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The fair city of Liverpool
Located in the North-West of England (marked with an "x" on the map above), Liverpool is the 3rd largest city in terms of population in England (after London and Birmingham, see kamps.org/g/?exjl). Liverpool has approximately 500.000 inhabitants, which makes it about the same as Las Vegas; Tucson, AZ; and Long Beach, CA. (see kamps.org/g/?irzn).
Liverpool is situated along the river Mersey. Liverpool and its immediate surroundings is called Merseyside. People from Liverpool are known as "Liverpudleans" or Scousers.
History of Liverpool
Liverpool has a long and intricate history. In the middle ages, the hamlet of Liverpool was a small fishing village. The name comes from "Lifer Pol", which means muddy puddle, or muddy pool. The town of liverpool was founded when King John needed a port in the north-east of the country, early in the 1200s. Around the same time, a weekly market started in the area, which attracted craftsmen, farmers and buyers to the area.
By the 14th century, the town of Liverpool was still very small, and had a population of less than 1,500, most of which were farmers and fishermen.
Throughout the next few centuries, Liverpool slowly built on its reputation as a shipping port - especially useful for the trade with Ireland.
The population of the city continued growing, and may have reached around 3000 at one point, but the city suffered from serious outbreaks of the plague from about 1560 - 1660, which kept the population numbers steady between 2000 and 2500 inhabitants.
In the 17th century, the growth of Liverpool exploded, when the slave trade with the colonies in America exploded - Liverpool was the most important port in the (in)famous triangle trade between the West Indies, Africa, and the Americas.
Once the slave trade was up and running, Liverpool became the fastest growing city in the world - with the ever-increasing demand for slaves overseas, Liverpool's superb location for transatlantic shipping purposes, and the fact that the slave ships could sail up the river Mersey, which meant that they were well protected by the Royal Navy once they were in port, the growth was sealed.
During the slave trade, a "problem" of disease among the slaves was spreading. Because of this - and the fact that Liverpool was the principal port in the slave trade - doctors started traveling on the ships on the slave-runs. This was the start of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine - which still is the foremost resource for tropical medicine issues and research: If you study tropical medicine anywhere around the world, you are to this day likely to have to complete your final few semesters at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (see kamps.org/g/?odqx).
During the slave-trade, many of the slave traders and shipping merchants became filthy rich - traces of which are still visible all around Liverpool. The Three Graces (the Liver building (built 1911), the Cunard building (1916) and the Port of Liverpool building (1916) - which together form the famous Liverpool skyline - photos and more info available here: kamps.org/g/?ttgs) and the 1754 Town Hall are all littered with slave-trade related imagery and symbolism (see kamps.org/g/?yuop)
Liverpool's dependency on the slave trade eventually became its downfall, as slavery became less popular (due to slave owners instead freeing their slaves, and paying them for their services) - especially after the American Civil War which raged from 1861-1865 (see kamps.org/g/?rilf and kamps.org/g/?lqur).
Post-slavetrade, Liverpool had strong industries in shipbuilding, ropemaking, machinemaking (to this day, many of the cotton- and sugar refinery machines in the southern US states have "Liverpool" stamped on them, signifying the legacy), ironworking etc.
By the time the US civil war started, the population of Liverpool was nearly 375,000, and the only city in the UK that was bigger than Liverpool was the capital. In 1881, Liverpool gained its official city status. Shipping continued to be an important part of the city's economy. The Titanic sailed from Liverpool, for example.
In 1934, the Queensway tunnel connected the Wirral ("the other side of the Mersey") to Liverpool, followed by the Kingsway tunnel nearly fourty years later.
In World war II, Liverpool became the second-most-bombed city in the UK, and large parts of the city were reduced to ruins. In the post-war era, the city was rebuilt with new optimism, and in the 50s and 60s, the city was flourishing economically: the major industries of Liverpool were cement manufacture, sugar- and rice- refinement, flour milling and engineering.
In the 1970s and 80s, Liverpool took a serious dive - a serious recession swept across England, and Liverpool - with its strong manufacturer-driven economy - became an unemployment black-spot. Incidents like the Dockers' strikes and the Toxteth riots along with a serious crime problem developed, and left Liverpool's name tainted in the eyes of the rest of the UK.
From the late 1980s, Liverpool started experiencing a new growth: The Albert Docks were redeveloped into a tourist attraction with a Beatles museum, and several other museums including the Tate Liverpool, the HM Customs & Excise National Museum and the Merseyside Maritime Museum (see kamps.org/g/?lhih), bars and restaurants.
The rest of the city is also being regenerated, refurbished, and improved. As part of this regeneration, Liverpool made a bid to become European Capital of Culture 2008, and was awarded the distinction in 2003. With the award, a new wave of optimism and interest in the city grew forth.
Things to do in Liverpool
When visiting Liverpool, you may want to consider visiting the Beatles Museum, the Walker Art gallery, the Liverpool Museum, the Conservation centre, the Tate, the Museum of Liverpool Life and the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Liverpool also has a vibrant arts festival called the Biennial which gathers independent, local and international artists alike, in exhibits in more than seventy locations all around the city. There are also the two cathedrals - both situated on each end of Hope Street - the Church of England Anglican Cathedral and the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. The latter is also known as the "paddy wigwam"
Apart from museums, Liverpool has a series of decent concert venues, including the Liverpool Academy (with 3 concert venues) and the Carling Academy (with 2), the Masque theatre, and lots of smaller venues. While Liverpool lacks a venue such as the MEN Arena, it does draw a lot of small and medium-famous bands, and enjoys a thriving independent music scene.
Liverpool has two premier-league football teams, Liverpool FC (go reds!) and Everton FC (go blues!). There is also Tranmere Rovers, who play in the 2nd division. Aintree - a borough of Liverpool - is host to the annual Grand National horse-race
Nightclub-wise, Liverpool is extremely vibrant. The city has three universities (University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Hope University - www.liv.ac.uk, www.livjm.ac.uk and www.hope.ac.uk respectively), and when the students come back from summer break, all hell breaks loose. With great clubbing venues such as Nation and Cream, a fantastic rock club called the Krazyhouse, and oodles of smaller dance- soul- jazz- blues- techno- latin- and themed clubs, pubs and bars, there is plenty worth partying for!
Famous Liverpool bands
The Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen, Cast, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The La's, Frankie goes to Hollywood, The Lightning Seeds, Space and The Farm all have their roots in Merseyside. Recent bands include The Zutons, The Coral and The Mountaineers.
Liverpool is easy enough to get to: Easily reachable by car, couch, bus, train or airplane (John Lennon Airport in Speke is only 20 minutes away from the city centre).
There are lots of hotels and inns in Liverpool, and more are being developed constantly, but on days where football games are played, you will definitely want to book in advance.
How to get more info
More info? Are you mad? Oh. well, send me a msg, and I will add whatever I may have forgotten. For tourist information, try the relevant web link: kamps.org/g/?ayqc
Liverpool Welcomes you!
Obviously, I spent a lot of time on this write-up, and would like it to be perfect. If there are any tidbits (or even a whole section) that I have left out, let me know, and I'll add stuff! Oh, and if you are ever in the city, come look me up!