Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Busy week #1 Mersey at Catalyst Science Discovery Centre

  

Whew, even in the heatwave (well, there was one until this morning....) we've been working our socks off on some exciting projects. For example, the Mersey: The river that changed the world exhibition was installed at the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre on Mersey Rd in Widnes this week. The exhibition looks great, featuring all of Colin McPherson's fantastic Mersey Road and Mersey People photography, as well as a special dedicated 'memory room' where you can leave us your most cherished Mersey memories, or tell us about your favourite spot along the river. If you're not in the Widnes area, but would like to contribute, feel free to email your memories of the river, or favourite locations to [email protected] .

The exhibition will be at the Catalyst until 20th September 2009, and the team have got some exciting themed events planned for later in the summer. If you visit, why not try taking your own photo of the river from the 4th floor observatory. Send us your pictures to the address above.

Thanks to ace exhibition designer Val Evans for all her hard work on this.....

Coming soon to the Catalyst

 

Woo hoo! Mersey: River that changed the world is back on the road again! After 2008's non-stop schedule - which saw the exhibition visit Liverpool's Albert Dock, Sale Waterside Arts Centre, The Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port and Stockport Art Gallery - the multimedia extravaganza celebrating the River Mersey will be on view again for the summer of 2009.

Part of the exhibition has just been on a warm-up tour to Liverpool's John Lennon Airport (hmmmm, that got us all in the holiday mood), but in a few short weeks, the whole thing will be landing at Widnes' Catalyst Science Discovery Centre (just under the Runcorn Bridge) for three months. We're really excited about the exhibition's new home, and the folks at Catalyst have got some fun activities planned for the summer too.

As well as checking out Colin McPherson's Mersey travelogue photography, you'll be able to explore the centre's scientific displays and interactive areas, and get an unrivalled view of the river and bridge from the glass observatory on the top floor (I was there on Friday, and it's hard to drag yourself away). On top of that, you can contribute to the Mersey exhibition by leaving your own 'Mersey Memory' on a postcard for us.

I'll keep you posted as the installation goes ahead, but watch this space, or the Mersey project website to find out when the exhibition will open at the Catalyst.

 

Mersey Basin Campaign on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours

Yesterday's edition of the BBC Radio 4 show 'You and Yours' featured a report on the Campaign and the 25-year clean up of the River Mersey. Taking part were our Chair, Peter Batey, Peter Jones of the EA, Lord Heseltine, and Tom Workman and Barney Easdown, who were both part of our Mersey People project last year.

CLICK HERE TO 'LISTEN AGAIN' TO THE FEATURE

CLICK HERE TO HEAR MORE FROM TOM, BARNEY AND LORD HESELTINE IN 'MERSEY PEOPLE'

Here's Barney in his element (photograph by Colin McPherson)

Subterranean Mersey Blues

Colin McPherson and I have been out and about again this summer interviewing and photographing a new set of Stockport-based 'Mersey People'. The last session this morning was with Coral Dranfield from Stockport Heritage Trust, and took place underneath the Merseyway Shopping Centre, a place very few people must have seen - until now. Colin streamed a quick video whilst we were down there - and here it is..........

The portraits from this project, along with the rest of the Mersey: The river that changed the world exhibition will be shown at Stockport Art Gallery from September 5th. Hope to see you there. In the meantime, check out www.riverthatchangedtheworld.com

A Liverpool pilot post....

Just a quick post to tell you that Stephen Guy, over at the National Museums Liverpool blog has posted an entry about the Liverpool Pilots and their vessels - don't forget that two of the pilots, Tony Brand and John Curry are shortly to appear as part of the Mersey People project in our forthcoming book, Mersey: River that changed the world.

Enjoy!

A guiding light on the Mersey

A quick mention for one of the 'Mersey People' from our forthcoming book....John Curry of Liverpool Pilots recently had the pleasure of guiding the first vessel into Liverpool's brand-new £19 million cruise liner terminal. John, who gave the inaugural lecture for 'Mersey: the river that changed the world' at the BBC History Show in September, is the longest-serving pilot on the Mersey. Here's the Liverpool Echo's story about John.

Happy Birthday Liverpool!

As Liverpool's 800th birthday approaches (celebrations are taking place on 26-28th August), the Liverpool Echo has invited high school pupils from across the city to reflect on Liverpool's eight centuries of history.

Here, pupils from De La Salle College in Croxteth take a look at how the River Mersey helped Liverpool to grow from a tiny Hamlet to a major city.

Not to be outdone, over at the Daily Post you can watch rare footage of how the city celebrated its 700th birthday back in 1907.

Mersey sounds....

As it's summer (apparently), we thought we'd post a couple of vaguely seasonal snippets from the Mersey People interviews - it seems a long time since we set out to choose our interviewees, way back last summer. Is it me, or was it hotter then?

Dave Hall of quintessential south Manchester summer destination, Jackson's Boat Inn, on the joys of working beside the Mersey:

powered by ODEO

Barney Easdown, deckhand for Mersey Ferries, on why donkeys should stay at the beach.....

powered by ODEO

Cover star: Tony Brand

Tony Brand, Chairman of Liverpool Pilots and interviewee for the Mersey People has appeared in the most recent edition of SourceNW magazine. An extract from Tony's interview was featured alongside an abridged sneak preview of Michael Taylor's chapter 'Down to the sea in ships', also from Mersey: The river that changed the world. Tony also appeared as the cover star, as you can see above.

Look out for another sneak preview in the next edition of SourceNW - from Antony Wilson's chapter 'Westward Ho'.

Get well soon, Dave!

I'm sorry to report that one of our soon-to-be famous Mersey People, Dave the swimmer, has recently been injured in a car crash - we hope you're doing all right, Dave, and that you're up and about again soon!