February 2024. Liverpool.
I’d left Mrs RM to “do the Liverpool culture” while I nabbed that quick tick at the Red Lion.
She headed from the Baltic Market at Cains to the towering Anglican Cathedral,
where I tried to catch her up now.
When I finished the Beer Guide Mrs RM made it clear she’d had enough of going in pubs, and would be commencing her life of bloggable culture. Which is odd, because it’s me who seems to be annoying her now by stopping randomly to examine paintings on walls in derelict industrial areas.
As the words on the wall say “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together“, and it’s certainly the case that Mrs RM’s plans will take us far beyond the North of England.
Liverpool’s charm, rather like Manchester’s, is that juxtaposition of the decline with the growth, and the volume of new builds just above Toxteth is quite something.
Mrs RM admitted she’d been surprised at the amount of Everton art on the walls, not sure where “Everton” actually was. It’s a small village near Sandy, Beds, dear.
Good to see there’s still a few of those Lambananas left from 2008,
adding to the charm of Chinatown on the approach to the Cathedral.
Blimey it’s HUGE.
Still not big enough to host the CAMRA beer festival though.
I caught up with Mrs RM in the lovely cafe which was selling local microbrews alongside the muffins and Blind Scouse (veggie stew).
Mrs RM was off to the Catholic version next, and I left her for culture as I aimed to complete the Merseyside chapter of the Guide.
retiredmartin 
“You’ll know this better as the venue for Liverpool’s beer festival” – not “the Catholic version” ?
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Definitely the Met, though the Catholics may drink more (speaking from experience).
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The Metropolitan Cathedral is the Catholic cathedral. The one you were at is the Anglican cathedral.
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Oh good grief I’ve probably started a war. Never mind, eh ?
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Choice causes confusion.
One cathedral is plenty for most cities.
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Sometimes more than enough.
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I was absolutely certain it was the Anglican one which held the CAMRA fest in, too.
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Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral is the largest cathedral and religious building in Britain and the eighth largest church in the world. It was constructed between 1904 and 1978, so 74 years.
Liverpool’s Catholic Cathedral was intended to become the second largest church in the world but a smaller version was constructed between1933 and 1967, so 34 years.
The construction workers must have been on an hourly rate not piece rate.
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My favourite northern cathedral is Blackburn, but the pubs aren’t as good there
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Never mind, what’s one more religious war?
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When my Dad was a student at Liverpool University in the early sixties, he was an altar server at the Catholic cathedral, in the crypt where the beer festival is held now as the main structure was still being built above it (construction was interrupted by the war and delayed after it because of a shortage of building materials).
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There’s an Everton in Sussex, but also one that I’ve been to in Bassetlaw with a pub called the Sun. https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/33931/
Have you ever had occasion to pay a visit? It’s not in the current GBG.
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Not Sussex, Hampshire. Three days away in Brighton and suddenly everything is in Sussex.
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SH,
The old Royal York Hotel ?
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Yes, Paul. And just like me, it’s looking older by the minute.
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That’s a shame.
I was at Manchester for two nights earlier this week, very nice except for the dormitories being unnecessarily hot.
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