Hello and welcome to my AVZINE channel, my name's Aidan O'Rourke.
For this video I've delved into my Liverpool photo archive in order to see how Liverpool has changed
Documenting change in cities is an important theme of mine.
I did the 'Now' photos in the book 'Liverpool Then and Now. Here it is on the shelf in the
Walker Art Gallery bookshop, next to the biography of Paul McCartney.
I've discovered that 'Now' photos soon turn into
'Then' photos so I prefer to use the title 'Before and After'.
These are all archive images and after the pandemic, I'll
be out and about taking more photos and videoclips for future videos.
Some 'Before and After' images don't match up exactly. Some people are obsessive about this,
like my editor on the book, but as long as they roughly match up, that's fine by me.
So now let's fly up to Seacombe on the Wirral to our first location.
The Liverpool Waterfront at night,
seen across the River Mersey from Seacombe on the Wirral on the 21st of August, 2004.
Less than a mile away we can see
the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building,
the Port of Liverpool building, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral,
Radio City Tower, New Hall Place, Metropolitan House, The Plaza and the Beetham Tower.
Five years later I took another panorama and saw new buildings.
West Tower, now tallest building in Liverpool Unity residential, Isl and under construction,
Mann Island Buildings and the Museum of Liverpool.
We'll switch between before and after views and at the end of the video
there's a close-up of this panorama, so keep watching!
Our second location is next to the Port of Liverpool building,
on the street named Mann Island.
The Voss Motor Company building was demolished and in its place appeared
Mann Island Buildings designed by the international architectural practice
Broadway Malyan.
Architecturallly, they're impressive, I've been in them many times, but there is a problem.
From the old archway near the Albert Dock, there was a magnificent view of the Three Graces.
The Mann Island Buildings now partially block the view. Was it right to put them there?
Looking from inside the Albert Dock on the 15th of April 2002,
the three Graces stand proud against a blue sky.
Within a few years, new buildings have appeared on all sides, including the Mann Island building.
The arched glass profile of Lime Street Station dates from 1879. An office tower,
Concourse House, designed by Richard Seifert, was placed next to it in the 1960s.
In 2009, the tower and the shops at the front were removed.
New steps and ramps were added. Here there is no question: 'After' is much better than 'Before'.
Once there was a bus terminus on the Pier Head.
In later years the area was pedestrianised and there were rectangular grassy areas.
Then a new canal link was built, an exciting addition
allowing boats to move between the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Mersey.
And at this point, let's not forget or ignore the fact that the entire Liverpool Waterfront
was transformed, to a great extent thanks to EU funding.
The canal link has altered the look and layout of the Pier Head,
and though my cameras and techniques have changed,
The Three Graces look much the same as they have done for over 100 years,
though in modern times, much cleaner!
Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral was completed in 1967 but within a
few decades it required major structural work.
That work was carried out and also, the originally planned
entrance steps were finally completed in 2003.
Brother Anselm Keogh, a reader of my old Eyewitness website,
was a teacher in Liverpool in the mid-60s and photographed St George's Hall.
The green Liverpool Corporation bus, the black cab , the Ford Anglia estate, the
maroon Ford Anglia, the Vauxhall Cresta PB, Austin Cambridge, dark green
Ford Cortina, Ford Consul Mark 1 and Hillman Minx are typical of the era.
By 2006, the cars are different there's a newer version of the black taxi,
but St George's Hall looks the same, but cleaner.
The refurbishment was completed in 2007.
've reached the celebrated Baltic Fleet pub, near the Albert Dock,
once surrounded by warehouses. Today its neighbours are apartment buildings and hotels.
The colour scheme has changed. Before: crimson, dark green and cream. After: dark green,
white and pale pastel green, with chimneys painted red and black, like a ship's funnel.
Time for a pint of Love Lane, Liverpool's finest, brewed just around the corner.
I'll be exploring more of Liverpool and Wirral in future videos, but let's conclude with an
up close view of my opening nighttime panorama of Liverpool Before and After.