City Centre Living

[Ged]

According to the research I did at the records office, it just says the South of the city but doesn't say where specifically. Of course another hindrance with that is that the Mersey widens at this point. Brian Jacques who narrates in the Homes not Roads protest film indicates that the South end would have been the practical solution. In the opinion of many in the shipping world, Seaforth could have been a great alternative for artics leaving the newer docks as they now have to go up Church road which has damaged house foundations, before heading townwards via Scotland Road towards Kingsway (they are banned from Queensway)

JMU Professor Lewis Lesley who was interviewed for Homes not Roads in 1978 was sought out by Paul, maker of Gardens of Stones and attended our last screening and hailed it as relevant as ever. He announced back then that the inner ring road proposals for the city centre area were a disaster and just last year it was proposed that the Churchill Way flyovers may well be coming down but don't know the latest on this since the tram fiasco.

[Gerard]

"He can't mean the people who go the Empire Theatre can he? The people who drink in the Lord Duncan? The people in the kebab shop?"

"He" has got me flummoxed as well..
Wheres the Lord Duncan by the way.

[goldenface]

I think I meant the Admiral Duncan Gerard, the pub facing the Odeon.

[Ged]

Do you mean our local, The Lord Warden?

[ChrisGeorge]

I think I meant the Admiral Duncan Gerard, the pub facing the Odeon.

He must be a relative of yours, Gerard, if his name was Admiral Duncan Gerard.

Excuse the levity, mates.

Chris

[Gerard]

I think you mean this place goldenface.
The Lord Warden...
My local and full of my friends..
The Chap behind the Bar is My uncles brother..All one big happy family..



And the Chap on the left is my mate as well..
He is the Manager of the Empire theatre and this shows the Empire Stage..

So its neither of them Im afraid.

[Gerard]

He must be a relative of yours, Gerard, if his name was Admiral Duncan Gerard.

Excuse the levity, mates.

Chris

Nice one Rrrrr Chris Lad.

[goldenface]

THATS the one I'm thinking of.

[Ged]

Gerard, I can see my old next door neighbour Dom but where's Bobo?

[Gerard]

Gerard, I can see my old next door neighbour Dom but where's Bobo?

Took that photo about 3 weeks ago Ged when I went in for a pint with me Dads brother John.
Sneaked in and had a little blimp first to make sure Bobo had gone home..


This one's for you goldenface..
TJ'S....SALE NOW ON....SALE NOW ON....SALE NOW ON....
Hurry up girl !!

[Gerard]

All that gear above the owl girl doesn't look too safe does it !!

[The Gardens]

It seems like its a never-ending story really doesn't it.

Even now we have communities battling to stay together, like the tenants of the Welsh Streets off Windsor Street.

I guess what it boils down to is people don't like being shoved around for one reason or another, all in the name of progress.

I know from personal experiance of the Gerard Gardens area that it was a case of 'town planners' deciding what THEY thought was good for the community. e.g. 'wouldn't it be great to get those people out of the slums tenements and into new housing'. On paper it looks a very good proposition, but the residents were never canvessed for THEIR opinion. The vacant land facing Gerard Gardens was ideal for new family homes, but that didn't stop the council ulitising some of the existing housing stock for many residents (couples/ widows etc) who wanted to stay in the flats. The majority of the new properties were build on land outside of the Gerard Gardens footprint, which now accommodates a very small number of new houses in Gerard Street.

The development could have been a 'win win' with the right mix of old and new housing. On a car, would you replace your whole exhaust if just the back box is gone??

Council tennents were always treated like cannon fodder, peppered across the four corners of Liverpool (and beyond) in the name of progress.

[JustVisiting]

How could a copy of "Homes Not Roads" be acquired?