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Published: July 20th 2009
Manchester
Manchester Art GalleryWhen the Easter break rolled around this year we were still recovering financially from our trip home and the road trip through Ireland. As such we had decided that we couldn't afford to do any trips away, but instead would try and do a small overnight trip somewhere in England that we hadn't been. As the break got nearer and we became more and more jealous at everybody else who had planned a trip away we decided that it would be rude not to make the most of the 4 day break and get away for the weekend, so we managed to stretch the budget a little further and decided we could probably manage two nights away. Wahoo! But where to go? Most places we wanted to go in England we would only need a day or one night, or we would need at least 3 nights. There is not really anywhere to go where you could easily fill in two nights and not be rushed, without renting a car and road tripping. By the time the weekend rolled around we still hadn't decided on a destination so we looked at a website specialising in last minute deals and found a
Manchester
Manchester Town Hall good deal in Manchester, so that’s where we went.
The trip didn't get off to the best of starts. We weren't in any great hurry so decided we'd try to avoid the crowds getting away on the early trains, and decided to go for a mid morning departure when hopefully the crowds wouldn't be so big. To our surprise when we arrived at Euston Station the main hall was chocka block full with fellow travellers and that status of the trains on the departure board read 'Cancelled'. There had been a fatality on the West Coast Main Line earlier that morning and as a result all the trains had been cancelled or severely delayed. We went to the pub and had breakfast while we waited to see if anything would improve. Eventually the trains began to run again, but only on a reduced service. Instead of 3 trains and hour to Manchester they were now only running one. As a result hundreds of people gathered around the departure board and as soon as the departure board displayed the platform number people raced off to try and get on the train. We watched the first train board and unfortunately in
Manchester
Pimped out statue of Abe Lincoln in Lincoln Square all the mayhem not everybody was able to board. We decided to try our luck on the next train. We made an educated guess at what the platform number might be and positioned ourselves closest to that platform in order to maximise our chances of getting a seat. Sure enough the right platform number came up so we began the race for the train. It was a full on sprint with pushing and shoving. Nobody was going to give up a seat without a fight. We were in full 'London' mode and it was awesome. The staff were screaming at everybody to slow down but no one was listening. We were one of the first handful to get to the train and secured ourselves a seat (still got a bit of pace in these old legs). The train was a Virgin high speed Pendalino (125mph) and the trip was very comfortable and quiet. We got into Manchester Piccadilly about 2 and a half hours after leaving London.
We had no plans when we got to Manchester and didn't really know what there was to see. We went straight to our Hotel on Piccadilly Gardens in the centre of the
Manchester
Interesting building city, then just went out wandering for the rest of the afternoon. We were hoping to maybe do a tour of the Coronation Street set but when we got to the studio we found it closed for the holiday. Manchester was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution during the Victorian age and this is evident in some of the old industrial buildings close to the city centre. The whole central city has and old, dirty feel to it, even though its no dirtier than any other UK city and had undergone a significant and successful period of urban renewal. There are lots of modern residential and commercial developments, and examples of modern architecture being successfully integrated into Victorian buildings. Overall there is quite a positive vibe to the place, although there didn't seem to be anyone around as we wandered, possibly due to the rain and the holiday. The place seemed to liven up a bit after dark when the rain stopped and there was a busy nightlife in the areas round our hotel.
The next morning the rain had completely disappeared and we were greeted with cloudless skies. Liverpool is only an hour northwest of Manchester by
Manchester
Interesting architecture of the Hilton Hotel train so after another hearty English breakfast at our hotel we made our way to the train station. On the train we encountered lots of people wearing Liverpool football gear and quickly established that there was a match on that afternoon at Liverpool's home ground Anfield. We got off the train at a crowded Lime St Station and made our way into the city centre. The main shopping area of the city is closed to traffic and the pedestrianised streets allow for a pleasant atmosphere when there are loads of people about like there are on match day. There were Liverpool shirts and hats and scarves everywhere and feeling of excitement in the air. It was quite infectious and I really wanted to go to the match. I'm not a big football fan but I do quite like Liverpool FC. And whats more they were playing Blackburn Rovers, a team captained by NZ’s only Premier League footballer Ryan Nelsen. If only I had have known earlier I may have by some minor miracle been able to find some tickets. But that didn't happen so instead we ended up down on the waterfront to Albert Dock, an old shipping dock that
Manchester
Old entrance to Granada Studios, where Coronation St is filmed has been transformed into a pleasant retail and tourist area. There we boarded a bus for the Magical Mystery Tour.
I'm sure you all know that Liverpool is of course the hometown of The Beatles so the city's tourism operators have cashed in on Beatlemania and the Magical Mystery Tour is a popular attraction for visitors to the city. The tour heads up from the city to the neighbourhood where Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) grew up. Interestingly almost the entire neighbourhood around Ringo’s childhood home is boarded up ready for demolition and redevelopment. The only place that is to be saved is Starr's house. Next we headed ap around Sefton Park (where Ringo Starr lost his virginity) to Penny Lane. After a photo stop at the road sign we headed along Penny Lane to where it intersects with Smithdown St. This was where John Lennon and Paul McCartney used to meet to catch the bus into town. It was at the bus stop here that they made all the observations that became the lyrics to their hit song. The barber shop where the "barber showing photographs of every head he's had the pleasure to have known" worked is still
Manchester
Canal side there, as is the bank where the banker with the motorcar who didn't wear a mac in the pouring rain and was laughed at by the children behind his back worked, but the rest of the area seems to have changed alot. The bus shelter was turned into a Beatles themed cafe but is now a derelict old building, and we didn't see any fire engines anywhere. From Penny Lane we headed to the childhood home of George Harrison, then on to Strawberry Field. Strawberry Field was a Salvation Army Childrens Home where John Lennon used to go and play as a kid. Since 2005 it has been used as a church and prayer centre. After a quick photo stop there it was only a short trip down the hill to Menlove Avenue and the house where John Lennon grew up, and another short trip to Paul McCartney's childhood house. Both houses have now been turned into museums but its tricky getting tickets to them, particularly during the holidays. The tour then headed back into the city centre passing various spots along the way where Beatles members were educated, or played music, or drank etc as well as other spots
Manchester
Interesting looking building that feature in their songs, including the grave of Eleanor Rigby, though supposedly the lady buried there has nothing to do with the song and is merely conincidental. The tour finished off at the Cavern Club, a famous music club where many Merseyside musicians made their name, including Gerry and The Pacemakers and of course The Beatles. It was a very interesting tour. Everyone loves The Beatles and it was interesting to hear the stories of their youth and their rise to fame in Liverpool. The guide was very passionate about The Beatles and even played a key role in one of the recent Beatles movies. He took great pleasure in telling us stories of his dealings with Paul McCartney and that they're on first name basis, and showed us the photos of them both together to prove it.
The tour also included some general information on Liverpool so after the tour we grabbed some lunch, then went back to see a few of the interesting spots that had been pointed out to us. We first went to the Anglican Cathedral, a massive intimidating building up on the hill. I don't go inside many Cathedrals so I don't really
Liverpool
St John's Beacon have anything to compare it to, but it was most impressive. I'm also not a fan of the music you tend to hear in Cathedrals but when we were inside there was a choir practicing and it sounded amazing. The cavernous size of the Cathedral gives rise to some amazing acoustics and hearing the choir at full voice was spine tingling stuff. I really enjoyed it. After the Cathedral we headed to the Philharmonic Pub, famous because it was a favourite of John Lennon's and the urinals in the gents room are Grade II Heritage Listed. We then carried on through the city enjoying some of the very impressive selection of grand old buildings Liverpool has, and ended up back on the waterfront. We then decided it was time to head back to Manchester so headed for the train station. We had a great time in Liverpool. It was better than we were expecting and is definitely recommended.
The next day in Manchester the town was absolutely dead. It was Easter Sunday and nothing was open and there was nobody around. We had another wander around the city but had soon seen all we wanted to see so decided
Liverpool
Canning Dock to make a start back to London as we had hoped to move into our new flat that evening. The train ride home was a mission. Travelling on trains across the UK during public holidays is always a frustrating affair as this is when they do the bulk of the maintenance work. Easter Sunday was particularly bad as they don't expect many people to be travelling. We made it as far as Nuneaton in the Midlands before the train manager advised us that because of the engineering work further up the West Coast Mainline, it would be quicker to change to a train to Leicester, then change again there for a train into London Kings Cross. So this is what we did, only to be told by the Station manager at Nuneaton that it would take us much longer taking that route and we should have stayed on the train we were on. So we got on the next Virgin service that came through, went one more stop to Rugby where we had to depart then take a rail replacement bus service through to Milton Keynes where we could get on another Virgin service to London Euston. What a shemozzle.
Liverpool
Albert Dock We finally made it into London about 4 hours after leaving Manchester, by which time we decided it was too late to move house. So the weekend finished in the same frustrating way as it had started with messed up train service. The British Rail system is crap! Nevertheless it was a good weekend away and at least we'd been able to make the most of the Easter break.
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Judy
non-member comment
Leone let me read your email
Leone kindly passed on your latest travelogue to me, and I found it really interesting. Don't think we will get up t'north of England, though I would have liked to have practised my Scouse. We are taking a fast train from London through to Edinburgh, and will then travel back through the Lakes District to Bangor in Wales. We leave NZ on 13 September, so it is rolling round pretty damn quick! Three nights in Hong Kong (which, I believe, is much like Bluff in that it is a port town) and then to London. Leave from there for a 20 day tour around Europe - about half an hour in each country except for Paris, where we have 45 minutes. (Is Paris a country?) My sister has already decided not to travel with me, because the doctor has insisted I wear pressure stockings, and I have found the white ones that I wore after surgery that have "Property of the Southland Health Board" written all over them. I am not concerned as much with deep vein thrombosis as I am about pushing the lever on the toilet too soon and having some of my small intestine sucked out over the Atlantic. I think I did express that worry to you when you were here, and you assured me that you could travel all the way to Britain non-stop without paying a penny. What a bladder!!! Judy We are missing you at work. Do you have any plans for returning home?