My Liverpool Lou!

 You will have to forgive me now as I attempt to wax lyrical. Out of all the placements on my M.A in Playwriting at the University of Salford, this was the one I was looking forward to the most. The Everyman Playhouse on Williamson Square on John Lennon's Birthday. I saw a brilliant performance of Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment. A Tour de Force that had the guy from Rita, Sue and Bob too, in it (George Costigan). After the workshop in the morning, I had an afternoon to kill before the Matinee at 5.30 so I took a trip down to Liverpool's Main Road, the Mersey, to look at the immortalised Ferry.

A Panoramic shot then of the Isle of Man Ferry which I had the honour to sail on in the 1970's three years on the trot. Family Holidays to Port St Mary and then Port Erin twice. What I really liked about the Isle of Man was that it had its own money. I think Liverpool should have its own money. There would be no shortage of Icons to go on the different currency and denomination of coin. The Peoples' Republic of Liverpool with Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, King Kenny Dalglish, Ken Dodd, Alan Bleasdale, Willie Russell and then Yosser Hughes on the £50.00 note. I like to think that the name Yosser derives from the Welsh name Iorwerth. After all it was many of the Welsh Builders and Craftsmen who built parts of Liverpool and went to work as Lorry Drivers and Office Workers for Morris & Jones as did two of my Great Uncles. Now some fellow Welsh persons would chastise me for eulogising Liverpool so much. After all, it was they that drowned Cwm Tryweryn for their water. Well it was the Institution of the Liverpool Corporation not the proud people of Liverpool and it appears that we the Welsh could have done a lot more about defending it than we did.

I took photographs of the Liver Building in Black & White and Sepia to try and emphasise its Eastern European feel and its historical feel. I was surprised to see a statue of Queen Victoria in Liverpool and one in Manchester of the Victoria that we remember from the back of the coins, grieving and overweight with a white veil. Then back into the City Centre I went to Liverpool 1 where you are never very far from the football heritage.

As a kid in North Wales I aligned myself with the underdog immediately and took to the Kop at Wrexham FC, but I was soon to understand that there was a secret railroad or rather buses that took hordes of 'Gogs' across to Everton's Goodison Park and Liverpool's Anfield. Some even went on the Bus to Old Trafford but this was before they became famous. As one Salfordian said to me recently "Manchester United Supporters? They all live in London".

I have put the Everton Club Shop above the Liverpool one because Everton was the original football club but if you ask someone from Birkenhead, they will tell you that Tranmere Rovers was the original football club. Well I've tried to, and they've both come out side by side on the blog! And they both now have a Welsh Connection as both managers, Roberto Martinez of Everton and Brendan Rogers of Liverpool have both managed Swansea City in the past. Swans on the Mersey

It was great to be back in Liverpool and I felt I had to give something  to the local economy so I purchased a copy of Alexei Sayle's Autobiography 'Stalin ate my homework' from the News from Nowhere bookshop on Bold Street.  The lady behind the counter knew Alexei and his mother Molly to whom the book is dedicated. I remember visiting Liverpool in the early 1980s when he was just starting out as an alternative comedian and I thought then as I think now that he is the funniest man I ever saw apart from Ken Dodd of course. Liverpool is a family whose members are scattered across the globe. I am a Plastic Scouser but there is even room for them here.

http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/