TIME is running out in the fight to save one of Merseyside’s most historic ships. moreQuote:
Originally Posted by Kev
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TIME is running out in the fight to save one of Merseyside’s most historic ships. moreQuote:
Originally Posted by Kev
Kev
Is the Maritime Museum not interested in it ?
Surely a piece of history like this should be kept on Merseyside whatever the cost.
I never did pass it. I gave up the sea a few years befor it was put in place.
Phredd
Its a unique vessel, not sure if they have shown an interest. Its almost on par with the moving of the gormley statues, we shouldn't let it happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by phredd
Just sent this off >>>>>>>>>
************************************************
Runcorn
WAx xxx
01928-7*****
The Mersey Lightship is a very unique vessel. I am not sure but I think it is the last surviving one of its kind.
I did not have the pleasure (yes it was) to pass this as I gave up the sea in 1957.
I ask you as a newspaper to use all the power and publicity you have to help to keep this ship in Liverpool. Our city has lost too much of its Maritime history.
Please act in some way.
Fred B***** (name and address supplied but NOT for publication)
************************************************** ***
You never can tell = It may help.
e-mail to >>>> talkback@liverpoolecho.co.uk
Good luck :PDT11Quote:
Originally Posted by phredd
Unsure if we have posted this before on Yo, I recall photos and a thread about the Lightship
Please vote [leave a message] to save the Mersey lightship restored in the Albert Dock, there are those who want to take it to Manchester, more of our heritage could be lost
http://www.barlightvessel.org.uk/index.html
John
John
Well done me old hearty
Thanks for the link
Phredd (r652207)
No problem phredd. hopefully others will sign as well
I hope this is in the correct place.
Many ships on this site have a Liverpool/Merseyside connection
http://www.photoship.co.uk/
If you are looking for a ship I think this is the place to start.
Phredd
Morning all.
Has anyone any more information on the fate of the Lightship. ???
Phredd
A statement from the Albert Dock authorities said that Planet cannot stay in either Albert Dock or Canning Dock and will be removed to Salford.
However, the ship’s supporters from across the world are fighting back, supported by Judith Feather, Liverpool Culture Company’s maritime supremo.
Planet’s owner Gary McClarnan claims that Ms Feather, head of marine events, told him that it is not necessary for Planet to go to Salford because of inadequate infrastructure here. (inadequate infrastructure here? what does that mean, it floats!!!!!!)
Instead, she suggests that the electricity and water supplies that the ship would need in Canning Dock could be installed at a reasonable cost.
This contradicts a statement released by Albert Dock Company, its public spaces management company Gower Street Estates and British Waterways, blaming “lack of infrastructure” for ejecting Planet.The statement says:
Here we go.....:rolleyes::rolleyes:
“All (Albert Dock) partners would like to see the lightship remain in the South Docks area but, unfortunately, a suitable location cannot be found which meets health and safety requirements, the needs of the owner and the partners.
“Unfortunately Canning Dock cannot be used permanently because it is a tidal dock used during the operation of ships sailing through Canning river lock.”
This also appears to be at odds with long-term plans for the permanent berth in Canning Dock of HMS Whimbrel, the Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Ship, which is far bigger than Planet.
The Albert Dock statement adds: “Although all partners recognised the historic significance of the Mersey Bar lightship, some concerns were raised from occupiers of the Albert Dock estate about the vessel being moored there.
“On 18 January 2007, during extreme weather, the mooring lines securing the vessel to the dock wall broke away and the vessel was moved to Canning Half Tide Dock for health and safety reasons.”
Mr McClarnan, a Manchester-based music and property entrepreneur, denied he was consulted about the statement and disputed much of its content.
He says: “Planet could be moored securely in Albert Dock with ropes around the warehouse columns as shown in old photos, and a practice used by Merseyside Maritime Museum’s vessels.
“I wasn’t asked to move Planet from there for health and safety reasons, but threatened with trespass by Gower Street Estates if I moored the ship to the columns. That’s why the ship broke free in the storm.”
Pam Brown, Mersey Bar Lightvessel Preservation Society president, says: “I hope that some kind of sense will still prevail to keep this iconic vessel here.
“There is plenty of quay space in Canning Dock for Planet’s permanent berth. It’s simply a case of the relevant authorities sitting around a table if they are committed to make it happen.”
Planet, the former Mersey Bar lightship and Britain’s last manned lightship, was likely to be sold abroad when Mr McClarnan bought it for £100,000 and spent a further £100,000 on restoration.
source....
Kev
Any further news about the Lightship ?
We have a Yellow Lamb Banana and a Yellow Submarine. Maybe if we paint the lightship Yellow it will stay on the Mersey.
Me !!! I live in a dreamland.
Phredd
You can almost feel everyone breathing in :PDT_Xtremez_42:
The dredger Mersey Venture (page 2 of this thread), is to be decommissioned.
THE Yellow Duckmarine has become a familiar sight around Liverpool city centre – driving passengers through the heart of city before splashing into the Albert Dock.
Now the firm behind the tours has announced the acquisition of the last available duck in the UK and is celebrating doubling its fleet this year.
The colourful amphibious vehicles, affectionately known as the Wacker Quackers, are one of Liverpool’s quirkiest visitor attractions.
The Clyde McQuacky, as it was originally named, is now in need of a full make-over at Yellow Duckmarine’s New Bird Street workshop.
The new addition was tracked down after being found abandoned in a field in Glasgow after a similar Scottish company went out of business. Staff at Yellow Duckmarine, which launched its third duck at Easter, are particularly pleased to have secured their fourth vehicle, but know that, for now at least, it will be their last.
Ducks – which were originally called DUKWs when created in the US to transport men and materials during the Second World War – are no longer in production, and each one still in use is accounted for.
Alfred Draper, director of engineering for Yellow Duckmarine said: “The new duck is going to take about a year to restore, because it needs a new engine, gearbox, brakes, new seating – everything.
“We were lucky enough to find it at all.
“Now we want to work hard to have it ready for 2008.”
It marks a turnaround in fortune for the firm, which has been operating since 2001 and was threatened with closure before the arrival of new staff in 2005.
The hour-long tour takes in all the city centre’s majorsightseeing attractions, before taking to the water and splashing into the Albert Dock for a sail in the Mersey.
Similar attractions also operate in London and Nor- folk. Mr Draper added: “The ducks have been a huge success over the last few years and I think that’s due to all the regeneration of the city, which I think is absolutely brilliant.
“There’s plenty to see at the Albert Dock and people really enjoy the ducks – kids love it, we’re always fully booked during school holidays.”
But Mr Draper says the company might break with tradition and abandon the vivid yellow colour scheme when the new duck is ready for the off.
“I’m thinking of painting this one grey and making it into a shark. it would be funny to see it chasing all the ducks around the dock.”
vickyanderson
I was just wondering how it can be inappropriate to have a ship in a dock? Apart from being out at sea were would an appropriate for it to be?
We have Duck tours here too.. They keep the Duck on land in a parking lot at night.. then it drives to town to pick up the tourists in Waikiki...Then off it goes... Never been on one.. But, the one in Liverpool sounds pretty good...:handclap:
Mersey ferryboat leaving the Pier Head, Liverpool. A photograph by my friend, Geoffrey R. Andrews, taken in May 2000.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/4...f7968a8f_o.jpg
Actually I hate these Tour Duck things. Not sure quite why but they irritate the heck out of me. We have them in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Below is a photograph of one at Union Station, D.C. and a poem I wrote that refers to them.Quote:
Originally Posted by naked lilac
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1074/...cf7c37aff8.jpg
So Un-KOOL
Hip-hop Hopkins students are back --
returned to rip-rap us with rococco rap.
I find an empty pack of KOOLs on the stoop,
a can of Bud Lite; a nacho swarms with ants.
I beeline for the dumpster, bunt their baggie
of beercans into the depths: HELLO HELLO!
As I turn back, a tourist Duck trundles past
and anorexic students, beer-bellied Ma 'n' Pa blast
me with duck calls, ICK! QUACK QUACK QUACK!
I want to shove their pacifiers down their throats.
I have a scab on my scrotum, wish all goodwill:
hex 'em, flex 'em, a pox on the Student Body.
Christopher T. George
Why are we letting our history sail into oblivion?
Mar 17 2008
Linda McDermott Liverpool Echo
SHE was the lantern on the door of Liverpool.
The twinkling light at the Mersey bar was the first sight of home for hundreds of thousands of Scousers home from the war.
We can put up a fight to save Superlambanana but the Planet bar light vessel, the little red boat that earned its place in the story of Liverpool, lies unwelcomed by the authorities at the side of the dock.
And to rub further salt in the wound, she’s been saved from scrap by a Mancunian.
Gary McLarnan, who’s promoted the likes of Robbie Williams, is the angel who invested £200,000 in saving her after a hard fought campaign by the Planet Preservation Society.
Fed up at being treated like a nuisance, Gary was going to take her to Salford Quays but even a Manchester lad could see the irony in Liverpool losing her.
The Planet was the last manned light vessel in UK waters. The Mersey Mission to Seamen used to organise a turkey run each year. Taking hampers out to the men sitting out Christmas at the entrance to the river.
Through violent storms and Luftwaffe raids on Liverpool, the Planet stayed put, a symbol of safe harbour for the Merchant Navy sailors returning from their dangerous missions in the u-boat infested waters of the Atlantic.
Thirty thousand men lost their lives but many more would live to see the glow of the Planet’s welcoming lamplight at the mouth of the Mersey.
Every aspect of Liverpool’s culture, the subject of our celebrations this year, is born of the sea. The lads who became the Beatles were inspired by the music the Cunard Yanks brought home with them from America.
The immigrants who shaped our city arrived by sea. The trade we conducted with the world as one of the most important ports on the planet earned us the title of second city of the empire.
Yet we’ve let the Royal Iris, the Manxman and the historic warships sail into oblivion. How ironic that the only thing we salvaged from the Garden Festival site was a yellow submarine that never saw ANY action.
Three cheers for Neil Scales, at the helm of Merseytravel, who alone among the authorities has had the integrity and vision to rescue and preserve the last U-boat salvaged from UK waters following the demise of the Historic Warships in Birkenhead.
Thanks to him it will remain a tourist and educational attraction on the Mersey.
We’d still have the Overhead Railway if he’d been around in the 1950’s and what an asset that would be to us now in our congested environment.
Across the Irish Sea in Belfast, their idea to create a Titanic Quarter and heritage trail is to be admired.
Meanwhile, our historic Titanic building, the White Star Line headquarters at the foot of James Street, has been a dusty, mausoleum for nearly 10 years.
Just a forlorn "To Let" sign marks the spot where news of the greatest maritime tragedy in the world first reached land.
And no-one trumpets the Western Approaches, where Winston Churchill once kipped in his bunk as he grabbed some rest while the Battle of the Atlantic was conducted from that anonymous looking building in Rumford Place.
Is it beyond our wit to connect all these timeless treasures together to create a heritage trail that would enthral young and old alike?
Join Linda and her Liver Birds for late night conversation and laughter on BBC Radio Merseyside, 10pm ‘til 1am Monday to Friday, on 95.8fm and on line at www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool.
Source: Liverpool Echo
Peel told the Maxman to get lost as there would be no space for them in Liverpool or Birkenhead. The docks near the city centre that were capable of holding historic ships are at canal boat depths or Peel want filled in (West Waterloo Dock).Quote:
Originally Posted by Howie
A disgrace that the silly council allowed this private company top rape the city of its history - all for greed.
Is anyone ready to save the Planet?
May 19 2008
by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool’s most important ship afloat is for sale and could move to Manchester unless a minor miracle happens. Peter Elson reports on the latest twist in the Planet lightship saga
http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/ar.../12157642.jpeg
THE for sale signs are up: you can buy an apartment in the new Grosvenor Liverpool One development for £99,000. Or, for a little more cash, directly across The Strand, you can purchase a supreme example of the city’s maritime heritage, namely the Mersey Bar lightvessel Planet.
More...
The last of an illustrious line
May 19 2008
by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post
THE Mersey Bar lightvessel, Planet, is the last of an illustrious line of vital little red ships marking Liverpool’s “front-door”.
Planet carries the name of the first Mersey Bar lightvessel built at Birkenhead in the 1870s.
The current Planet, built – like the Mersey Ferries – at Phillips of Dartmouth, was stationed at the Mersey Bar from 1961 to 1972, with a seven-man crew, who worked fortnightly rotas.
With no propulsion, Planet was held on station by a four-ton, wrought iron anchor. She was replaced by an unmanned Automatic Navigation Buoy.
More...
A centre for art
May 19 2008
by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post
IF THE St Paul’s Trust plan to save Planet is realised, present owner Gary McClarnan, who is an enthusiast for public art, hopes that Liverpool Biennial could be involved.
He thinks Liverpool Biennial could use Planet for art exhibitions and its director, Lewis Biggs, welcomes the idea.
More...
Rather than moan about it perhaps those who want to help should contact St Paul's Trust to see what they can do?
Head Office and Contact Address:
The Vicarage
Seymour Drive
Overpool
Ellesmere Port
CH66 1LZ.
Tel: 0151 356 0040 or 0151 207 1685
Fax: 0151 207 2996 Mob: 07850 062308
Operations Manager:
Paul Smith
Mobile: 0788 4114130
Email: liverpooltrinity@yahoo.co.uk
HMS Middleton M34
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...erpool/M34.jpg
From US military vessel to Liverpool/Isle of Man ferry
May 19 2008
by Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Echo
http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/li...F60331DBAE.jpg
THIS IS the new ferry that will run between Liverpool and the Isle of Man.
But the former US military vessel will not be carrying military helicopters to Douglas.
Instead, the ferry will be fitted out by new owners The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company to provide a speedy service for passengers.
The firm today announced a £20m deal for the catamaran currently known as Incat 050.
More...
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/4...incess1gr7.jpg
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http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/6...incess2kh4.jpg
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The biggest cruise ship to sail up the Mersey,it was a very impressive sight,she'll be back three times this year too for anyone's who's interested in seeing her.She's due to berth here on July 5th and 29th and again on August the 22nd.:)
A list of other visiting cruise liners due to visit can be found here.
http://www.merseyshipping.co.uk/minf...sENGLAND08.htm
I love it because it's a great colour and adds to the atmosphere of the area.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2057/...a94cb2ef_o.jpg
Now I've found where to post my "Shipping" photos.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/...3e33c40d_o.jpg
Attending to the Grand Princess.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/...0954d9c3_o.jpg
Custy pics everyone :handclap:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/...a8c174ef_o.jpg
Aways something to see from the Mersey Ferries
Hi All,
I can't believe we stiil have some plonkers and I do mean Plonkers in Liverpool who want, part of our "Scouse" Heritage to be given to another City that has that team called MU.Seriously though that ship which always welcomed me home Morning,Noon and Night when I was at Sea is not being considered as part of our past as one of the Great Seaports of the World is almost unbelieveable.She is a ship which no home, other than Liverpool would be acceptable to her and all scousers and Seaman of the world.So you guys with the sawdust between your ears wake up.I am presuming you don't come from Liverpool. Ken Berry no smart questions of why I am living in NZ.Why? because my wife is a New Zealander.Her Father and his Brother reside there in their graves from WW2.Interestingly,their g/g/gfather who was a Scot left Burlington Street Liverpool with his wife and 6 children for London to come to NZ,in 1852.So you guys with the negative thoughts think again,mainly with a clear and unbiassed mind. TARA.
just thought i'd post this, i was on the ferry coming back from seeing the submarine exhibit, and had to take a pic of this, (i thought at the time) looks like they are playing tug-of-war lol
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/...2c0dfcfc_o.jpg
Sailing boat passing the Albert dock with Paddie`s Wigwam in the background
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3586/...49f172d5_o.jpg
Sail versus power with the new museum in the pic
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/...c7ff5f4b_o.jpg
And power pulls away
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/...890b0d9b_o.jpg
Ferry discharging passengers at the pierhead
Took my heavy camera for a ferry ride yesterday all pics taken from in front of the Birkenhead ventilation shaft with tele lens
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liver...0252-21854638/
found this, it's probably been mentioned somewhere before but i thought i should be posted here.
Great photos once again Joe
Along with recent photos taken by others from Salthouse Dock they also serve to show yet again the visual impact of planning decisions on the Pier Head World Heritage site, namely:
1. The new museum now almost completely blocks the view from the river of Albion house, the former White Star HQ
2. What was until recently a much publicised wonderful view across Salthouse Dock of the south side of the Port of Liverpool building is now almost completely obscured by a new block of flats.
3. The "desparate" huge letting agents sign hanging from the 20 Chapel Street building, an obscenity so close to St Nick's Church. Planning consent would almost certainly be needed to display this, does anybody know if such consent exists?
Johnny Robbo
Really good piccies Joe!
Excellent points, Robbo. That huge red for let sign is particularly hideous and the blockage of the previous fine views is a disgrace as well. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Robbo
Chris
Blocking the view of Albion house, the former White Star HQ, from the river I would not think a problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisGeorge
The view across Salthouse Dock of the south side of the Port of Liverpool building maybe a problem. Let's see what the finished product looks like.
A letting sign? Rather temporary.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2053/...6a959da3_o.jpg
No they haven`t painted the pierhead wall it`s a tanker passing
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/...727c256a_o.jpg
Our 3 old ones still look good
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/...e3864a4c_o.jpg
Mr Pilot is in a hurry
Took these yesterdayfrom the Birkenhead side, trying to get used to lugging my big Canon around instead of my usual Lumix clipped to my belt