The Three Graces of Liverpool

The sun would be out again today, so with camera choices to make we decided to visit Liverpool on the train for a little shopping and a stroll around the waterfront. It's several years since I'd been there, so I was interested to see the changes that have been happening recently, with the new canal extension and lots of modern developments.

In amongst all these changes, the famous Three Graces still stand prominently on the banks of the Mersey. The Royal Liver Building is the most famous of the three and perhaps the most recognisable building on the waterfront, but it is surprisingly modern, dating from 1911. It's a hugely significant building to Liverpudlians everywhere, but architecturally it is also significant, being one of the first buildings in the world to be constructed out of reinforced concrete.


The Liver Birds that top the building are, according to legend, keeping watch - one looking over the city, the other looking out to sea. The origins of the bird as the emblem of Liverpool are lost over time, but there are many theories of the type of bird they are; it is thought that originally the symbol was that of an eagle, but later theories believe it to be a cormorant.

Another legend warns that if they should fly away, the city would cease to exist, so understandably they are chained in position. The birds are made of copper, so when they were originally fixed in position they would have looked quite different to the oxidised green colour we see today.




Next door is the smaller Cunard building, the headquarters of the Cunard shipping line until the 1960s. The smallest of the three, it is now home to a number of smaller firms. The third is the Port of Liverpool building, until recently the home of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.

The whole waterfront area here used to be dockland, called George Docks, but in the late 19th century MDHB decided to fill in the site and develop it. This included a new building which would become their head office, and this was completed in 1907. In 1994, MDHB relocated and the building was sold to property developers, who have recently completed a restoration and conversion to exclusive apartments and offices.

We spent so long by the waterfront and neighbouring Albert Docks, that it was soon time to head back to Lime Street station, so we didn't get to the camera shop and my new purchase would have to wait a little longer.