events archive

Nuture - Walking the Bounds
As ever a range of people were in attendance when we met on the edge of Toxteth at the appropriately named Boundary pub. From people brought up in the area who have since moved away, to current residents and international visitors to the city everyone had one reason or another for wanting to join us walking the bounds of the area formerly known as King Johns Royal Hunting Park.

The hunting park is broadly considered to be the area bounded by Upper Parliament Street, Smithdown Road, Ullett Road and down to Sefton Street by the Riverside. Taking a group around the whole boundaries in a circular route would have been a mammoth task so we compromised on a specially devised route beginning at that particular pub because as with many pubs in Liverpool the name is significant to the history of the area, standing as it does at the crossroads of Edge Hill, Wavertree, the city centre and Toxteth.

The idea of walking the bounds of the hunting park was the chance to gain a new insight into one of the citys most notorious areas. Most of us forget about Toxeth's majestic past and the natural history of the area. The journey was an opportunity for us to consider the area from a fresh perspective, to understand the origins of the area in order to help us better understand its potential.
Our route took us to a range of places all of which prompted genuine discussion about the historical problems of area and what chance there is of making real change as we face the future. The following gives an indication of the way we walked by mapping the locations which prompted most debate and discussion.

We stopped a number of times whilst walking in the Granby area to discuss the troubled history of the area. Our conversations were carried out against the backdrop of row after row of vacant terraces, a once dignified housing stock that was home to an even more dignified community. Both have declined to the point of no return in the space of one generation.

At Princes Park we broke for lunch learning from Jean about the history of the park and also the natural history of the area, formerly home to a dingle once described as the most beautiful in all of England.

We made our way into the area that we now know more commonly as the Dingle via the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth and eventually arrived at Grafton Street, a row of houses that boasts one of the best views across the Mersey that the city has to offer. Taking the old Grafton Street steps that generations of dockers used as a short cut to work we made for the River side and the end of our tour of the Royal Hunting Park.

Exhausted some of us retired to the nearby pub, others made their way back into town or home. We reflected on the disparate versions of Liverpool wed seen in space of three hours and only a few short miles. We thought about the communities that used to exist, the obvious love that so many still have for the areas wed walked through and the even more apparent neglect that has occurred at an institutional level.

We asked people to tell us the best and worst sites which theyd observed

Worst: The terraced streets off Granby Street because its very sad to see them in such a poor state
Best: Princes Park, but again a bit sad that it is not kept in better condition

Best: Princes Park. A lovely, relaxing peaceful, green, open space. Not to be missed.
Worst: Beaumont street, shame, shame old garage originally stables completely neglected left to rack and ruin

The Bad: The full row of abandoned houses in the Caribbean neighbourhood. Such beautiful homes but so sad as they are all empty. An uncertain future.
The Good: The plants around the same neighbourhood. Understanding how people care for their surrounding through the caretaking of flowers and plants

Nice: A lone swan in the Princes Lake.
Bad: Corrugated steel covering windows in L8.

Good: The Diversity of the population
Worst: The housing the diverse population have to live in

Best: Grafton street, imagine waking up to that view each morning.
Worst: The Granby area, there are really no words to describe it, other than its a genuine shame.

Good: Princes Park as it's a bit more wild than the other parks. I got to see places I wouldnt usually go
Bad: Regeneration down by the Princes Avenue, its criminal that they may get demolished.

Best: To revisit my childhood environment
Worst: To see the dilapidation of the most beautiful housing stock

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