Georgian City
Catch any of the 80 buses- 80, 80A etc, or the 86 buses and ask the driver to let you off at Huskisson St.
Shortly before you alight the road bends sharply to the right. This is by Myrtle Street which was one boundary of the first Botanic Gardens,, opened in 1803.
The Russian Imperial Botanical Gardens in St. Petersburg were modelled on Liverpool’s and plants from here were given to Russia. In recognition Czar Alexander gave the Curator, John Shepherd, a diamond ring and medals.
William Roscoe was one of the founders of the Gardens and he sent a group of botanists on an expedition to America in 1811. They went 160 miles up the Missouri, and braved Indian threat to harvest many specimens. One of the adventurers stayed in the U.S. to become the first curator of Harvard’s Botanic Gardens. The current Botanic Gardens are at Harthill Gardens, near Calderstones Park about 3 miles from here.
66 Huskisson Street was the home of Alfred Rodewald the wealthy patron of Sir Edward Elgar, and it was here that Elgar wrote his most famous work, "Pomp and Circumstance March No.1", better known as "Land of Hope and Glory"
Walk up Huskisson St. to Falkner Square,.JPG)
an unspoilt Georgian Square built around what were private gardens. Don’t be surprised if this looks familiar to you, the Square and the surrounding streets have starred in lots of period films and T.V. dramas.
At the top end of the gardens there is a memorial to the Black merchant sailors .JPG)
who perished in the Second World War, many of whom lived in this area. Leave the Gardens by the nearby gate, turn right and then left onto Upper Parliament Street and you will come to the Women’s Hospital. An interesting
feature of the Hospital is that from the very beginning it was decided that art should be incorporated into the building and that this would help the healing process. A variety of pieces are on display including sculptures, paintings, wall hangings, murals and stained-glass pieces. The colour coded scheme and logos which help you find your way around are by artist Bridget Riley
I was brought up in this area, so let me tell you about a local haunted house opposite the Hospital on the corner of Upper Parliament, and Mulberry Streets.
The story as told to us as children was of a jilted bride who lived for decades with the decaying ruins of her wedding day slowly turning to dust around her - like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations.
The truth as I found out years later was less dramatic. A brother and sister, the Davis’s lived there until 1906 when the brother died. Miss Davis didn’t want to live there on her own, and decided to keep it as it was during her brothers lifetime. She kept it unchanged. and occasionally visited it- giving neighbours the impression that she was living like a hermit there and starting a legend that would frighten us half a century after her own death.
Come back down Upper Parliament St. and cross by the lights to Princ.JPG)
es Road to the Florence Nightingale Memorial, just behind this is the former Nurses Training School, and Home that she set up..JPG)
A little further along the Road, are the domes of the splendid Greek Orthodox
Church, and almost opposite, the magnificent Princes Park Synagogue,
with the old Deaf and Dumb School.JPG)
next to it. On the plinth in the central area that divides the 2 sides of Princes Boulevard is
an unusual statue, of Leonard Peltier.JPG)
who is claimed as “America’s Mandela.” His case has been championed by Amnesty International, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Rev. Jesse Jackson amongst others.
Peltier was an organiser for the American Indian Movement, who was asked to help with a 3 year long dispute on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The FBI followed some people onto the Reservation and a firefight broke out,in which 2 FBI agents and one Native American were killed. Although the FBI stated that 40 Native Americans were involved in the shoot-out, only Peltier and 2 others were prosecuted. He was acquitted by a federal court on the grounds of self-defence.
He was re-arrested when the FBI found fresh “evidence” for example the testimony of Myrtle Poor Bear who claimed to have been his girlfriend, but in fact had never met him.
She testified she had seen him shoot the agents, but recanted her evidence saying she had been terrified into lying by the FBI.He has served nearly 30 years in prison, long after he could have been released on parole. However he would only be considered for parole if he admitted guilt for the crime and he will not admit guilt for a crime he did not commit. If you want to know more see www.freepeltier.org
Return and cross Upper Parliament St. to Catherine St.
On your right is Egerton St. with Peter Kavanagh’s pub which is recommended if you enjoy a good discussion. If I were to attempt to describe the interior, the first word would be eccentric.
A little further along Catherine St. is St.Bride’s..JPG)
It is worth walking down Huskisson St. to see the front view of the Church, and the splendid rows of houses on Percy St.St. Brides’ is a Neoclassical temple designed by Samuel Rowland in1830
Notice the original lamps with the cross hands at the top to allow the lamplighter to lean his ladder against. They are now converted to electricity, but these kind of lamps were a mini playground to us as kids. Climbing on them, hanging upside down and swinging.JPG)
on ropes Further along Catherine St. is the Byzantine style oratory of St. Philip Neri,built 1914-20. The adjacent bomb site was turned into the Spanish Garden .jpg)
by the incumbent, Dr. John Garvin in the 1950s.
The modern flats on the corner of Canning St. are built on the site where Helen Forrester lived after the family became impoverished ,the story of which made
her fortune. The Street is named after George Canning M.P. for Liverpool and Prime Minister in Victorian times
.Walk along Huskisson St. to the corner with Bedford Street to a rare post box. The pillar box is marked for the then king. Edward VIII,.jpg)
who never actually mounted the throne before he abdicated in 1936 to marry Mrs Simpson Return to Catherine St. and turn right A little further along is Agnes Jones House.JPG)
built 1926-32,
Follow around the bend onto Myrtle St. and there are all the bars and
restaurants from the Cathedrals walk. To return to the city centre, walk downhill or catch any bus in that direction.