Liverpool

We saw Lucy off as planned on the Saturday. Then up at a reasonable hour on Sunday, a comfortable breakfast then off the Liverpool via Manchester. I had stuff to drop off with Mum and Dad, veg from the lottie, some more of H's Blackcurrant jam and Redcurrant jelly. H's scrounged Dad's over trousers for walking part of our holiday. It is only August after all.

We stopped in Manchester just for a cup of tea and a sarny before heading off to Liverpool. We went straight to Crosby to see the statues via the East Lancs Road. It was a sunny and very breezy day. The men in "real life" look quite strange. As the day wore on and the day trippers dispersed they made an eerie sight. Crosby beach is an odd place. The busy River Mersey and offshore wind farms to the front, the desolate expanse of the Ainsdale dunes to the north, the cranes and docks of Seaforth container port to the south and behind the odd mix of Victorian seaside villas, smart eateries on Crosby's main street and just beyond the poverty of Liverpool. Maybe not the grinding poverty of the 1880's but still a different culture and less comfort then the rest of us enjoy.














We found the Hotel after a minor detour. Cheap and cheerful and in case you were wondering, yes we got a room with a view of the Dock and at no extra cost a view of Birkenhead. We could see a bright blue arched bridge in the distance. H and I wondered if it was the bridge over the West Float where Liverpool Victoria had their boat house. The hotel had a large scale map of the area and it was indeed the West Float where we used to race. Liverpool Victoria Boat House would not be out of place of the Thames or the Isis instead it is backed onto by a scrap yard and derelict warehouses [when last we saw it].

In evening we took a stroll round Victoria Dock. It has been developed a lot since I used to go there. We sat on the benches looking out across the Mersey to Birkenhead. The tide was was just coming the high water slack and there were several ships making their way up stream to their berths. We watched all the nationalities wandering about but then we started to think about filling our bellies. We looked round and to our surprise a Pizza Express. No second thoughts. We even knew what we would have. Dough balls and a Capricciosa pizza which is prosciutto cotto ham, anchovies, fresh strips of red pepper, capers and olives, topped with a free range boiled egg and washed down with a Perroni beer. Having taken time over dinner we strolled back to the hotel.

We had a comfortable night's sleep and in the morning, a good breakfast . We set off for the Lakes but seeing as we had loads of time, we could not check in until 4pm, we went via the "A" roads and decided to stop for lunch at Morecombe.