Seeking Sanctuary: Top 10 secret city spaces
Our grand parks need little introduction, and the newly landscaped Pier Head’s a gem - but what of our secret city centre breathing spaces? Where can we eek out a little peace among the rattle and hum of downtown?
And relax. Wow, three days of Sound City and whose ears are still buzzing? And we’re not talking about the stories from Spank Rock’s aftershow party. Actually, we’re legally minded not to talk about the stories from the aftershow party.
So, this week, all we need is a quiet corner, a Kindle, and a cuppa, thanks very much. But where can you slink away in this crowded city? Chavasse Park? Maybe between flashmobs of breastfeeding mums and cavorting emos we could hole up for an hour. But we’re after somewhere a little less obvious, a little more off grid.
So we set about it.
Not an easy task, but here’s ten spaces for us all to seek a little sanctuary this week…
Quite the suntrap on a balmy day, this sculptural space huddles below the 300 foot tall Beetham Tower. The space is dominated by the ‘Threshold to the Ends of the Earth’ 6.5 metre steel and wood art work, with Michael O’ Mahoney’s quote etched alongside a wooden ring, four metres wide, forming a view to the Mersey – through the round window. A link, you see, between old and new, past and present. See, spaces like this can bring out the poet in anyone. Oh, the Morse code relief reads ‘permission to come alongside’. Which, perhaps, you could use as a little icebreaker. Look for the small glass portholes, etched with a selection of Liverpool’s finest…
Left and main feature image.
With its Teletubbyland rolling contours and sheltered barricade of benches, this is a spot familiar enough with office workers of Old Hall Street, but it’s still something of a hidden green space, overlooked by most who stride along Tithebarn Street, just yards away.
Tucked away to the side of the footbridge linking Albert Dock with the Liverpool Arena is this sinuous stretch of shrubbery with a nice path running down the middle. Did the designers get their inspiration from the Knights who say Ni?
This handsomely proportioned mini-square is hidden away between Victoria and Dale Street (and you thought those tiny streets and back alleys only led to temptation and trouble?) and is a rare space to breathe and turn your face towards the sun in the city’s Business Quarter.
Yes, we know, hardly a secret. But when was the last time you sat and watched the river go by from this gorgeous, elevated garden? For some, it’s in the grounds of this little church, not our grand cathedrals, that you’ll find the real spiritual heart of the city. It’s certainly a blissfully special place - and Ma Boyle’s serves a great pint next door, too. Beers and spirits, you could say.
Environmental artist, Kerry Morrison knows our city’s secret spaces better than most. And there’s more of them than you’d imagine. For the 2006 Biennial she spent the summer mapping out our city’s disused spaces.
“So-called brownfield land is in reality green space that is environmentally important,” she says. On her explorations, Morrison discovered wildflower rich pastures, butterfly meadows, hidden orchards and fascinating stories. They’re all recorded in her blog - which is well worth reading.
“Healthy ecosystems are an essential component of the fabric of urban areas, yet they’re still given a low priority,” says Morrison, “I wanted to map them, and experience first hand the wide variety of nature within an urban environment.”
Some of her favourite spots include:
1. Cressington Heath - a nature reserve hidden by the new Redrow homes development.
2. Banks Lane, Garston – a true hidden garden amidst primary schools and a defined community (selected by L.C.C. as a potential local nature reserve.)
3. Laurel Rd, off Edge Lane – a Brownfield that has been used by the local children as a playground, and by the adult community as a cut through - for over 20 years
4. The disused old Speke airfield
Sick of reading about those beach huts down south selling for the price of a semi in Garston?
Well, we’ve found something that’s more in within our budget. Sure, it needs a little TLC. But it’s nothing a tube of No More Nails and a lick of paint won’t fix. And the views are to die for (almost literally, according to the signs). Seriously, though, the wharfs and canal paths to the south of the city are breezily empty, and eerily atmospheric. Ideal for those ‘French Lieutenant’s Woman’ moments.
A year in, and this rustling, sculptural urban garden is bedding in nicely. Built behind the John Lewis car park on the site of St Thomas’ Church, the garden’s commemorate the last resting place of the Mole of Edge Hill. He’s down there somewhere, but no-one’s quite sure where. Which we think is somehow fitting.
Those who know it call this trim green space Sefton Park in miniature. It’s a handsomely designed pocket-sized park, of that there’s no doubt. It’s the closest Council run parkland to the city centre too (and quieter than Abercrombie Square); head up Huskisson Street and you’ll reach this little Georgian treasure.
Obviously, we love St James sunken gardens at the Liverpool Cathedral, and St John’s in William Brown Street - but they’re not exactly secret. And there’s an amazing rooftop garden above Liverpool Echo’s Old Hall Street offices, but it’s out of bounds: seems the tiled cladding of the tower building is prone to shatter off and spear the sunbathing staff.
So it’s over to you - are there any hidden, peaceful corners of the city we’ve missed? Let us know, and we’ll ruin them for you…
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The piazza steps of the cathlic cathedral. Liverpool’s Spanish steps!
I used to love grabbing a Philpotts and chowing down at Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas gardens off Georges Dock Gates
The modernised but still very green courtyard oasis at Bluecoat Chambers
I’ve heard the Liverpool Echo newsdesk is a decent place to head for if you want very few people around…
Liverpool Marina is a nice place to go, and only ten minutes from Albert Dock. There’s a niceish pub there which never gets busy.
Both JMU and UofL have their own city centre quiet spots. Abercrombie Square most obviously but there’s a quad opposite the Haigh building on Maryland Street too.