Like most Scousers, i love my city. Even when i lived "down south" for over 20 years, Liverpool remained my "home" and always in my heart.
I was lucky in so many ways, that once my boys flew the nest to Music College and University, i was able to return to my home, to look after my mother.
She was unable to settle down in Essex where i lived, and i was tap dancing around the house on my own, in a house far too big for me, with only occasional visits from my children looking hungry and needing petrol money - both of these things could be sorted from Liverpool and my mother needed me more, hence the move back home.
My husband (best one so far), is also interested in local history and as we are semi retired, we are able to peruse the City and find information now that we have more time on our hands....
We have been looking a lot recently on Google Earth and Rightmove to check out smaller homes now that the children are all gone - in our fifties, we need a smaller house, big enough to house children and grandchildren if another COVID pandemic occurs and the Government lock us down whilst they have their parties, and still with an enormous garden - hence we check out the estate agents, then the Satalite views - that in turn, has made us more curious as to what is available on the market, but also, some of the old houses - Woolton Hall, Allerton Hall, Allerton Tower etc. As a child, i would go out to various parks with my father on Sundays, Calderstones and Sefton Park - he was a Park Policeman in those days, and i loved going to Calderstones with him and taking "ballie" with us. I have little recollection of my mother at these times, and i assume she was on night duty as a nursing sister during those years.
Anyway, to move onto the actual introduction of the History of Liverpool which i took for granted as a child and growing up, i understand so much more about it now...
The history of Liverpool can be traced back to 1190 AD, when it was known as 'Liuerpul', possibly meaning a pool or creek with muddy water, though i have also heard it is from "the colour of liver", other origins of the name have been suggested.
Liverpool itself was founded by Royal Charter in 1207 by King John. (probaby one of the few good things he did!).
It was made up of 7 streets in the shape of the letter 'H'. These were Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street). My first "job" whilst i had revision leave for O levels in 1983, was at the Tower Building in Water Street - as an "office junior" to a Shipping Freight Forwarder Office called Liver Freight Services Limited, i was able to travel all over the City Centre with Bills of Lading to the Pier Head; Port of Liverpool Building; Cunard Building; Bahr Behrand at INdia Building - i was somewhat in awe, but at 16 years of age, i was also quite busy trying to be "cool".
Liverpool remained a small settlement until its trade with Ireland and coastal parts of England and Wales was overtaken by trade with Africa and the West Indies, which included the slave trade which everyone tries to forget.
The world's first commercial wet dock was opened in 1715 and Liverpool's expansion to become a major city continued over the next two centuries.
By the start of the nineteenth century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and due to the Industrial Revolution, so many more people moved into the towns for jobs. My own family of Blackburn's and Gillespie's amongst them.
In 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened. The population grew rapidly, especially with Irish migrants; by 1851, one quarter of the city's population was Irish as they were moving for a better life away from the famine and poverty.
As growth continued, the city became known as "the second city of the Empire", and was also called "the New York of Europe".
The City increased in size, villages around Liverpool were swallowed up by the City - Kirkdale, Bootle, Warterloo, as well as giant buildings appearing along the Dock side with an overground railway (an example can be seen at the museum of Liverpool at the Pier Head.) This was demolished in the latter part of the 20th Century.
During WW2, the City was the centre for planning the crucial Battle of the Atlantic, and suffered a blitz second only to London, called the May Blitz of May 1941 - I have written a blog post about this. Night upon night, the Docks and areas close to the river were bombed relentlessly.
From the mid-twentieth century, Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline, with the advent of containerisation making the city's docks obsolete. The unemployment rate in Liverpool rose to one of the highest in the UK. Many teenagers would leave school with no prospect of employment, and some have not secured jobs throughout their working years.
Over the same period, starting in the early 1960s, the city became internationally renowned for its culture, particularly as the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles. In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered, partly due to tourism as well as substantial investment in regeneration schemes. The city was the European Capital of Culture for 2008 which ploughed money into the economy, as well as the growth in Universities - Liverpool now has 5 Higher Education Universities - being John Moores; Liverpool University; Liverpool Hope University; City of Liverpool College; Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.
Many of the students who come to Liverpool to study, remain after graduation which helps to boost the economy.
My intention is to study each era and how industry and economy has affected different areas of Liverpool over the last 800 years, and i will try and make time to write a chapter each month...
Thank you for taking time to read this! :D
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