The big day is on Saturday 13th May 2023. Liverpool us hosting the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine on account of Russia having invaded and Kyiv not being safe. The city is buzzing as they say here abouts. Everyone is having a boss time. Liverpool is always a friendly city and this event shows it off to perfection. So many local groups and artistes involved in really putting on a show. There’s the usual big screen and a stage with free live shows. There are special buskers stations for local and Ukranian artists. Everywhere you can see blue and yellow flags and the tee shirts bear the slogan “You’ll never sing alone” styles after the local football anthem (borrowed from the musical Carousel) You’ll never walk alone.
Food. Writers workshops. LGBTQ+ safe spaces. Soap making. Sing alongs. Children’s events. Special exhibits at all the museums. Vloggers for miles. TV crews. Sunshine (OK and showers). Vogue dancing. Parades. A yellow and blue submarine. You really can feel the love. This is not about Liverpool, though. It’s on honour of a country torn apart by war. Those attending are decked out in both their own and Ukrainian flags. Sunflowers and the pink bucket hats we have come to associate with last years winners. It’s exciting.
Whoever wins this contest (and as I write several countries have already been eliminated) and whatever you think of Eurovision (people tend to love it or hate it) I can honestly say that it’s been one helluva party.
Well… It’s 100 days away. My lovely wife is at the handover this evening being on the Pride board and more than a little bit responsible for the whole Pride thing. Long story. I’m just hoping for a sweatshirt!
Yep. Three floors of video games set to free play…say what! I mean if you’re going to a party but you’re not a party person and then this happens. Hidden in an old industrial area now full of up and coming artists and shops and clubs in a part of Liverpool known as ‘The Baltic Triangle’ is a pub. Hidden within that pub is a video game need fest. ArCains. (No, they’re not paying me to write this)
Moments after the first lager had hit my lips I found myself battling at Pac Man, then shuffleboard which, being a physical game required a different kind of skill. Onwards to the haptic interface that is a ride upon plastic motorbike for a race or two through snow and pixelated jungles. In a moment of quiet I found the old school original Space Invaders and remembered very quickly how bad at it I’ve always been! Pong was next. This time a physical representation of the OG of all video games. Too easy. It was about now that I realised a)I had not eaten and that lager was going to my head and b)there were two more floors of games. I had originally thought the £18 entrance a bit steep for one room but nooooo there was so much more. All the games were set to free play and as such you’d well ‘ad your money’s worth (as they say in Liverpool) by the time you left. TBH we are planning another visit once the schools have gone back. Less kids embarrassingly beating me at Mario Kart although the fact that it was more like actual driving than on the console at home meant I was able to win a few rounds which never normally happens. The top floor had a wall of PC games hoked up. Clearly this was for the serious players who seemed somewhat less boisterous than the rest of the place. My advice, take earplugs or, better, just join in with the screams and squeals be a kid again (or at least a moody teenager)
Onward to the Baltic Market inside another of the old brewery buildings. Grab a table scan the number with the app and place your order. All four at our table ate from a different street food stall. All meals delivered to the table as they were prepared. Naturally everyone was eating everyone else’s food. There’s a drink selection too. Saturday night it was rammed and loud and we were, at least, outside avoiding the worst of the pumping sound system.
Falafel. Humous. Fries.
The ‘party’ was dispersed across several tables including those who represented the vanguard at our next venue, Sugar and Dice (nope, not sponsored) hidden behind Liverpool’s Nordic Church and a haven of sweet treats and coffee (although they have upped their bar game since last I was there). cake, yes please, tea for me I’m diving tomorrow, and a round of Cockroach Poker, Fluxx and something suitable for the kids on the next table that I never did learn the name of. Board games havens such as this often form a focus of any visit to a new town. Usually the coffee and cake is excellent and the clientele are happy to chat and give you great hints about local (possibly hidden) places of interest. The premise is simple buy your refreshments pay a small deposit or rent a chunk of time at a table and you may try out any of the 100s of board games they have in stock. Many such places will sell games too. I can get very boring about board games but board games are never boring. If you find yourself in a given location see if they have a board game café. I bet you’ll make a new friend and learn a new game.
I wonder if we’ll find a games café on our big trip…(I just checked. the answer is a definite yes) I know there’s a pack of cards on the carry on…do we have room for another one… just a small one…
Odd title eh? I spent last evening listening to Laurence Westgraph black historian and founder of the Liverpool and Slavery group. He was speaking at the Atheneum Club in Liverpool. The club has been around for a couple of hundred years. The founders included those who profited from the slave economy and those who opposed it. Some switched sides, for the better. One, William Roscoe MP lost everything in voting to abolish slavery. The club under it’s current president is looking at ways to pay respects and acknowledge the historic significance of its involvement in the trade. The audience was largely white, largely middle class and very engaged.
Many of Liverpool’s streets have names reflecting this trade, the names of the owners. There is only one named memorial in the gardens of the Parish Church of Our Lady and St Nicolas, that belongs to the first black resident of Liverpool. Abell a freed slave. The current Rector is also the current president of the Athenaeum. The club holds records of slave ownership and is committed to publishing research based on these. There are currently two doctoral candidates working on the records. It is not comfortable work but it is necessary. Liverpool was built on the slave economy.
The slave economy? Simply being a slave owner was not all of the story. Trade in slave produced goods from sugar to cotton were imported and made many a fortune. We have a Tate Gallery. The statue of the Spirit of Liverpool sits atop the Walker art gallery seated on a bale of cotton you can’t walk away from the bloody history of the city. Even the glorious Palm House was the first (and for a long time the only) place in the UK that had a statue of Columbus. When asked Laurence said that he believes that street names need to be left in place not changed so we can educate people and remind them. He gave his opinion that plaques explaining the truth should be placed near to sites of note so that all of history can be heard. In Falkener Square Gardens, for example, a sign tells of Major Edward Falkener raising a force to defend Liverpool from the French. Falkener gave money, never fought and his rank reflected the amount of money he gave all of it earned from the slave economy. (I’ve not added a link as Wikipedia has the sanitised version of the tale. Please feel free to join a walking tour if you ever visit the city.) These same philanthropists who built hospitals and churches also felt that is was acceptable to own people.
Liverpool was on the side of the Confederacy in the US civil war. It’s not a thing the current inhabitants are proud of but the people own it and are doing what they can.
Please remember that although slavery is illegal the world over it still happens. Next time you consider an eco friendly electric car think about who is mining the raw materials. Spend time finding out about sex traffiking. Ask yourself who made those clothes and at what cost? I had no desire to get preachy and yet that’s how this came out. There is more here than meets the eye. We may not be able to change history but if we do not learn about the uncomfortable past we are destined to repeat it.
ffiftypluses 