National Museums Liverpool Blog - Thursday, January 18, 2007

It would be wrong to highlight eighties photos of Liverpool on Flickr without pointing everyone to Nancy023's superb collection. Now based in Seattle, most of these photographs were taken during a year spent in Liverpool over twenty years ago.

Milk Bar, New Brighton

Commutation Row, Philip G Mayer

Philip G Mayer's flickr photostream contains some great early 1980s photographs of Liverpool, including this one of Wellington column outside the Walker with the row of buildings that were demolished to make way for Commutation Plaza.

Philip has also set up the Old Liverpool pool, inviting anyone with a Flickr account to post their photos to it. The pool includes this great set of postcards that he dates to around 1906 -  I love the Prince's Avenue and Bold Street ones. The postcards are all based on original photographs. There's also a very stylish artist's impression of the interior of the Mersey Tunnel and a set of photos of the last night of Woolton Cinema.

While David Beckham is making a splash in the US with his LA Galaxy ‘soccer’ antics, World Museum Liverpool has itself been subject to a bit of an American invasion.

Liverpool Centurions AFC is our local community American Football Club – and they’ve been down to LoveSport to give us a bit of taster.

Jon Askew and Andrew Morris show their tender sides

On their website, Centurions' chairman and fullback Jon Askew (pictured right) explains that, “Visitors to the display will get the chance try out at Flag Football, which is a great introduction to the sport”.

Apparently flag football is a non-contact version of the game - which is handy if you don’t fancy getting knocked over by this pair of bruisers. Joking aside, I am assured that the Centurions are a charming bunch of fellows who love their sport and want to spread the word about the game.

They’ll be back at World Museum Liverpool for another taster session on 24th January from 10am until 2pm. 

In the meantime, I am relishing the start of the rugby league season. Centurions of another variety, Leigh, are visiting Knowsley Road on Friday night for a friendly opener against the Saints. The match is also Sean Long’s testimonial and sees old team favourite’s Chris Joynt, Tommy Martyn and Paul Newlove back in the fold for the occasion. Can’t wait!

Patrick Caulfield's 'Still Life: Autumn Fashion' is one of the most popular pieces in the Walker's 20th century collection and is currently on display in Room 13 at the gallery.

The excellent Patrick Caulfield collection display at Tate Liverpool (not one of our venues) finishes early next month (4 February 2007), images of all fifty two works are available on the Tate website.

To mark the end of the display, Marco Livingstone will be giving a talk in the display space next Wednesday (full details). In 1981 Marco Livingstone selected works for the Walker Art Gallery's Patrick Caulfield retrospective.

We take it for granted sometimes that everyone understands which venues we represent at National Museums Liverpool, but personal experience suggests it can be confusing. It's even more confusing when we occasionally highlight events and exhibitions at other Liverpool museums and galleries on this blog.

I'm creating this post so that when I mention a Merseyside gallery or museum, I can include a link to this explanation.

We are - Walker Art Gallery, World Museum Liverpool, Museum of Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Sudley House, Lady Lever Art Gallery, HM Customs & Excise National Museum and National Conservation Centre.

We're not (but we like) - Tate Liverpool, FACT, the Beatles Story, Open Eye Gallery, University of Liverpool Art Gallery, Greenland Street, View Two Gallery, Almiro Gallery, 52 Roscoe Street, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead Priory, Wirral Museum, Renew Rooms, Alima Centre gallery, National Wildflower Centre, 59 Rodney Street, British Lawnmower Museum, Western Approaches, Spaceport, Bluecoat Arts Centre, Atkinson Art Gallery, Blue Planet Aquarium, South Bohemia Art Gallery, Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, World of Glass, EggSpace, Mendips, The Artfinder's Gallery, Arena, Dot-art Gallery, Cornerstone Gallery, Cube Noir, Museum Man, Liverpool Academy of Arts, The Royal Standard, Williamson Tunnels.

Hope I've not left too many off the list (and we'll look at Prescot Museum another day..).

A subterranean Liverpool landmark celebrates its 50th anniversary today. Since 1957 generations of clubbers have trailed down the stairs for a night out at the Cavern. I myself spent many happy hours on its dancefloor as a student (as well as several not so happy hours in the seemingly neverending queue for the ladies).

The Cavern is of course most famous as the venue to see a certain local band at the start of their career in the 1960s. The  Beatles played at the Cavern on at least 292 occasions, their first recorded appearance being 9 February 1961, and their final one on 3 August 1963.

Among recent additions to the collections of the Museum of Liverpool is the Cavern membership card from 1964 pictured above, which belonged to John Marsh of Huyton. You can't see this card on display yet, but fans can enjoy a lot of the museum's other Beatles memorabilia in our Beatles online exhibition, or just have fun with the Beatles games.

A mystery that has intrigued many local historians is the exact location of the original Cavern club, which was filled in when the venue closed in 1973. The reincarnated Cavern was rebuilt using the original bricks in a different part of Mathew Street in the 1980s. I'm not sure how helpful this is, but another membership card from the museum's collection has these directions inside. Frustratingly, I don't think the map is drawn to scale though.

Cavern Club membership card, 1962 Season, owned by member Peter Day of Wallasey, dated 18-2-62. In the Club Notes section Peter listed the bands he saw at the Cavern, complete with dates, including the Beatles, 20 June 1962. Kindly donated by Mr Peter Day.

Detail of a Master's Declaration, announcing Shackleton's last expedition in 1921

Today is the anniversary of the day that polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton found the magnetic south pole in 1909. You'd think that after returning from an adventure like that he'd just want to stay at home with a warm mug of cocoa, or tick off the 'visit south pole' box on his travel wish list and start planning a cruise round the Caribbean to thaw out. He obviously wasn't the sunbathing type though, as he led several more expeditions to the Antarctic after this.

One of the prized documents in the collection of the Customs and Excise Museum is a Master's Declaration that announces the outward journey of his ill-fated last expedition in 1921. Sadly, Ernest Shackleton did not reach the Antarctic on that occasion as he died of a heart attack on South Georgia Island in January 1922.

Another famous explorer who has been in the news lately is Captain Robert Scott, whose moving last letters to his family will go on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum in Cambridge tomorrow. The Customs and Excise Museum also have a letter from Captain Scott in the collections, that he wrote to request exemption from tax for the ship Terra Nova for an expedition in 1910. Nowhere near as poignant as the incredible letters to his loved ones, but still an interesting side of polar exploration that you wouldn't normally see.

What is the parent comet of the Lyrids? Are the Andromadids extinct yet? What's the hourly rate of the Delta Aquarids? Do the Taurids end before the Leonids begin? If any of these questions have been troubling you the answers are now at hand with our new annual meteor shower chart from the staff at the Planetarium.

Leonid meteor shower, 2001, RG Photo

Still from video footage of the Titanic wreck. Image courtesy of Steve Rigby.

Good news for everyone who has missed the old Floating Palaces gallery at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, which closed for refurbishment in the autumn. A brand new gallery featuring the Titanic, Lusitania and Empress of Ireland disasters is currently being installed on the first floor of the museum. It has now been confirmed that the gallery will open on Saturday 10 February.

Being a nosey type of a person, I had a sneak preview of the new gallery when I was in the museum last week and must say it's looking fantastic so far. When the gallery opens visitors will be able to walk all the way round the Titanic model and see it from all sides for the first time. Most of the other favourite obects from the old gallery will be on display, along with some new items.

One exciting addition will be video footage that Steve Rigby of Warrington, the honorary secretary of the British Titanic Society, took of his submarine trip to the Titanic wreck, two and a half miles deep, in 2001. Visitors will be able to listen to a recording of Steve describing his amazing experiences on the trip.