This was a slightly different type: we boarded the Mersey Ferries 'Snowdrop' for a short cruise and to visit the U 534 experience at Woodside, Birkenhead.
The river explorer and U boat combined ticket cost £7 each; we were disappointed with the exhibition and thought that it was not worth even the £2 extra on the river explorer day ticket. We will know for next time, and had another round trip to compensate. You could board the ferry at 10am, Pier head and stay aboard all morning and most of the afternoon doing a few round trips for £5, a better idea!
The Woodside ferry terminal booking hall put me in mind of a lot of the ferry terminals around the Clyde, being a wooden building full of character. It was built in 1864 and is naturally for this area, listed.
The view across the Mersey to Liverpool is world famous and impressive.
The Liver building, the Cunard building and that of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board; know collectively as the 'Three Graces' dominate the Liverpool waterfront, but given the propensity of planners to do the wrong thing almost by instinct, I wonder how long that state will remain.
The view of the Mersey Docks building from the south has gone already; a large, dark glass faced office block sort of thing is the culprit. A reflection can be obtained by turning your back on the original; it almost seems impolite so to do given the quality of construction. The weird concrete thing in the foreground of the photograph of the Three Graces is the Pier Head ferry terminal and home to the Beatles Experience. You can begin to see my concerns for planning in the future.
It was good to see shipping moving today in what was once the first port of the British Empire.
I know that this post has me whingeing about planning. I love Liverpool and the people in it that we have met; I just hope that this Great city is allowed to bask in the glory of so many excellent buildings and not to have them demolished, or the view of them obstructed in the excuse and name of progress.
