Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
By the 1950s film activity by students at the University of Liverpool
reflected geographies of leisure centered not only around the university
district itself but also through the city center more generally as part of
the annual Panto Week festivities, which formed the main subject mater
of the Basement Film Unit, the student film club at the university whose
productions were known as “Sphinx Reels.” The Anglican Cathedral,
the largest cathedral in the United Kingdom, also started to appear as
a site of leisure in films made during the 1950s. Although the cathedral
was not finally completed until 1978, the completion of the tower in 1942
conferred the status of iconic city landmark on the building, ensuring
its continuing popularity as a tourist destination alongside its important
religious and civic functions.
From the late 1890s until its closure in 1956 the Overhead Railway
remained a popular atraction and place of leisure. Running along the
length of the docks, the Overhead featured in many films shot on and
around the waterfront, with filmmakers capturing views both of and
from the elevated railway. The closure and eventual demolition of the
Overhead Railway coincided with a number of other significant changes
in the cultural geography of Liverpool around this period. The rise of
youth culture and the emergent Merseybeat scene in the 1960s would
firmly place Mathew Street, location of the Cavern Club, where the
Beatles irst atracted signiicant atention, on the cultural map of Liv-
erpool. This is also reflected in the cinematic geography of the 1960s,
with downtown music venues such as the Cavern, the Downbeat Club,
the Blue Angel, and the Mardi Gras appearing in documentaries such
as
And the World Listened,
a Pathé production from 1965 sponsored by
Liverpool Corporation. Locations such as the Bluecoat Arts Centre,
the Everyman Theatre, and the Liverpool Art School provide further
indicators of the cultural vibrancy and atraction of the Liverpool arts
scene during the 1960s.
Coincidental to or perhaps in part as a consequence of the closure
of the Overhead Railway in the late 1950s was the growing popularity of
journeys along the Manchester Ship Canal and R iver Mersey. Although
the canal appeared in films from the 1930s onward, it was not until the
1960s, with the emergence of amateur films such as
Journey down the Ship
