The Merseyside Great Escape

For half term week, London Midland have been running a Great Escape promotion whereby passengers can buy a £10 ticket and spend the day exploring their network. This sounded like a good deal to me, and not wanting to miss out, I decided to avail them of their generosity with a visit to Liverpool.

• The ride up from Wolverhampton to Liverpool was smooth and relaxing, taking about 1 hour 20 minutes all told which seemed to be good going. The train was quite empty to begin with, but filled up gradually at Penkridge and Stafford then became full at Crewe. The line beyond Crewe was new territory for me, and I enjoyed catching glimpses of Runcorn and suburban Merseyside.
• The train terminates at Liverpool Lime Street, where I alight to be greeted by a statue of Ken Dodd complete with tickling stick. I wasn't sure whether Lime Street would be a photo-friendly station, so there was a sense of trepidation as the camera came out. As it turned out, I encountered no problems whatsoever, and thoroughly enjoyed investigating the various platforms and raiding the travel centre for information on the Merseyrail network.
  
• Lime Street station is actually undergoing some construction work, meaning the main entrance is closed off at the moment. I exited the station at Lord Nelson Street and wandered round to see what view I could get of the frontage. Through the lorries and hoardings I could see an impressive curving glazed structure with the National Rail logo taking pride of place, and I look forward to returning to see the finished result.
  
• Time now for some City Centre exploration, working my way through a pre-planned tour of transport locations and Liverpool landmarks. The Adelphi Hotel catches my eye, then I have a quick look at Liverpool Central Station, half-hidden away in a shopping mall where I try a rare indoor photo amongst a flurry of passengers.
  
• Heading down past BBC Radio Merseyside, I arrive at Liverpool One Bus Station. It's a nice modern facility, but as expected, the photo opportunites are somewhat limited by the layout of the stands. I didn't particularly want to stand in the middle of the bus lane on this occasion, so I zoomed a couple of views as best as I could then consoled myself with a visit to the travel centre where an array of timetables tantalised me with destinations such as Bootle, Widnes, St Helen's and Croxteth Park.
  
• One Liverpool landmark I was particularly keen to explore was the Albert Docks, as they were about all I could remember from when I visited the city as a kid. With much anticipation I set about getting views of the distinctive warehouses, a cracking experience as the Tate Gallery and the Maritime Museum took centre stage. The docks also provided the perfect setting for a spot of lunch, looking out over a hive of activity and reflecting on the days when This Morning was filmed here and Fred Talbot used to leap about on his floating weathermap!
• From one iconic location to another, as I next explore the ferry terminal in the shadow of the legendary Liver Building. The Mersey crossing was immortalised in the famous Gerry & the Pacemakers hit, and I can sense the mixture of awe, fear and wonder passengers may have felt when disembarking here for the first time - both the Liver Building and the Cunard Building certainly grabbed my attention, despite the best efforts of a hail shower trying to dampen my spirits.
• On with the transport tour, calling at James Street Station then Moorfields. Neither really appealed to me much; at James Street I immediately hit the ticket barriers and the station frontage didn't really stand out in the streetscape, whilst Moorfields' entry comprised a set of escalators and a ramp so I didn't feel enticed to wander inside.
• The city's second bus station is at Queen Square, and again it wasn't a great place to take photos. The stands here are quite distinctive with large yellow and black numbers, whilst the Travel Centre is housed in an eyecatching round building - I would've gone in but I'd collected enough timetables and stuff already.
• To finish my Liverpool jaunt, I have a look around the Cultural Quarter. There are some proud buildings here, including the World Museum, the Picton Library and the Walker Art Gallery. I have a quick mooch inside the Central Library then dash back to Lime Street for the 14:04 train, pausing to bid Ken farewell before hopping on board. Sitting in the front carriage, it appears I'd unwittingly gatecrashed a stag party heading for Birmingham - that famed Scouse sense of humour was very much in evidence here!
  
• The day wasn't over yet though, as I fancied making a call somewhere on the way home. My choice was Runcorn, a town that seemed very much down on its luck. Closed buildings such as the Scala and the New Inn hinted at happier times gone by, although there were still some positive discoveries to be made. The Runcorn Arm of the Bridgewater Canal was a nice find, especially the terminus at Waterloo Bridge, and I was also impressed with the bus station - now here was a place where I had half a chance of a photo or two, with routes such as the 62 to Widnes and the 72C kindly obliging. I got the feeling a bit of money had been spent on providing good waiting facilities here, and the town is all the better for it.
• My trip concludes back at Runcorn Railway Station, where I wait for my 15:25 journey back to Wolverhampton. The station is managed by Virgin Trains, has a sprawling modern red footbridge and is a perfectly practical facility, yet its not really my cup of tea as it seems devoid of the traditional charm I like so much - some weird dog-like sculptures on platform 1 were about as interesting as it got, and they scared me as much as anything else.

And so that was Merseyside - quite a remarkable day of exploring there, and I definitely got my money's worth from the ticket. Thanks must go to London Midland for putting on the promotion in the first place - I hope they repeat the offer in future, because I'm keen to see what else the Liverpool region has to offer...