Presenter, Paul Martin, and I at the Albert Dock

My appearance on the popular BBC 2 afternoon auction show Flog It! was broadcast on Wednesday – recorded on the Albert Dock with presenter Paul Martin.

It was shot back in April when the crew spent the day at three separate locations. My main role was setting up and supervising the BBC’s visit. The six minutes of screen time took almost three hours, including setting up the camera and getting the angles right.

Our picture shows Paul and I with the Merseyside Maritime Museum in the background - the chap in the front holds an enormous collapsible reflector which aims to literally put us in the best possible light.

You can watch the full show on the BBC iplayer. It's available until 4.29pm this Wednesday (18 November).

There was a script of sorts but the director stressed this was only meant as a guide – obviously with takes from different angles there had to be continuity. Some wasn’t used, including a close-up of my hand affectionately patting one of the huge cast iron columns.

In between takes, Paul told me that he started out as a professional musician and became involved in Flog It! through his interest in antiques. I shared some memories of the TV shows I watched as a child. They were always live and anything could – and did – go wrong.

I vividly remember two major stars on separate occasions suffering the indignity of their false teeth slipping,  watched by millions of viewers.

I’m a big fan of the Flog It!, when I can see it, and also The Antiques Roadshow on which I appeared recently talking about some 1960s films discovered at Lowlands community centre, West Derby, Liverpool.

I last appeared on Flog It! about five years ago doing a three-minute tour of the Lady Lever Art Gallery with one of the programme’ specialists, Kate Bliss. We did it in our stocking feet because of the echoes from the polished floors.

Flog It! is an in-house BBC production and takes a lot of careful preparation to bring to the screen.

The rest of the National Museums Liverpool footage is scheduled to be screened at 3.45 pm on Monday 30 November, focusing on the stunning new Museum of Liverpool on the city’s waterfront.

The show visits our workshops where some of the museum’s fabulous exhibits are being conserved. Paul interviews land transport curator Sharon Brown in a carriage from the legendary Overhead Railway.

Also featured are the Lion steam locomotive, star of the Ealing comedy classic The Titfield Thunderbolt, and the first Ford Anglia off the assembly line at Ford’s new Halewood factory in 1963.

The feature ends at the Museum of Liverpool where operations manager Martin Hemmings takes Paul on a hard-hat tour of the magnificent building.

I thought my school days were over, but last week I was very excited to be able to join our class of Little Liverpool Designers on their very first school trip!

I had a lovely morning spent with Class R reception class from Kingsley Community School in Toxteth, touring Liverpool familiarising themselves with Liverpool’s famous landmarks to inspire artwork for the Museum of Liverpool’s dedicated children’s gallery Little Liverpool, opening 2011.

They will be working with illustrator Kate Pankhurst to develop the final artwork for display in Little Liverpool as part of our work with the ECHO in the Community programme, which aims to inspire young people by engaging in a cross section of activities, including the arts.

A Little Liverpool Designer gives the new Museum of Liverpool the thumbs up

At four years old, Mrs Randles’ reception class were a credit to their school, and it was fantastic to be surrounded by such young, inquisitive minds who were visibly impressed by everything they saw.

The first stop on our magical mystery tour of Liverpool was at the Anglican Cathedral, and I only wish I’d had a video camera with me to record their faces on walking into that grand, vast space and filling the air ‘wows’!

We also took a trip to the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, or Paddy’s Wigwam as it is affectionately known locally, where they were very taken with the colours and reflections coming in from the beautiful stain glass windows. Hopefully this will transfer to the marvellous artwork they’re soon to create for our Little Liverpool Gallery.

After the cathedrals, we also took a driving tour round many iconic buildings, including St George’s Hall and William Brown Street; home to World Museum, Central Library and the Walker Art Gallery.

Spotting the Radio City Tower overhead, our whistle-stop tour also took us past the Town Hall – "where the mayor lives" – and down to the waterfront where we met Museum of Liverpool buildings operations manager Martin Hemmings – "Bob the Builder" – and had a look at the location for Little Liverpool.

A lovely day out was had by all, so thanks goes to Mrs Randles and her ‘helpers’ for organising the trip, and for inviting Julia Bryan from the Museum of Liverpool team and I along. We look forward to seeing the wonderful artwork that Class R create in their roles as Little Liverpool Designers.

On Friday 9 October 2009, we were visited by soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, to support the handover of a rare and historical item to add to the new Museum of Liverpool’s collection.

The object is a Victoria Cross (VC), and although it has been looked after by National Museums Liverpool for some time on loan, it has now been donated to our permanent collections to go on display in the new museum when it opens in 2011.

The Victoria Cross is the highest order of military decoration awarded to the armed forces for gallantry and bravery in the face of the enemy. It was presented to Sergeant David Jones of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment on 3 September 1916, for an act of bravery he performed while serving in WWI at Guillemont, France.

This is how the London Gazette described his act at the time:
“For most conspicuous bravery, devotion to duty, and ability displayed in the handling of his platoon. The platoon to which he belonged was ordered to a forward position, and during the advance came under heavy machine gun fire, the officer being killed and the platoon suffering heavy losses Serjt. Jones led-forward the remainder, occupied the position, and held it for two days and two nights without food or water, until relieved. On the second day he drove back three counter-attacks, inflicting heavy losses. His coolness was most praiseworthy. It was due entirely to his resource and example that his men retained confidence and held their post.”

Then aged 25, Sgt David Jones was sadly killed in action at Bancourt in the Somme just over a month later on 7 October 1916, and his family later presented the VC to Jones’s former employer J Blake & Co Motor Company, who have now donated the medal to National Museums Liverpool’s permanent collections.

Mr Norman Silk (left) presents curator Karen O'Rourke (right) with Sgt David Jones's Victoria Cross on-site in the Museum of Liverpool, accompanied by representatives of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

Trustee of J Blake & Co, Mr Norman Silk visited the museum along with representatives of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, to present curator of social history Karen O’Rourke with the medal on-site.

All those who attended the handover were also treated to a tour of the new museum by buildings operations manager Martin Hemmings, specifically to look at the museum's City Soldiers gallery which will focus on the long history of the King’s Regiment and its relationship with the city.

Alas, unlike the beat itself, this exhibition doesn't go on and on. We're into the final weeks of World Museum's The Beat Goes On exhibition and what a tune-tastic time we've had.

Paul McCartney's trousers made a visit as did half a million members of the public. Local bands had their tunes profiled in our on-gallery and online jukeboxes (check out the MySpace page and have a listen). Willing volunteers cut their museum teeth on the gallery, and we launched an online resource charting Liverpool's musical heritage.

But fret not! (fret...music...geddit?) You've still until 1 November to get down to the museum and to get down!  Take your kids during half term and show them what real music sounds like. And if you still need persuading the Guardian's video on Liverpool's music scene should do the trick.

And if you still don't manage to catch the exhibition you're going to have to wait until the Museum of Liverpool opens in 2011. The Creative City gallery will become home to items like the Woolton church stage where John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met in 1957, the vibrant 'All You Need is Love' bedcover from John and Yoko’s Bed-in-for-Peace in Montreal in 1969, and four Beatles stage suits.

And as it's the final month The Beat Goes On exhibition guide has been reduced to half price so now costs just £1.50. Get your copy in our groundfloor shop.

As a fervent Blue Nose (that's an Everton supporter in case you're football illiterate) I'm very excited that Thursday sees the launch of The Everton Collection website; the most complete treasury of football memorabilia in the world.  And if you're a supporter of another club or social history buff you should be excited as well as the collection isn't just about Everton Football Club. This is the history of football told through the story of Everton.

The collection is made up of over 18,000 items of football memorabilia, dating back to the founding of the club in 1878, itself a founder member of The Football League. Programmes, medals, tickets, transcribed ledgers, trophies, boots, shirts, contracts, cash books and photographs all feature and are now available to browse online. It features the earliest programmes of many clubs including Manchester United (then Newton Heath), Celtic, Aston Villa, Derby County, Bolton and Blackburn, and many of football's rarest artefacts.

I've had a sneak preview and think the transcribed ledgers are my favourites. The minutiae of life in the days before TV deals and big money transfers is fascinating. Players late for training because they missed their bus is a far cry from today's industry.

The collection will be launched with the major new exhibition at Liverpool's Central Library, ‘Everlution: The Everton Collection’. There's also a series of talks by Peter Lupson on topics such as joint Everton and Liverpool programmes, the birth of the football league and the man who many claim was responsible for that famous split that created Everton and Liverpool football clubs.

I should point out that my interest isn't totally partisan. The new Museum of Liverpool will be featuring many objects from the collection in the Creative City gallery, using the pieces to tell the story of Liverpool and its people.

Does your child have artistic flair? © Simon Webb

We're currently working with Liverpool ECHO in the Community on a fantastic project for a class of under five-year-olds to have the chance to help develop the artwork for the dedicated children’s gallery in the new Museum of Liverpool.

Little Liverpool is a tailor-made gallery for children under six; a fantasy dreamscape where the youngest visitors will be able to relax, play and explore.

The Little Liverpool Designers competition is searching for a class from a Merseyside-based school to be appointed as designers, working with an artist to direct the final development of the artwork for the Little Liverpool gallery.

So, if you think your child has artistic flair and is within a class that you feel could win, encourage their teacher to enter the competition, and they could make their own historic and creative mark in the new museum!

Visit http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/community-projects for more info. The closing date is Thursday 24 September at 5pm, and the winning class will be appointed on Friday 25 September. Good luck!

If you were ever a student in Liverpool like me, chances are Smithdown Road was the cornerstone of your life…for three years at least. The student population from the city’s three universities have always taken it into their hearts, for its diversity, quirkiness and array of pubs! Some of you may have even attempted ‘The Smithdown 10’, finishing up at The 'Big Yellow' Brookhouse pub, before stumbling back to Halls with a takeaway from Zains.

However, it’s not just students who love Smithdown. Believe it or not, Smithdown is a bit of a mainstay in these here parts, and even has a mention in the Domesday Book! So, the history of the area really does hold some uncovered secrets, which curators hope to unearth and reveal in a special exhibition to go on display in the new Museum of Liverpool.

As the museum doesn’t open until 2010 / 11, research is currently underway for The Secret Life of Smithdown project, and community involvement is at the heart of it.

To get involved, why not pop along to our mini-exhibition in Oomoo Café, 349 – 351 Smithdown Road to share your Smithdown stories and photographs of the area? The first drop-in session takes place tomorrow, Saturday 5 September, between 10am - 4pm.

Or, if you can’t make it to Oomoo and maybe have moved away from the delights of Smithdown and Dafna’s Cheesecake Factory, why not visit our Facebook page and share your anecdotes and memories of ‘Gerry the Fridgeman’, the Smithdown Aquarium, and how life has changed for the residents since they built…‘The Asda’.

For more info on the drop-in sessions and other Secret Life of Smithdown events, visit the website.

If you like a peek behind the scenes - and who doesn't - tune in to BBC2 tomorrow (Thurs 3 September) at 3.45pm for Flog It! There's a visit to the new Museum of Liverpool with a preview of some of the objects that will be featuring on the galleries. It's also available on BBC HD at 6.30pm later that day. And if you miss it you can always catch it on BBC iplayer.

When they handling team say they're moving houses they usually mean literally!

As I've mentioned many times before, there's never a dull moment for the handling and transport team. Since I last reported on their activities they have safely transported a huge variety of objects from our collections, including ship models, paintings, a stained glass window and some Hindu Gods (well, sculptures of them, anyway). Some have been moved from storage to the conservation studios for treatment and back again, other objects have been gone on or off display and a few have ben loaned to other organisations.

Some of the more unusual jobs have involved taking a whole rack of uniforms to the conservation freezer to treat a possible insect infestation and weighing weapons from the collection in order to determine the floor loadings of planned displays in the new Museum of Liverpool.

On a rare break from work a few weeks ago the team had a sneak preview of the new galleries currently under construction at the Museum of Liverpool. They were all impressed by the scale and design of the building. However in the back of their minds I'm sure they were all thinking the same thing - they'll have their work cut out installing all of the many objects in this huge building in time for the opening.

You can see what they've been up to in the Moving stories Flickr set of photos.

Check out our curators on the live webcam at BBC Radio Merseyside.

They're there all day until 5pm talking to people about their memories of Speke Airport for the Museum of Liverpool, so why not pop down and have a chat?

Or, if you're a bit of a whizz at making paper aeroplanes, go along and see if you can make a winner in our longest flight competition!

With holiday season well and truly upon us, some of our curators are putting their minds to memories of past holidays, and need your help researching those with a local angle.

We are inviting seasoned Liverpool holiday-makers to help us by sharing memories, photographs and souvenirs associated with Speke Airport in order to research a community display bound for the new Museum of Liverpool opening in 2010 / 11.

Come Fly With Me – A People’s History of Liverpool Airport will uncover people’s experiences and memories from the 1930s to today, using their souvenirs, photographs and personal accounts to tell the story of the airport.

Come along to one of our drop-in sessions to speak to curators about how you can get involved in contributing to the display from 10am - 5pm on Thursday 6 August at BBC Radio Merseyside, or Friday 7 August at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on the upper floor of the terminal building before security control.

We want to chat to people who have used the airport any time from the 1930s onwards in order to build up a display of objects and memories taken from the local community. So if you have a 'straw donkey' souvenir knocking about in the loft that you'd like to appear on display, we'd love to hear from you!

You needn't bring objects along with you to the drop-in sessions, as we can arrange to loan the items at a later date, but if you want to bring holiday snaps with you, our curators can scan these during the sessions.

Both drop-in sessions will include craft workshops where people can make their own aerodynamic creations, and the aeroplane that covers the greatest distance over the course of each session will win a prize!

If you are unable to attend one of the drop-in sessions, but would like to discuss opportunities to provide objects for display in the exhibition, please contact Victoria Newberry on 0151 478 4067 or email victoria.newberry@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

The Beat Goes On at World Museum, celebrates a wealth of Liverpool music across the ages right from the 40s until today, and not one decade has gone by when a Liverpool act hasn’t topped the charts.

One thing’s for sure, the exhibition is packed with fascinating objects and memorabilia charting the city’s musical heritage to date, but talent is still emerging daily and tomorrow’s stars could one day find themselves becoming part of Liverpool’s history, adorning i-pod screens and the walls of new Museum of Liverpool alike.

Yes, there is the idea that you have to be in the right place at the right time, but sheer hard work and determination is often necessary for a band or artist to gain access to the ‘right place’ at the ‘right time’, and our city offers some great opportunities to get noticed by the decision makers in the business.

As the Guinness Book of Record’s ‘City of Pop’, Liverpool avidly supports its emerging talent to climb the ladder of musical success, and those on the city’s youth music scene will be pleased to hear that the annual Streetwaves competition - doing just that - is back again for 2009.

This year, the competition is offering two lucky acts the chance to play a 25 minute outdoor set at the legendary Mathew Street Festival! Acts aged 14 – 25 can apply to audition by Tuesday 14 July, so be quick and visit www.liverpool.gov.uk/culture for an application form...and good luck!

Following up on our own competition, we’re also pleased to see that some of the artists voted for on The Beat Goes On’sMyspace are coming on in leaps and bounds since they’ve been featured on the digital jukeboxes in the exhibition:

A firm favourite in the votes, Dave Tyrell is releasing his debut album on 1 August, and band Jessica’s Ghost has also released an album, The Winning Hand with various gig dates in the coming months including Heebie Jeebies and the Mathew Street Finge. GK & The Renegades have sadly gone their separate ways, although GK (Gavin Kaufman) has announced he will be launching solo projects, so we look forward to hearing more from him.

Next Saturday 27 June, we’re teaming up with the Liverpool Parks Friends Forum to put on a special event at Merseyside Maritime Museum for anyone out there who has a passion for our city’s parks!

With over 70 parks, Liverpool offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy some free green space, and fresh air away from the buzz of the city, so it’s particularly apt this year that we are staging this free event during the Year of the Environment 2009.

The event will take place from 9:30am – 4pm at Merseyside Maritime Museum, and like our parks is completely free! Click here to register and experience all that is on offer on the day.

Boating on lakes across Liverpool such as Stanley Park was customary in the past

The event has been created as part of a number of community activities taking place in the run up to the opening of the new Museum of Liverpool in 2010, to give the public opportunities to learn all about different aspects of our city, its history and development.

It will include workshops focusing on themes such as parks and controversies through history with local historian Frank Carlyle and creative nature conservation with Richard Scott from the National Wildflower Centre.

There will also be a site visit to discover the ‘hidden side’ of Chavasse Park and talks from Robert Lee from the University of Liverpool and Chairman of Friends of Birkenhead Park, and Janet Dugdale on the new Museum of Liverpool.

It's National Volunteers Week, so our youth volunteer co-ordinator Claire Olson has asked me to thank all our wonderful volunteers for their continuing hard work and enthusiasm, not just this week but throughout the year.

If you would like more information about volunteering then have a look at our volunteering web pages or pop into one of our special Volunteers Week events. Drop in any time from 11am-3pm at World Museum on Tuesday and the Lady Lever Art Gallery on Thursday.

We asked Dashti, one of our youth volunteers, about his experiences as a volunteer and here's what he said:

Claire Olson presenting Dashti with his v50 Award for completing 50 hours of volunteering

"Hi my name is Dashti and I’m 17. I have volunteered at National Museums Liverpool for 11 months. I started working in The Beat Goes On exhibition from July to September 2008. I worked in this exhibition talking to visitors, tidying up the play area and replacing comments cards.

After this, I began working with the Community Partnerships team. Every Wednesday I work with students from EMTAS (Ethnic Minority & Traveller Achievement Service). We have done many projects together including a project about the the Museum of Liverpool, learning about the history of Liverpool and making a film called 'Make Your Own Liverpool'. I also helped the students learn about ancient Egypt, space and national history.

I got my v50 award certificate in December, but I have now done 100 hours! I have learnt how to communicate well with lots of different people. I have learnt many things about the history of Liverpool and I also learnt about the exhibitions in the museum.

I have enjoyed talking to interesting people. The staff have been very helpful and because I feel more comfortable in the museum I will continue volunteering!"

Better late than never I've put up last week's Museum of Liverpool progress snaps on Flickr. Everything is still progressing swimmingly. Last week's progress included cladding to the reveals of the end gables with corner pieces being fitted this week; pressure testing of pipework; installation of external drainage and services ducts; the suspended ceiling started to go in; concerte work on the north and south ramps, and concrete fire sealing works to structure/building cavities.

Update: Was so late with that last set that this week's have turned up as well - have just uploaded them. They include some nice shots of the interior so are well worth a look.

This week's snaps from the Museum of Liverpool building site have a definite smell of spring about them; sunshine, blue sky and crocuses. Pity this weekend's weather forecast is so lousy. I especially like this picture; the texture of the cladding highlighted by the morning sun. The lines are the rigging of the ship, De Wadden, in the adjacent graving dock. As ever higher-res versions this snap and more are in the Museum of Liverpool flickr set.

The build itself marches on. Our Twitter page charts the progress - become a follower.

Me waiting in the wings before my Clare Balding interview at Aintree

All reporters remember big stories they worked on and the 1993 Grand National was for me one of the most memorable. It was the year the race was famously declared void after demonstrators disrupted the world’s greatest steeplechase.

This week I was quizzed by BBC racing presenter and former top amateur jockey Clare Balding about my memories of that amazing day. It was for an edition of The One Show being screened in the run-up to this year’s big race.

The show’s producers were prompted by my collection of passes, pamphlets, statements and press releases amassed on that day in the mayhem of the press room at the renowned Liverpool racecourse. Some years ago I donated them to National Museums Liverpool and they feature on our website where BBC researchers spotted them. This 1993 ephemera is destined for display in the new Museum of Liverpool opening next year.

It was decided to do the interview in the bitter cold in front of the County Stand. I admitted to Clare that the last time I had been to the course was when they secretly buried legendary winner Red Rum at the winning post. Since then I had watched the race from the Blue Anchor Bridge, a spot where you can be a spectator for free and avoid the crowds.

As we talked, my memories stretched back to my first visit in 1961 when Nicholas Silver won and I placed an unsuccessful sixpenny bet with exotic tipster Prince Monolulu.

I was there when Gay Trip won in 1970 but remember most the tiny comedian Jimmy Clitheroe, dressed in a suede coat, with his horse. That year I walked around the track with local MP Dick Crawshaw attempting an endurance record. I interviewed the formidable owner of Aintree Mirabelle Topham on the telephone – a major coup. 

In 1978 we had the ‘will he, won’t he?’ saga of Red Rum making his final appearance at Aintree. I met TV personality Angela Rippon when she cantered on Rummy along Southport sands.

I was there in 1981 to see cancer victim Bob Champion’s epic win on Aldaniti on a glorious sunny day.
 
But nothing could prepare me for the Race That Never Was. I told Clare it was like being on the Titanic steaming on regardless after being mortally wounded.

Nobody seemed to know what was going on in the press room until racecourse chairman Lord Daresbury took the helm at a news conference. The race was declared void because of two false starts.

This picture was taken by assistant director Sophie Wallace-Hadrill and shows Clare preparing to interview me as cameraman Tim Sutton and director Hamish Summers get things right. The structure in the background is the biggest marquee I’ve ever seen.

Do not adjust your sets! A different view of the now familiar museum building reflected in the dock

As you will have seen if you've been down to Liverpool's waterfront recently, the structure of the new Museum of Liverpool building is really taking shape now. But what is going on inside those stone-clad walls? And how are staff preparing for the monumental task of fitting out the enormous galleries inside?

If you want the inside story there are two new ways to find out what's going on. Our quarterly e-newsletter has a summary of all the big news -  you can see the February 2009 e-newsletter online. To sign up for future editions complete the register with us form, remembering to tick the Museum of Liverpool box under 'Interests' and choose email updates under 'Contact options'.

You can now also follow the Museum of Liverpool on Twitter, for all the latest news about progress with the construction.

Don't forget, we'd like to hear from you as well if you have any photos of the museum building taking shape. You can add them to our Building the Museum of Liverpool group on Flickr.

We've just published a cute little pocket guide to many of the fab happenings at NML in 2008. It's good to revisit highlights like Ben Johnson's residency, the Superlambananas, the opening of Seized! and exhibitions like Art In The Age of Steam and The Beat Goes On.

You can download your copy of The Little Book of Big Highlights here (pdf 6mb).

Lots more snaps in our Flickr set including this one of the sun on the south window.

The build continues to progress really well. The vertical limestone cladding is nearing completion, the main roof is finished, and the windows are almost all in. Internally, the staircase structure is complete, internal walls are making good progress, and innards like the electrics, plumbing and air handling units are well on their way.

It's all really exciting, and judging by the number of people taking photos of the building (there's just a few of them here in the public Flickr group) lots of people feel the same. If you'd like to add your snaps to the group please do.

You may have seen on the news that the Prime Minister, the Rt Honourable Gordon Brown MP was in town yesterday for the first ever Cabinet meeting in Liverpool, which took place at the BT Convention Centre. The Prime Minister had a busy day but found time to come and look around the site of the new Museum of Liverpool which is currently under construction on the waterfront.  

Accompanied by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham MP, the Prime Minister took time out to talk to museum curators about the sort of objects going in the museum, as well as meeting some members of the construction team who are creating the iconic building. I’m told he really enjoyed his visit and was very interested to see our future plans.

What you may not have seen on the news is that Mr Brown also spent some time with young people who have been involved with the museum. On first arriving at the docks by boat (which coincidentally had the youthful name ‘Groove Armada’), he was greeted by young people who have worked on the 'Portrait of a Nation' project and Museum of Liverpool's youth champions. At Museum of Liverpool he met two Creative Apprentices who are currently working on the project – they will be telling you more about their involvement at a later date. 

All smiles: Children from Pleasant Street Primary meet the Prime Minister and museums' chairman Phil Redmond. Image copyright Mark McNulty.

Outside the Merseyside Maritime Museum the ministerial party paused to admire the ‘The Orrery’ – a colourful community sculpture commissioned by Liverpool Culture Company. He also took time out to speak to pupils from Pleasant Street Primary School about their involvement in Liverpool 08, before moving on to his next engagements. A journalist recently commented that the Prime Minister is looking very well and incredibly youthful these days - perhaps it’s down to the company he is keeping. 

The final units go into the south-facing window

While many of us were embroiled in the orgy of excess that is the modern Christmas, certain hardy souls were installing the final glazing units at the Museum of Liverpool. It's cold enough at the moment without spending your days up a cherry picker, fitting windows on an exposed riverbank. Glazers, we salute you! On the up side they'll have seen a fair few beautiful sunsets lately, what with the clear skies and low winter sun.

Anyhoo, the fruits of their labours can be seen in the Museum of Liverpool flickr group. And, as we've come to expect, the general public have been producing a few gems of their own. They can be seen in the public group.

If you've yet to see the building yourself the evening of 10 January would be a good time to visit. The area around the building is the stage for 'Transition: The People's Celebration', a public event to mark the end of Liverpool's reign as European Capital of Culture. The north window is being used as a projection screen, part of the 'sound, light and visual review of Liverpool's history from 7,000,000,000BC to the present day'.  That all kicks off at 6.15pm with fireworks at 7pm. The Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum will both be open until 10pm, with activities for the kids, a new menu in the cafe and music from The Fourmost - more than enough to make an evening of it. More on our main site. 

Curator Georgina Young installing the display

The stone cladding on the Museum of Liverpool building is almost complete. On the wall facing the river this morning there was only a small section at the top corner left to do, so from the ferry it looked as if a large monster had taken a bite out of it.

While the construction and fitting out of the building takes place some of the museum's collections have been out 'on the road', with displays of key objects in a variety of locations around the city. The latest object a the rather fancy silver presentation inkstand. It was originally presented to Rabbi Prag, the first minister to serve in Princes Road Synagogue, to commemorate 25 years of his service in 1881. So rather appropriately it is being displayed at the Princes Road Synagogue until December 2009.

Tours of the synagogue can be arranged by appointment only, there are full details on the Princes Road Synagogue website. The tours are recommended by Paul Kelly and Richard Roberts from the handling team and curator Georgina Young, who were shown round after they delivered and installed the display this week.

For some people shoes are just a practical necessity to stop your socks getting wet and tatty, while for others shoes can be more of an obsession. Here's an early Christmas present for anyone in the second category.

There are lots of shoes of all shapes and sizes in the collections at National Museums Liverpool's venues. For the first time ever we've gathered together a selection of them in a brand new shoes online exhibition. The online exhibition features a range of fabulous footwear, from the rather bling Terry de Havilland platforms shown here, to a fragment of a leather heel from a 17th century shipwreck. There's also a lot of publicity material from the archive of local shoe makers and retailers J Collinson & Company, which is now held in the Maritime Archives and Library.

Most of the shoes and shoe-related items in the online exhibition are currently in storage, so the only place to see them all together is on the website. So indulge your inner Carrie Bradshaw and take an online stroll round the collections. Go on, you know you want to.

The Liverpool Echo website is featuring the latest in a series of video updates on the progress of the build. You can watch the video here. 

Our Building the Museum of Liverpool Flickr group is still getting a fair few submissions. Special thanks should go to Cassini2008 who has taken some great shots right the way through the build.

The cladding going up

The latest photos are now available on Flickr. The main development has been the cladding which is going up at a rate of knots. I like this side-on snap of the surface - you don't realise how 3D it is until you get right up close.

Some nice new additions to the Building the Museum of Liverpool group as well. Interesting to see the building in different weather conditions, at different times of the day and from various angles. You put my own feeble photographic skills to shame.

It now seems but a dream, but I'm told that the other day it was sunny. These latest snaps of the Museum of Liverpool construction seem to bear that out. Check out the Flickr set - you can almost feel the heat! 

We're still looking for Flickr snaps from the public - there are some beautiful efforts in this group.

The build is progressing well. The cladding is still going on, the window frames are going in and internal walls are going up.

The QE2 in Liverpool with the Museum of Liverpool in the foreground

The latest batch of Museum of Liverpool construction progress snaps is on our Flickr page. The cladding is going on and the end is in sight!

On a vaguely related subject (I say vaguely because I hurriedly took this slightly blurry snap at the dock at lunchtime - it was very cold!) the QE2 is in Liverpool at the moment. The Liverpool Echo have a video of it sailing into the Mersey, past Crosby Beach and the Antony Gormley ironmen (or 'Another Place' as they're officially known). Wonder how close the two ships in the video really were? Anyhoo, it's a good vid and worth a peek. 

Just added a few more Museum of Liverpool construction snaps to our Flickr page  - the slideshow of the set is embedded here (roll over the image and click the bottom right icon to see a full screen view).

Update 18.09.08: Been meaning to point out that the Flcikr slideshow doesn't seem to be working too well with IE7 - fine with Firefox I think. You might want to skip straight to our Flickr page 

Plenty to look at here.

On our Flickr page there's a series of snaps from the build including some interesting angles that were recently taken. There's also a new group we've set up of public pictures of the build. Lots of nice sunrises there. Will be adding more to both of these shortly.

And on the Liverpool Echo website Samantha Parker presents the fourth of her video progress reports from the site.

Work has started on the installation of the summer's big exhibition at World Museum, The Beat Goes On, which opens on 12 July 2008. The exhibition will explore Liverpool's musical identity over the last 60 years. As you'd expect, there will be a number of items on display relating to a certain fab four.

Head of furniture conservation Graham Usher is currently putting together one of those items - the very stage that Paul McCartney and John Lennon met on when John's band The Quarrymen played at a garden festival in Woolton in 1957. The Museum of Liverpool acquired the stage a couple of years ago and it was featured on the blog last year but this will be the first time that it has been on display in our venues. I'm sure it'll be a must-see for Beatles fans when the exhibition opens.

There's just a few days left to submit your application for one of the 10 Creative Apprenticeships on offer. A number of Merseyside-based cultural organisations, including National Museums Liverpool, are involved in a project to foster emerging talent and give young hopefuls a solid grounding in the arts and culture industry.

By the end of the year-long apprenticeship you'll have earned a Level 2 Certificate in Creative and Cultural Practice, and a Level 2 National Award in Community Arts Management, but perhaps more importantly you'll have developed the skills and contacts you'll need for a career in the industry.

More details are available on the Creative Partnerships Liverpool website.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that there wasn't a May Name That Object competition. We were rather busy with the redesign for the main site (check it out if you've not already) and it kind of took a back seat.

Anyway, June's is now up with the first clue available here. As ever you need to figure out which object from our collections (and our website) the detail is from and email us the answer using the contact link on the competition page. There's a new clue every day this week.

We've had lots of enquiries from people wanting to buy the Art In The Age of Steam exhibition catalogue so that's this month's prize. Good luck.