Liverpool and Sheffield

Tues 20 July - Liverpool

Today again began overcast but at least wasn’t raining so I walked back up to St Luke’s to take photos of the garden. After that I walked to Crosby train station (I should have had a pedometer today!), and caught the train into Liverpool. As I emerged from the station, I discovered it had begun to rain. My new umbrella was to get a good work-out. I walked down to Albert Dock which, amongst other things, is home to “The Beatles Story”. I figured I could not visit Liverpool without doing something Beatles-esque. The exhibition was good and when I came out, it was absolutely pouring. I then headed up to the Anglican Cathedral. This Cathedral is the 4th largest in Europe, and the largest Anglican Cathedral anywhere in the world. And big it certainly was! The architect wanted people not to admire his stonework, but his spaces. I did the audio tour (wear a headset and listen to commentary at various spots) which was very good. The last ‘station’ was to climb a bridge in the middle of the cathedral. A guide took me up and it certainly gave a different perspective of the space. After I said goodbye to my guide when we were on the ground again, I heard a voice say “Hello, Leigh”. It was Mark Burnett, a student at St Mark’s. How bizarre is that?! I knew Mark was doing some travelling through Europe but had no idea Liverpool was on his itinerary, nor when.

It was then 5pm so time to head back to Jan & Steve’s. I found my way back to the station to discover there was chaos with trains being cancelled etc. “Don’t look at the boards” said one staff, “just listen to the announcements.”! I did get a train quite quickly as it turned out. Jan picked me up from the station and drove me to the beach to have a quick look at the “Other Place” iron men. This is a public art work of 100 (?) life-size figures standing along the beach at various intervals. They all look out to sea and at various depths so, depending on the tide, some may only have their head showing. Due to the rain we could hardly see any, and chose not to get out of the car - I was already damp! Interestingly there were also wind turbines that they have put about 5km out to sea. We could scarcely see those either.

It turned out that the rain was so heavy that Steve had a great deal of trouble getting home. Later we saw news that streets of houses were literally flooded, people had to be evacuated etc and only 2 suburbs away.

Steve & Jan and other church leaders were gathering for dinner at a local Italian place, and they invited me along. I caused a great stir when I asked for a “Lemon, lime and bitters” to drink. The waiter said he would go and ask the bar. The barman came over and asked if I was Australian! I didn’t know the drink would have given me away. The barman had worked in a bar in Australia so knew what to do. When my drink arrived, at least half the gathered group had to have a taste to see what it was like. Various expressions such as “oooh that’s nice/refreshing” etc followed. It was a lovely evening. Additionally Agnes, whom I’d met yesterday, gave me a copy of a book from their local Bishop, “Jesus and the Earth.” Steve and Jan also gave me a copy of a book by the Director of A Rocha. Such lovely people, hospitality and generosity - I am very blessed.


Wed 21 July - Sheffield

This morning I said waved goodbye to the lovely Jan & Steve as they went off to work. I packed up and headed off on my journey back East, to Sheffield. I came to Sheffield to meet with David Hughes, the Eco-Congregation coordinator for England/Wales. I didn’t arrive until 2pm but David kindly had starved himself waiting for my arrival to have lunch! We met up and had a good chat and then when David had to go, I had a little wonder around the city, and managed to get a little lost, for a short while. Sheffield is not set-up for tourists like Liverpool which was very well signposted.

Tomorrow I hope to go for a little trip into the Peak District, as suggested by David.