The BBC’s Description of Today’s Torch Relay Leg
The Olympic Torch is going from Bolton to Liverpool today. I was drawn to their description of the leg on the BBC’s web site.
Through Lancashire and down the coast to Knotty Ash, made famous by Ken Dodd and his Diddy Men characters, via Aintree Racecourse to Liverpool, home of The Beatles, two top football clubs and once known for its wealth as the “Second City of Empire”.
In my view Liverpool may not now be the “Second City of Empire”, but it’s certainly the Second City in the UK.
The description is accompanied by a picture of a horse jumping to victory in the Grand National. I thought for a moment the horse was Red Rum, but the picture is more recent, the colours are wrong and the horse doesn’t have a sheepskin noseband.
Eat your heart out Manchester!
Where’s your historic city centre, world-famous racecourse and amazing river? To name but three!
Off to Liverpool Today
I’m going to watch the Olympic Torch Relay in Liverpool today. It’s going straight through the University, where C and I met. I will just walk up the hill to the Victoria Building.
The weather looks to be reasonably good.
If you are watching the relay on the Internet, today promises to be one of the most architecturally spectacular days so far. The flame is going past the two cathedrals, through the City Centre, past St. George’s Hall, under and over the Mersey and then the evening celebration will be in front of The Three Graces at the Pier Head. Remember that a lot of the centre of Liverpool is a World Heritage Site called the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City.
The Olympic Torch will feel at home as it passes St. George’s Hall, which has been described by Nicholas Pevsner as one of the finest neo-Grecian buildings in the world. In 1967 or 1968, during Panto Week, the students organised a hog roast in front of the hall. I doubt anybody would be allowed to do that now!
Getting Into the Habit
This was one of the headlines in the second part of The Times on Tuesday and it described why more women are becoming nuns.
I would say it is their choice, but surely in these days there are much better things that people can do for the general good of society. There was a Catholic chaplain in Alder Hey hospital in Angels of Mersey. She was doing the practical things that benefit those in emotional difficulties, rather than being out of it all in a Convent.
I do feel that some who go into closed orders are just opting out of real life to the detriment of society.
Angels of Mersey
I missed Angels of Mersey about the work of chaplains in Liverpool and caught up with the first episode last night on the iPlayer.
It showed the University in Freshers Week and in some respects it hasn’t changed much since I went to my Freshers Week in 1965.
We often talk about bad building in the 1960s, but Liverpool University seems to have avoided some of the worst examples.
The Mersey Ferries in the 1970s
They’ve just shown the opening clip of the Liver Birds on BBC2, with its picture of the back of the Mersey Ferry, Mountwood, which is still going, but after being renamed Royal Iris of the Mersey. In three years time, I will have known those boats for sixty years.
Incidentally, I don’t remember much of the first series or two of the Liver Birds, as C and I didn’t have a television until about 1973, although we had seen the odd episode at our parents respective houses. I think the first series we really saw was about 1975, when Elizabeth Estensen joined the show.
The Louvre Does A Liverpool
The Times today reports, that the Louvre is opening a branch museum in Lens. It suggests this might have been inspired by the success of the Tate Liverpool.
I suspect though that the French will charge in Lens, whereas, the only charge in Liverpool is for special exhibitions or in the excellent restaurant.
Everton’s Cup Odds Have Just Shortened
Liverpool might still win their game tonight against Blackburn, but to have a second goalkeeper sent off in a week or so is careless.
Everton must be looking up for the FA Cup at the weekend.
A Titantic Waste of Money
There seems to be so much fuss about a ship, the Titanic, which had the most disastrous maiden voyage in history.
We’ve now got the original film being rereleased in 3D, which I will not be seeing.
And how much of my tax money went to produce the morbid exhibition in Belfast.
Remember that Titanic was one of three sister ships in the Olympic Class. Only one lived long enough to be scrapped, but the third, the Britannic hit a mine and sunk in World War 1.
All this is well-documented in the Liverpool Maritime Museum. Currently, they are holding an exhibition called Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story.
I know where I would prefer to spend an afternoon.
Liverpool in Trouble Again
But this time, it’s not their players or fans, it’s just that an engineering train has got derailed at Winsford, preventing their fans from getting to the Carling Cup Final at Wembley today.
The information has not been released as to the team that the driver supports.
The BBC’s North-Western Bias
I listened to all of the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast Show this morning. Only one of the Premier League matches was mentioned; Manchester United v Liverpool.
You’d have thought no other matches were being played!
The only other match mentioned was Crystal Palace v Doncaster because it had been called off.
So let’s hope no north-western team wins anything this year!
The Anonymous Widower 