There are many things to do in Liverpool and it has more pedigree than most when it comes to making an impact. Ben Lerwill visits the city that knows all about creativity.
I’m standing on a beach next to a naked man covered in barnacles. He’s facing the sea, gazing at the same waves which will, an hour or two from now, submerge him up to the nose. Looking along the coastline, I can see similar figures at random intervals, all rooted on the sands and staring out at the shipping channel. The tide might be coming in, but they’re going nowhere.
This is Antony Gormley’s extraordinary Another Place, a permanent art installation on Crosby Beach, just north of Liverpool. No less than 100 cast-iron sculptures of the artist are placed along a two-mile stretch of sand, each of them six foot two in height and eyeing the horizon. The overall effect is powerful.
Liverpool takes its creativity seriously. It’s now eight years since the city was named European Capital of Culture, and almost three decades since it opened one of the only two Tate galleries outside of London. And no matter how you like your art and culture, the list of creative heavyweights to hail from the city is a long one.
Among those names, of course, are four lads who exploded out of Merseyside to change the face of music. “This is the church hall where it all started – where John met Paul,” says Jay, my guide on the inevitably titled but rather wonderful Magical Mystery Tour around Liverpool’s main Beatles sites. We’ve seen the family homes of all four bandmates and stopped off at both Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, and we’ll be wrapping things up at the restored Cavern Club on Mathew Street.
“I’m always getting into arguments about whether it’s the same club they played in,” laughs Jay. “It was filled in during the 1970s but it’s been rebuilt to the original plans, using the old bricks. It’s still special down there, that’s for sure.” He’s right – after I join the legions walking down the half-dozen flights of stairs that lead to the cellar space itself, it’s all too easy to imagine the place crammed with teenagers and twanging with early-60s guitars.
This theme of regeneration is one that Liverpool has become comfortable with.
There’s a buzz about today’s city. The waterfront, docks and city centre have evolved into upbeat, busy, attractive districts. Near the trio of grand Victorian buildings known as The Three Graces, the angular, modern Museum of Liverpool leads visitors through the city’s fluctuating fortunes over the centuries, while ten minutes’ walk away in the lively Ropewalks area, craft bars, record shops and galleries hum with custom.
Even its most iconic stadium – home to the greatest art form of all, some locals would argue – has had a facelift. I join a tour of the club museum and gleaming new stand at Anfield, where the sense of pride in Liverpool FC’s achievements over the decades is still obsessive. “Think of the matches here over the years,” smiles Kevin, the tour leader, as we stand pitchside and stare across the cropped turf. “The noise on a big European night – there’s nothing like it.”
Back in the centre the next day, I take a five-minute walk from the hostel to visit Albert Dock, where Tate Liverpool has a crowd-drawing new arrival of its own. Seen up close it’s an oddly compelling artwork, although the contrast with its handsome surroundings – gentrified Grade I-listed dockland – is strong. Today’s Liverpool is many things: arty, funny, bold, warm. And whisper it quietly to the lonely figures stranded out of town on Crosby Beach, but it’s a mighty fine city-break destination too.
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