June 13 part 2

A view from the tower of the Anglican Cathedral. Look just above and left of the whit car to see my boat. Moored right in the center of everything. (I am a little smaller than the other ships you can see!)

I spent the day exploring further, with lots of things to see and experience.Some drama along the way. I began, on a glorious blue-sky morning by touring the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral. There is lots of history with this building, thought the current one is very new. Liverpool has a very large Catholic population, mostly from Ireland. In the early part of the 20th century, there was enormous tension and rivalry between Catholics and Protestants, and this was evident in the plans for their respective cathedrals. (both are 20th century). The Anglicans were slow, but building the largest cathedral in Britain. The Catholics decided that hey wanted the largest church outside the Vatican, and commissioned a fellow named Lutyens. They started, and the crypt had made progress, but WW2 intervened, and the costs of the grand design were too much, so an alternative was proposed, and built, sitting on the huge crypt. Meanwhile, the Anglicans had completed their building. Along the way, however, two clerics: the leaders of each congregation, got together, and formed a very close bond that remains. The competition and tension is gone, and there is a great deal of cooperation and collaboration today, including visits of the Queen and Pope, to BOTH cathedrals. Both are spectacular places, and very different.

the largest, heaviest, and highest peal of bells in the world, including the second largest bell in Britain (Great George) in the center of the picture

maneuvering inside the dock area, note the innovative ‘bow-thruster’

reverse view of the docks looking towards the Anglican Cathedral. My boat is just behind the smokestack, in Salthouse Dock

Liverpool Metropolitan RC Cathedral

interior with ethereal blue light from the stained glass

the largest stained glass window in the world floods the interior with coloured light. The open feeling is special.