Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

the last interview

Well, it was the end of an era last week, I headed out to Preston to record the last of the Mersey People interviews for Mersey: The river that changed the world. But it was a good one to bow out with. I spoke to Shanthi Rasaratnam, former Programme Manager at United Utilities, and the man behind several large scale projects that have had a major impact on the quality of the River Mersey. Shanthi was the man behind a massive improvement programme at five wastewater treatment works on the banks of the river during the late 1990s. He also led a team that developed a revolutionary technique for making sludge, a by-product of wastewater treatment, safe for use as an agricultural nutrient. Just as his career was drawing to a close in 2003, he was awarded the MBE for services to the water industry, and visited Buckingham Palace, where he had the chance to meet HM the Queen and explain to her about the scale of the clean-up on the Mersey.

Now that all the recording is completed, and I've produced the text for the Mersey People section of our book, I'm working hard on editing the audio material, as well as working on the practicalities of the Mersey: The river that changed the world exhibition. We've started to develop a website to provide an online home for the project, of which more will be revealed soon. Meanwhile, Colin's also out and about tying up loose ends - last night saw him take to the waters with John Curry, another Pilot, and I believe he'll be casting off on New Brighton beach with Louise and Les from Sefton Sea Anglers very soon (hope the sun keeps shining, Colin).

We're going to the show....

Wahey! We've just had a letter confirming that Mersey: The river that changed the world will have a stand at the BBC's Big History Show, which takes place at St George's Hall, Liverpool on 14th, 15th and 16th September this year. No doubt we'll have pre-order forms available so that you can reserve your copy of the book, and a special sneak preview of some of the images and audio material that'll be featured. If we're lucky, there could also be a chance to hear from one of the Mersey People themselves, or perhaps Colin, our lovely and intrepid photographer.

So we'll see you at the show - apparently it's a heuuuuge three-day celebration of all things historical, and the BBC expects several thousand people to come and join in the fun........see you there........

famous mersey people - it's not all about the Beatles

Well, we all know that the Mersey changed the world, but what about some of the people born or brought up along its banks? At the moment we're trying to compile a list of famous or influential people from the banks of the river - including the Wirral, Stockport, Warrington, Urmston, Flixton, the Heatons, and so on, as well as Liverpool. Can anyone help? We're trying to stick to living people, and any nominations would be most welcome. Leave us a comment if you can think of someone we've missed.......

Beryl Bainbridge / Tom Baker / John Birt / Alan Bleasdale / Chris Boardman / Tony Booth / Cherie Blair / Kim Cattrall / Daniel Craig / Edwina Currie / George Davies / Shelagh Fogarty / Peter Goldsmith / Ian Hart / Gillian Kearney / Bill Kenwright / Carla Lane / Lynda LaPlante / Sharon Maughan / Paul McGann / Joe McGann / Stephen McGann / Mark McGann / Roger McGough / Paul McCartney / Mike McCartney / Ringo Starr / Jimmy McGovern / Stephen Norris / Tom O'Connor / John Parrott / Alan Parry / Brian Patten / John Power / Simon Rattle / Phil Redmond / Anne Robinson / Robert Robinson / Patricia Routledge / Willy Russell / Kevin Sampson / Alexei Sayle / Lesley Sharp / Alison Steadman / Bill Tidy / Ricky Tomlinson / Brian Reade / Paul O'Grady / Richard Stilgoe / Glenda Jackson / David Morrissey / Peter Sissons / Terry Leahy / Mike Myers / Krishnan Guru-Murthy / Niall Griffiths / Ian McCulloch / Jonathan Harvey / Ralph Steadman / Cathy Tyson / John Conteh / Lisa Tarbuck / Jimmy Tarbuck / Billy Butler / Lord Alton / Maria Eagle / Angela Eagle / Melanie Chisholm / Rita Tushingham / Wayne Rooney / Steven Gerrard (I'm not going to list every Liverpudlian footballer.....) / Colleen McLoughlin / Cilla Black / Ken Dodd / Gerry Marsden / Austin Healey / Matt Dawson / Paul Heaton / Shirley Hughes / Ray Stubbs / Chris Evans / Sue Johnston / Pete Postlethwaite / "Comedy" Dave Vitty / Matthew Kelly / Suzanne Charlton / Judy Finnegan / Judith Chalmers / Katie Derham / David Dickinson / James Hickman / Damon Gough / David Gray / Ian Brown / Gary "Mani" Mounfield / Stephen Patrick Morrissey

mad as a hatter

Colin McPherson, photographer on Mersey: The river that changed the world is in Stockport this afternoon, making another leg of his journey along the river. Thanks to Louise Murphy from Stockport Council, Colin's discovered that he can walk along the riverbanks from Stockport town centre, all the way along to Mersey Vale Nature Park at Heaton Mersey. Hopefully he'll be able to spot lots of wildlife along the way, not to mention getting up close and personal with the river from the vantage point of the canoe access steps in the park. Keep you fingers crossed that the rains holds off for the day!

motown on the mersey

A great documentary was aired on Radio 2 last night - 'Motown on the Mersey' examined the history of Liverpool's Mardi Gras club, which influenced the 1970s Northern Soul scene, and explored the links between the Mardi Gras and 1960s soul music. You can listen to the programme here. If you're interested in Liverpool's musical heritage and links to soul music, look out for Anthony H. Wilson's chapter, 'An industry of revoutions' in the forthcoming book 'Mersey: The river that changed the world', to be published by Bluecoat Press in November 2007.

a wild and woolly day by the mersey

Well, last Thursday was an exciting day in the life of 'Mersey: The river that changed the world'. First up, Colin and I headed to the outer reaches of the waterfront in Liverpool to meet Mary Kendrick, former Acting Conservator of the Mersey. Here's an article explaining what the job entails. It was blowing a gale at Prince's Parade, beyond the Isle of Man ferry terminal, so we were glad to be able to get in the warm at the Mersey Partnership's office and do our interview. Once that was done, we braved the wind and ventured out to the waterfront. Poor Mary was almost blown over as Colin photographed her, but he got an excellent shot, right in front of the drilling platform for the new cruise ship terminal.

In the afternoon, I headed back into town and met with BBC Radio Merseyside. We've agreed that they'll be featuring a series of short features about the Mersey people, which will be aired on their Drivetime show in early 2008. This is all fantastic news for the project, but I have a lot of editing ahead of me now!

swimming against the tide

Yesterday I took a trip to Sandon Dock, home of Liverpool's wastewater treatment works, to meet another of the Mersey people. Dave Sandman, a United Utilties Field Service Engineer, is a man who leads a spectacular double life. By day (and occasionally by night too, as he's often on emergency call), he's part of the maintenance team at the huge UU site which processes millions of tonnes of waste from Merseyside's homes and businesses. But on a Wednesday evening and a Sunday morning, Dave joins a select band of brave (crazy?) souls training for an annual swim across the River Mersey.

I learned a lot about open water swimming and the associated dangers - treacherous currents, clouds of jellyfish, chunks of errant timber and the ever-present risk of your brain freezing in the cold water and plunging you into unconsciousness. Despite Dave's obvious enthusiasm, somehow I wasn't overcome with the desire to join in with a plunge into Salthouse Dock - maybe next year.

Dave first swam the river in the late 1990s, in aid of Water Aid, and has done it almost every year since. His best-ever time was 22 minutes, which looks pretty good from where I'm standing. He's also a keen cyclist and runner, and tells me that his young daughter is itching to join him for a swim in the Mersey as soon as she's old enough.

Dave will, of course, be featured in Mersey: The river that changed the world, which will be available later this year. Hopefully he will inspire many more of you to take up the challenge of crossing the Mersey for free.......?

masquerade ball

Whew, sorry for neglecting this blog, things are hotting up at the home of 'The river that changed the world'........

The book club meeting last week went well, Colin W's initial layouts of one of the chapters were generally met with huge approval, and it was great to see more of Colin M's photographs. It all led to much overexcitement, and talking about the proposed launch event in November. Some great ideas were suggested, which I'm sure you'll hear more about closer to the time. For now I think we need to concentrate on the business of meeting the publisher's deadlines and getting everything into production on schedule.

To that end, Colin Mc's got a fascinating day ahead today - he's being treated to a trip up the radar tower at Crosby to photograph the view (I hope it's a bit less grey and murky over in Merseyside this morning!). Once Colin descends back to ground level, he's going over to the warehouse of Rubies Masquerades on the docks. The warehouse is home to thousands of fancy-dress costumes, so maybe Colin will find something good to wear for the weekend?

You might have a chance to see some of the shots he gets today in the next issue of Source.

In other book-related news, I've arranged to interview another of the Mersey people, Dave Sandman, next Wednesday at Sandon Dock. Dave works for United Utilities, but in his spare time he has an unusual hobby - he enjoys swimming in the river Mersey. I'm intrigued to find out more about this man - but I hope he doesn't expect me to sample his hobby - it's a little cold for a dip right now. On the other hand, I think the best way for Colin to get a decent portrait would be by immersing himself fully in Dave's world.....don't you think?

the book group

The Mersey book's steering group is due to meet tonight. A lot has happened since we last got together in November, at least for Colin and I. We'll have the chance to see a new set of photos, plus the first rough layouts of some of the pages - it's starting to seem real now. I've sent off the latest batch of interview tapes for transcription, so next week will be an editing week, I think.

There will be a chance to see some of the early fruits of our labours in April, when the next issue of Source magazine is due - a snippet from Tony Brand's Mersey People interview about being a River Pilot, as well as a sneak preview of Michael Taylor's chapter on Mersey ports are due to be featured.

Right, I'm off to print out a progress report or several.....

tranmere, liverpool...and liverpool road...where next?

The book collective have been out and about on the road since our trip to London - things are really gathering steam as we head into the final phase of interviewing and photography. Last Tuesday (yes, the really cold day), we headed for Tranmere Oil Terminal and met Paul Jelley, the Loadingmaster in charge. Paul kindly showed us around the site, and took us aboard a tanker - rather icy on deck, I have to say. Colin and I looked stunning in our safety gear, orange overalls, yellow reflective jackets, hard hats and goggles, as well as protective gloves. The jackets actually made Colin's job quite difficult, as Paul's reflective stripes were being picked up by the flash. In the end, though, he was delighted with the images he took, and we all returned to the warmth of Paul's office to record his interview. I'd love to post an image of us in our Oil Terminal Chic outfits, but, sadly, none are available as yet.

By Friday, I was back on the trail of exhibition venue, and paid a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Things look positive for us to take the Mersey exhibition there during 2008 for a stint amongst the fantastic steam engines, trains and planes of the Air and Space Hall.

This week has started with a trip back to Liverpool city centre. The train troubles which have haunted the Mersey People project recently seem to have been appeased, and I made it across and back this morning without mishap or delay. Colin and I met Sara Wilde at the home of the Liverpool Post & Echo. Sara was representing Mersey Waterfront and The Mersey Partnership, but also spoke as a Liverpudlian, and an enthusiastic fan of our local promenades and beaches. Colin took Sara's portrait in the building's public atrium, which is currently playing host to an exhibition of mixed-media portraits of Liverpool's leading lights by the artist Anthony Brown. They really are fascinating, and you can spend hours examining the collage of images that form the background to each portrait. Not that I was neglecting my flash-toting duties, of course. ArtinLiverpool's blog wrote about the exhibition a few days ago..... I highly recommend popping in to take a look if you're in the vicinity of Old Hall Street.

That's where 'Mersey..' is up to at the moment, and with so much material recorded recently, I've got a lot to do before the steering group meet next week. So I'll leave the blogging for now, and get back to it.........