Some interesting buildings

The building most associated with Liverpool is probably the Royal Liver Building,headquarters of Royal Liver Assurance.  This was a friendly society with almost 2 million members when it became part of The Royal London Group in 2011.  The society was founded in 1850 by a group of working men with the objective of providing a decent burial for members.  In the late 1890’s the society decided to build the current Royal Liver Building.

The building has two towers with each capped by a replica of a Liver Bird, the symbol of Liverpool.  The female faces the water reputedly looking for retuning seamen whilst the male faces the city looking to ensure the pubs are open.  I suspect this latter belief was started by Paul of The Manly Ferry. I prefer the belief that the male bird is watching over the families of the seamen

Some believe the Liver Bird is a mythical creature whilst others think it started as an eagle and over time evolved into a cormorant.

I initially thought the adjacent building was the Town Hall but now understand it to be the headquarters of the Port of Liverpool.  It pre-dates the Royal Liver Building by four years and has a reinforced concrete frame which is clad in Portand Stone.

The building was bombed and seriously damaged during WW2.  The cost of repairing it after the war exceeded the initial cost of construction.

Having failed to correctly identify the Town Hall I went looking for it eventually locating it on High Street.  The Town Hall is older than both the Liver and Port of Liverpool buildings.  It’s one of the best preserved examples of an 18th century town hall and is Grade I listed.  Wikipedia states “The very last act of the American Civil War was when Captain Waddell walked up the steps of Town Hall in November 1865 with a letter to present to the mayor surrendering his vessel, the CSS Shenandoah, to the British government”

 

In 1881 a plot to blow up the building by the Irish Republican Brotherhood was thwarted.  I thought the statue on the top might have been Britannia.  However apparently it’s Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom.  I took particular note of the flying rat (seagull) standing on Minerva’s head, which just goes to confirm no matter how clever you are, there’s always someone who will poop on you.

Whilst walking back to Waiouru I happened to notice what I believe is another famous building down an alley.  However I’m saving that for another day.

The Cavern Club?