Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

a capital time

Well, I finally made it safely back from London on Wednesday after a successful interview with Lord Heseltine, and the beginnings of a new career as a photographer's assistant - yes, I think I held the flashy-thing quite professionally, maybe there's a future for me in the world of the paparrazzi? We met Lord Heseltine at his offices, and he answered all our questions very fully, You'll have to wait until the book comes out to find out what was said, but it was interesting to hear him talk about his experiences on Merseyside during the 1980s, as well as his take on the river today.

an update from the World of Book

Well, I thought it was time for a quick update on the progress of Mersey: The river that changed the world. The production deadline is approaching, now that 2007 is underway, so Colin and I have picked up the pace on our interviews and photography. I took a trip to Liverpool last week to meet Louise Clark, an angler with Sefton Sea Anglers. Louise was great to interview, and even told me about the time she caught a 'crocodile' off the Sefton coast - at the age of just 7. You'll have to read the book to find out if she's really Merseyside's answer to Steve Irwin.

The next item on the agenda is our trip to London to talk to Lord Heseltine about his time in Liverpool in the 1980s. After some confusion with the A to Z, I'm now all ready to go, and semi-confident that I shan't get lost! We've got some really interesting questions to put to Lord Heseltine, and I'm sure the audio will be worth a listen when it's ready.

When we get back from the capital, we're both meeting Paul, a Loadingmaster from the oil terminal at Tranmere, so I think we might be testing our sea (or river) legs once again aboard a tanker.......

More news when the intercity delivers me safely back to the Northwest.

plugged in

Time for an update on the progress of our book Mersey: The river that changed the world. I've just spent a couple of days editing some of the recorded interviews that we've done with our Mersey people. I thought editing text took a while, until I started doing this project...I think I managed to edit down the transcripts of all the interviews so far in about a day and a half, whereas it's taking at least a day each to get the audio recordings organised.

In exhibition news, it looks likely that we will be able to launch the book next year at Liverpool Cathedral, which would be extremely festive. Meanwhile, Colin has been over in Cheshire, photographing Dave Hall, landlord of the Jackson's Boat pub, which is on the riverbank. It makes a change for Colin to have a photograph that isn't at the mercy of our lovely Northwest weather - well, it's a Christmas treat I suppose.

That's all for now, I'll be off to Liverpool in the first week back to meet some members of Sefton Sea Anglers..........

What's it all about?

Mersey: The river that changed the world - what's that when it's at home? Well, this time next year it's bound to be the first item on your Christmas list. MTRTCTW, as people are calling it (which people?) is a book that's being produced by the Mersey Basin Campaign, in conjunction with Bluecoat Press, photographer Colin McPherson, United Utilities and a selection of the Northwest's finest journalistic minds. The book will be published in 2007 to coincide with Liverpool's Capital of Culture year in 2008.

So why am I telling you this now? Well, I've been out and about in the last few months interviewing a fascinating collection of people who work, play or live on the Mersey, for a section of the book known as the Mersey People. I've been having some interesting adventures, and it struck me that I should record them for posterity. Maybe we'll all learn a little something about the process of putting a book together.

My task for last week was to edit the transcripts of the interviews I've done so far, and by the end of it I was suffering from a severe case of square eyes. Thankfully this week I'll be on the road again (as Willie Nelson would have it). I'm heading over to Liverpool to interview Louise and Kelsey from the Sefton Sea Anglers. Meanwhile, Colin, our intrepid photographer will be sailing off into the sunset aboard the Merseyside & Cheshire police divers' boat. Simon, the diver who's featuring in the book, is going to model his finest wetsuit / aqualungs, and no doubt Colin will be bringing back some stunning images as usual. Shall we demand documentary evidence from beneath the surface of the river? Or shall we let Colin keep his feet dry for once?