Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
From the early days of film in Liverpool we see that the football
stadia for the two city clubs, Liverpool and Everton, are already a well-
established feature on the map of leisure sites on film, with early re-
cordings of matches such as the Liverpool Derby in 1902 taking place in
the area on the map to the north of the city center labeled Stanley Park
(
Everton v. Liverpool,
Mitchell and Kenyon, 1902). Similarly, to the north,
the racecourse at Aintree appears in 1903 as part of
Bootle May Day Dem-
onstration and Crowning of the May Queen
(Mitchell and Kenyon, 1903).
In the south of the city, Sefton and Princes Parks appear in one of the
earliest amateur films shot in the city; called simply
Liverpool Streets and
Parks,
the film was made in 1925 by members of the Saxton family. Sefton
Park also appears in newsreel films, one of which shows the unveiling of
the park 's famous statue of Peter Pan in 1928. In the city center the area
around Pier Head began to show signs of atracting leisure and tourist ac-
tivity, not least on account of the new landmark buildings that had been
constructed on the site during this period. Built between 1907 and 1918,
the Royal Liver, Cunard, and Port of Liverpool buildings are by far the
most recognized iconographic symbols of Liverpool and its waterfront
today. The other prominent leisure sites in early film of the city were the
areas around Lime Street and William Brown Street, which boasted the
grand neoclassical buildings of St. George's Hall, Picton Library, and
Walker Gallery, the city center streets of Church Street and Lord Street,
principally associated with shopping and retail, and churches associated
with society weddings such as St. Luke's, now an empty shell due to
bomb damage in World War Two.
By the 1930s the most notable additions to the leisure map were des-
tinations across the Mersey: the resort of New Brighton on the northern
tip of the Wirral peninsula, and Birkenhead, a short ferry ride from Pier
Head. The area around Pier Head is by now the most frequently depicted
location, with leisure activities extended to the adjacent Canning and
Albert Dock area, including the Custom House, which was later demol-
ished as a result of damage caused by wartime air raids. Films that depict
rare footage of the Custom House include
Local Scenes/Rodney Street
and
Mauretania Leaving Liverpool,
both of which were made by amateur
filmmakers in the 1930s.
