As I’m 66 and have a free bus pass, I remembered that in the 1960s, there was a bus from the Pier Head up Brownlow Hill. But I also know, that traffic layouts in Liverpool have changed a lot. So I did what I would do in London and found a bus stop. I tried several and there was no information that I could find that told me how to get up the hill. So in the end, I took a taxi and got entertained by one of Liverpool’s many comedians.
I know the city from a walking point of view well, but I didn’t see any serious walking maps like those in London, Ipswich or Bristol. I even gave directions to a group of alumni from my university, who were looking for the same fountain.
On the subject of information about the city, you rarely find any adverts or posters in London, directing tourists to visit Liverpool. Only recently, I finally persuaded an old friend, to have a couple of days with her husband in Liverpool and they returned thoroughly impressed with what they had visited. I recently came up to see the Chagall exhibition and the floor of St. George’s Hall, but I only heard about the latter by accident. I’m glad I didn’t miss it!
Unlike some cities I won’t name, you have the attractions, the hotels and the restaurants, but they just need to be linked with more and better information.
The Anonymous Widower 
[…] What Liverpool needs is better information on how to use the buses and walk around the city, as I said here in this post. […]
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