There is also a tale, that a then unknown Adolph Hitler supped here, when visiting Liverpool before the First World War. The story may have arisen, because Hitler’s half brother Alois ran a restaurant on Dale Street and so the idea is not as odd as it sounds- but there is no record and the story is only sourced from a book written by Alois’ wife Bridget, who may simply have been trying to boost book sales.
The Hitler family lived at 102 Upper Stanhope Street near to the Anglican Cathedral.
Robert Morris was born in poverty in Chorley Court which stood at 151 Dale Street now the offices of Stanley Leisure. .Who’s he?
He was known as the financier of the American Revolution, and was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in 1734 and emigrated to America in 1747, where he became the most successful merchant in America.
He used his own personal credit to finance the Revolution and ensured that weapons and other supplies were available to Washington’s army. He was appointed by Congress to be the Republics’ first Superintendent of Finance and established the National Bank, and Mint.
The Municipal Buildings, on the corner of Sir Thomas Street were built in the 1860s in Renaissance style from a design by John Weightman. If you look up to the third floor you will see a series of sandstone figures, representing arts, sciences local industries, and connections with trading partners- Africa, Europe etc.
One of the coaching inns I mentioned earlier stood here. The
Hetherington family kept a herd of 700 horses for their coaching service from the Saracen’s Head Inn.
It took 26 hours to travel to London.
Opposite is Princes Building designed by Henry Shelmardine was completed in 1882. It incorporated a leather works.
The Magistrates Court (and the Main Bridewell just around the corner) were designed by John Weightman and completed in 1859. The large arch was to allow direct access by horse-drawn carriage.
Turn left onto Hatton Garden, and pass the Bridewell and the Days Inn to come to the junction with Tithebarn St.
Tithebarn House has the offices of the successor of the Elder Dempster Line, which gives us the chance to look at one of the most murderous regimes of the Nineteenth Century
. In 1890 17 year old Edmund Morel joined the Elder Dempster Line as a humble clerk .He had no history of activism, and showed no particular interest in Africa other than was necessary for his job.
That same year a black American civil rights worker, James Washington Williams, was visiting the Congo which was run as a private possession of King Leopold of Belgium. He hoped to find opportunities for other black Americans to progress in ways that were impossible in the U.S.A.
What he saw horrified him and he began a campaign on behalf of the Congolese.
In one of his letters home he coined the phrase ”Crimes against humanity” to describe the brutalities he had observed, the first time the phrase had been used. King Leopold was a master of deception and was able to argue that there was no proof of Williams’s charges. Williams’ faced a long uphill struggle, when sadly he died in 1891.
Enter Edmund Morel whose clerical duties included monitoring Elder Dempster’s monopoly of sea trade to and from the Congo. He noticed that whilst riches, particularly rubber and ivory, flowed from the Congo the only imports seemed to be guns and ammunition.
How were the workers being paid? The answer was the workers were enslaved, and the missing millions were going to Leopold’s banks.
The rubber trees grew wild in the jungle, and it would be impossible to gather the sap without allowing the slaves to move freely. What was to stop the slaves escaping?
Leopold’s soldiers came up with a solution- they would invade a village, imprison the women and children and order the men to work for them. If they did not return their family would be murdered.
If they returned without fulfilling their full quota they would be murdered.
The soldiers were issued with a set number of bullets. They had to provide proof that they had killed a man for each bullet fired.
They initially cut off their victims’ hands. It was decided that this was not sufficient- the hands could be from women so they instituted a new policy-severing their victims penises.
Nobody knows the true extent of the slaughter. The population of the Congo in the 1880s was estimated at 25 million. In 1911 the official figure was 8.5 million.
Some of the deaths were caused by sleeping sickness, but possibly as many as 7.5 million were killed by Leopold’s men.
Morel founded his newspaper, the “West African Mail” in 1903 and maintained a determined campaign to expose the horrors.
As a result a Dublin born British Civil Servant, Roger Casement was sent to the Congo to prepare a first-hand report. The cool language of the detailed report including 20 pages of witness testimony brought home the outrages .
The report to the British government was circulated to other leading governments and of course to the Belgian Government. Leopold’s death allowed the Belgian Government to take control; of the Congo and they were shamed by the campaign to moderate the earlier policies. There were some arrests but only one official served time, five years hard labour.
Teddy Roosevelt, Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad had supported the campaign. The latter based his novel “Heart of Darkness” on the Congo’s experience- and this was the basis of the Vietnamese War movie, “Apocalypse Now”.
Roger Casement was executed during the First World War for liasing with the Germans in relation to the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin
Morel later became a Labour M.P. when he defeated Winston Churchill in the Dundee constituency in 1922 . He died in 1924.
Near Marybone opposite was a large pond called The Flashes, which, until 1805 had a Ducking Stool. The yellow sculpture with the front of a sheep and the back of a banana is not an exercise in genetic modification but Superlambanana by Japanese artist Taro Chiezo .
It is intended to warn the dangers of genetic engineering and symbolise the playful spirit of Liverpool. ,
On April Fools’ Day 2004, we awoke to find Superlambanana had a baby-a 3 feet tall sculpture. It gave everyone a laugh, but only survived a few days before idiots destroyed it.
A little up Vauxhall Road is Cockspur Street, named after the Cockpit whichstood there. At number 12 Marybone lived Dr. Samuel Solomon the inventor of the tonic “Balm of Gilead” which sold all over the world for half a guinea a bottle.
He kept the ingredients of his medicinal compound a secret, sourcing the ingredients from different places, and he and his tonic became so famous that he was offered the accolade of being cast for Madame Tussaud’s. The lady herself visited Solomon to make the waxwork but it almost proved fatal, as Madame Tussaud forgot to leave air holes in the wax mask.
Solomon nearly suffocated, and refused to have anything more to do with it. He was a noted benefactor and as his fortune grew, he moved to grander and grander houses, but each was demolished as he moved. Even his final resting place, his Mausoleum, was removed to make way for Cooper Avenue, hence the tribute;
“Great Solomon has gone
His home and Sepulchre and balm
If his mixture did Mankind no good
At least it did no harm.”
Turn right onto Great Crosshall Street
This area has been redeveloped, mainly into student flats. Some items from Holy Cross Church which stood here are on display including the plaque which reads;
“Near this spot stood the medieval Saint Patrick’s Cross which traditionally was believed to mark the place where St. Patrick preached before sailing to Ireland in A.D. 432”
The monument consists of the Cross and other artefacts from the former church
Carry on along Great Crosshall street, keeping the flyover to your right and the walkway will take you past some more John Moores University buildings.The Statue in front of the Henry Cotton Building is “Palanzana”.JPG)
- the volcanic Peperino stone of the statue was quarried near there. The sculptor was Stephen Cox . At the end of the walkway turn right. Ahead of you are the Artdeco
details of the entrance of the Mersey Tunnel. Turn right back onto Dale St.
There are a couple of interesting pubs here. The Ship and Mitre has more real ales than any other in the city,as well as an huge range of continental lagers.It has good quality pub grub, freshly prepared, I recommend the onion rings.Paul Simon played a gig here in the Sixties. The Tru, up Trueman St, has Cavern-like bars
Cross at the traffic lights onto Crosshall St.
The Crosse’s were a prominent family until about 300 years ago and had their Hall here, hence the street name.
Westminster buildings on your left and the adjacent corner Victoria Chapel at 3A show some more Welsh connections. The main building was built for a family of Welsh surveyors by Richard Owens, and the Chapel was for Welsh Calvinists, completed 1880.
Turn left at the next junction and go to the end of Victoria St. This area used to be packed with fruit and vegetable wholesale warehouses with fresh produce stalls on the Street for the public, and business offices above.
The old premises have leant themselves to a variety of modern uses as bars restaurants apartments offices and shops.
The narrow building at the junction with Whitechapel was known as Imperial Buildings, built in 1879, with a terracotta facade and designed by the Shelmerdines
It is now incorporated into Millennium House.
On the other side of the Street are the Jerome and Carlisle Buildings,completed 1885, and designed by John Clark. The restaurants are a little unusual- an Indian restaurant sandwiched between the two halves of a Chinese.
Walk back to cross Crosshall St.
“Aldo’s Place is a lounge bar and restaurant owned by former Liverpool F.C, player, John Aldridge.
The Met Quarter retains the grand facade of the old Post Office, which was built between 1894-99 in the style of a Loire chateau. There is a sculpture by Edward O. Griffith around the main entrance. Inside the shopping area are some of the top designer labels.
Opposite is the Sir Thomas Hotel with the St. John’s Bar and restaurant, in the former Bank of Liverpool building, completed 1882 to a design by Grayson.
The Ashcroft Buildings next door were built in 1883,for snooker table maker James Ashcroft with a capacious showroom on the ground floor to provide space for the tables
.Number 21, Union House, has friezes in the lobby which reveals its former usage, by tea importers, Tetley, with illustrations of tea being shipped from China. Underneath is “Don Pepe” an authentic Spanish restaurant which has been around forever.
Opposite on Temple Court is the Commercial Saleroom Building completed by James Doyle in 1879. The ground floor was a fruit saleroom, with the produce stored in the cool of the cellars. No doubt we had some very healthy rats!
Numbers 11-13, formerly Lloyds Bank, completed in 1928 was designed by Grayson and Barnish. The former grand banking hall now houses a very popular bar and restaurant, “The Living Room”
3-9, Fowlers Building built for Fowlers Bros, produce merchants 1856-69 The architect, Picton was influenced by Italian Renaissance palaces. It now houses the Marquee and Metro lounge bars. The former is good for tapas and also serve Lebanese food cooked over charcoal. Metro is also good for food,
The Nat West bank opposite is housed in the former Produce Exchange Building, built in 1902 to a Shelmerdine design. the cellars house an enormous bar.
Number 1 the rounded building with “Cain’s” underneath was originally built as a restaurant with offices above for Andrew Walker. Take a look at the chimney stacks.
Century Buildings opposite were completed, a year late in 1901 to a Hartley design.
Turn right onto North John Street to "La Vina” a restaurant and tapas bar which must be authentic, because lots of Liverpool F.C.’s Spanish signings eat here.
The windowless building opposite is a chimney vent for the Mersey Tunnel. This ends this walk lots of good places to eat and drink.
Your nearest station is Moorfields- carry on past “La Vina”, turn right and Moorfields is on your left.