Tag Archives: spirit of liverpool

History

Churchill visits Liverpool

April 22, 2011 – 16:00

Having declared that his greatest fear was that the western ports of Liverpool and Glasgow might be disrupted, Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited the City of Liverpool on 25th April 1941, just days before the most intense week of Luftwaffe bombing began.

winston churchill visits liverpool april 1941

Churchill understood that Liverpool was Britain’s lifeline; her strongest connection with the free world.  The Battle of the Atlantic was coordinated from the Combined Operations Headquarters at Derby House, Liverpool.  Essential civilian and military supplies were brought into Liverpool through the convoy system, and the entire Mersey waterfront was vitally important for naval repairs and shipbuilding.  For these reasons, Liverpool was a primary target for the German bombers and Churchill was keen to boost the morale of the war weary Liverpudlian people.

In May 1941, Winston Churchill famously said of Liverpool

“I see the damage done by the enemy attacks, but I also see the spirit of an unconquered people.“

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Events History

Punch and Judy returns to Liverpool!

March 21, 2011 – 12:20

As part of the 70th Anniversary of the May Blitz celebrations, Punch and Judy will be returning to the city to once again entertain the children (young and old) of Liverpool!

punch and judy

In 1860 Richard Codman, woodcarver, puppet showman and musician, arrived in Liverpool and was awarded a prime site on an open cobbled square known as the “Quadrant” between the market and Lime Street Station.  Professor Codman, as he was known, began entertaining the people of Liverpool on a regular basis with his ‘Punch and Judy’ puppet shows.

punch and judy liverpool

The shows became very popular and Professor Codman’s Punch and Judy quickly won the hearts of the people of Liverpool!

professor richard codman
Photograph courtesy of Cavendish Press ©

Richard continued his puppet shows until his death 47 years later when his eldest son, Richard Junior, continued in his father’s footsteps and kept the tradition going in Liverpool.  His second son Herbert took the show to North Wales where it enjoyed great success at the seaside!

Back in Liverpool, Richard was equally as successful as his father.  In 1922 the Sandon Studios Society, an artistic body in Liverpool, arranged for a subscription committee headed by Mr A Parry, then Chief Librarian, to commission the famous Liverpudlian sulptor H Tyson-Smith to carve a beautiful Punch and Judy booth with figures taken from ‘Punch‘ magazine as a gesture of appreciation.

punch and judy liverpool

Sadly, the famous Quadrant site no longer exists.  However, through public demand, the show was temporarily housed in St. George’s Hall and occasionally appeared in Williamson Square.

punch and judy liverpool 1951

After Richard Junior’s death in 1951, the Liverpool show was continued by his son Richard (third) and on his death in 1985, by his son Ronald Richard.  Ronald’s son Robert will succeed his father and continue the tradition as the sixth generation of the Codman dynasty.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Blitz, Professor Codman will be performing in Liverpool City Centre once again!

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History

Liverpool at War

February 15, 2011 – 10:15

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History

Survival of the Liver Birds

February 7, 2011 – 14:00

Atop each tower of the Liver Building stand the mythical Liver Birds.  Popular legend has it that while one giant bird looks out over the city to protect its people, the other looks out to sea to observe the ships coming in to port.  An alternative theory claims one Liver Bird is male, looking inland to see if the pubs are open, whilst the other is female, looking out to sea to see if there are any handsome sailors coming up the river!  Perhaps more significantly, the third legend states if one of the birds were to fly away the city of Liverpool would cease to exist.

Whichever legend you prefer, there’s no denying the Liver Birds have become an important symbol of the City of Liverpool.

During World War II the Royal Liver Building, at 90m, was the tallest building in Liverpool and given it’s waterfront position at the Pier Head it seemed inevitable the building would be targeted during the Blitz.  As well as industrial areas, the Luftwaffe were keen to target buildings of heritage in an attempt to break British morale.  If the Liver Birds were destroyed, what would it mean for Liverpool?

liver building night 1936

Thankfully, despite widespread destruction around the Three Graces, all three spectacular buildings survived the Blitz on Liverpool and the Liver Birds remained a symbol of the city’s strength and perseverance.  This year the Liver Birds celebrate their 100th birthday!

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History

The Bombing of St. Luke’s

January 27, 2011 – 09:00

Today St. Luke’s Church still stands prominently at the top of Bold Street, on the corner of Berry Street and Leece Street, as an enduring symbol and reminder of the tragic destruction caused by the Blitz in the Second World War.  The church was hit by an incendiary bomb on Monday 5th May 1941 and the ensuing fire was described by the Liverpool Echo as “magnificent“.

Sadly St. Luke’s could not be saved.  The city was burning as a result of the prolonged attack by the Luftwaffe; fire fighters and relief workers were already stretched to the limit.  In the early hours of Tuesday May 6th local residents who were sheltering in the nearby basements of Roscoe Place reported hearing the great bell fall from the tower.

The interior of St Luke's looking towards the altar

st luke's church liverpool

Photographs above © R Brown and J Parry 1931

A fantastic example of neo-gothic architecture, St. Luke’s had been the focus of community life for those who lived an worked in the area for just over a century.  It had taken John Foster and his son nearly 30 years to design and build, yet it took the Luftwaffe a single night to destroy it…

st luke's church bomb damage

A burnt out shell, commonly known locally as “the bombed-out church“, it was bought from the Church of England by Liverpool City Council in 1968 and became a garden of remembrance to commemorate the thousands of local men, women and children who died as a result of the bomb attacks on their city.  It remains one of Liverpool’s best loved landmarks.

For more information visit historian Jonathan Wild’s informative website devoted to St. Luke’s Church.

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Personal Accounts

The Story of Mary Halpin

January 22, 2011 – 10:00

During the Blitz the Liverpool Echo reported the story of one young woman – a 19 year old ARP telephonist named Mary Halpin.  During a heavy bombing raid, she took the call that her own home had been bombed and there were fears for her father, mother, four sisters and two brothers who were all believed to be inside.

Despite the devastating news Miss Halpin carried on with her duties, taking calls from all over the city until the raid was over.  When she was finally able to return to her home, she found it partially demolished.  Happily, though members of her family had been partially buried by rubble, all were rescued and even the family dog was found safe and alone in the family air raid shelter.

blitz telephonists

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Events

Introducing the largest Blitz 70th anniversary event outside London…

January 21, 2011 – 17:00

In the warm, late afternoon sunshine of May 1st 1941, the Heinkel bombers of Hitler’s mighty Luftwaffe took to the skies once more.  This time their target was Liverpool.  Just hours later at 10:15pm the first bomb fell on Wallasey and the air raid sirens began to wail.

This wasn’t the first time Liverpool had been targeted during the Blitz, but nobody could have foreseen this would be the start of seven days intensive bombing designed to destroy Liverpool’s docks and crush the spirit of her people.  What would forever be remembered as the “May Blitz” was about to begin.

By the end of this long week, almost 700 aircraft had dropped nearly 900 tonnes of high explosives and well over 100,000 incendiaries.  1,453 people had been killed in Liverpool, 257 in Bootle, 28 in Birkenhead, 3 in Wallasey and thousands more had been seriously injured.  4,400 houses were destroyed in Liverpool with 16,400 seriously damaged and 45,500 slightly damaged.  Approximately 51,000 people had been made homeless in Liverpool and another 25,000 in Bootle where it was estimated only 15% of the local housing stock remained.

May 1941 Liverpool City Centre

Out of all this terror and destruction, the spirit of the blitz emerged.  It has gone down in history as a spirit of straightforward stoic courage and endurance: a refusal by the people of Britain to collapse into the hysteria or madness expected by the enemy.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of that terrible week, and so presents an opportunity for us to remember those who lost their lives and also celebrate the enduring morale which kept the British people going during such testing times.  All funds raised during the weekend will be shared between two registered veterans’ charities; the Royal British Legion and D-Day Revisited.

Visit us again for frequent updates about the schedule of events which are designed to be fun for all the family.  In exactly 100 days we will launch the Liverpool Blitz 70 event which we hope will help to spread awareness about what happened and give the people of Merseyside a jolly good weekend of nostalgic blitz-themed entertainment!

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