Liverpool Tall Ships - don't bother unless....

simonkit

simonkit

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No
....you're going to the Parade of Sail on Monday.

Just got back & it's very disappointing, poorly organised.

Around the Albert Dock you're crammed along narrow walkways, progress is very slow & it wasn't even that busy today. To make it worse there isn't really much worth seeing around here either, mainly small boats similiar to what you can see in any marina/port.

All the larger ships are further out of town and accessed by "Shuttle Buses", when I went to get in the queue I was told it would take 1 hour just get on a bus & as I said it wasn't even busy...in the end I abandoned the idea of seeing the larger ships.

If you really want to see the ships then personally I would say it's only really worth visiting on Monday when the ships sail out of port, best place to go to see them is probably New Brighton on the Wirral.

To make things worse Liverpool itself is one ugly building site at the moment & has been for a while
- Capital of Culture 2008 doesn't quite seem appropriate !!




simon
 
Why wait for the bus?

it's only a 10-15 minute walk to the bigger ships...

It looks it anyway, as i've been looking from new brighton today.

The big ships are however, HUGE! Depending on the weather tomorrow or sunday depends on whether i hop the ferry over to liverpool.
 
simonkit said:
To make things worse Liverpool itself is one ugly building site at the moment & has been for a while
- Capital of Culture 2008 doesn't quite seem appropriate !!
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Oh you know thems fighting words don't ya? You spent how long in Liverpool on a dull overcast day? I've been out there nearly every day along with my friends and I'm fairly sure we can all say its a Capital of Culture. Also the construction shows just how much change is going on, how fast the city is growing. To see the Capital of Culture check our site, 3662008 or my photoblog in sig.

Anyways, back on topic. Of course the larger ships are going to be out of town. They wouldn't fit into Albert Dock. Its a bit annoying to hear that they're quoting 1hr as the press release said every 15 minutes. Theres a ton of transport in action.

Liverpool will also be operating a bus shuttle service to Wellington Dock, from Friday to Sunday, every 10-15 minutes from St Nicholas' Place (between the Liver Buildings and Crowne Plaza Hotel) from 10am-10pm. A total of 15 shuttle buses will be in operation here. This service is £1 each-way but this will be free to Park and Ride ticket holders that day. It will also be free to anyone holding a Merseytravel ferry, bus or rail ticket valid on the day - and also for Saveway and Trio holders. OAP's go free if they show their pensioners travel pass.
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Its a damn shame about the weather but even so when was the last time you saw 60 ships on the Mersey? Monday is going to be awesome. I'm going to be out getting shots like a mofo :D

Are there really narrow walkways around Albert Dock or is it your first time there and you weren't expecting it to be like that?
 
petemc said:
Oh you know thems fighting words don't ya? You spent how long in Liverpool on a dull overcast day? I've been out there nearly every day along with my friends and I'm fairly sure we can all say its a Capital of Culture. Also the construction shows just how much change is going on, how fast the city is growing. To see the Capital of Culture check our site, 3662008 or my photoblog in sig.

Anyways, back on topic. Of course the larger ships are going to be out of town. They wouldn't fit into Albert Dock. Its a bit annoying to hear that they're quoting 1hr as the press release said every 15 minutes. Theres a ton of transport in action.



Its a damn shame about the weather but even so when was the last time you saw 60 ships on the Mersey? Monday is going to be awesome. I'm going to be out getting shots like a mofo :D

Are there really narrow walkways around Albert Dock or is it your first time there and you weren't expecting it to be like that?
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Hi Pete.... thought you might reply !!

I've been to Liverpool quite a few times & lets be honest it certainly isn't pretty to look at in its current state...that's not to say it won't be much better for the building work when its finished but for me it really takes the edge of its "Capital of Culture" year.
There's lots of tourists coming in for the Tall Ships & the "Culture" & unfortunately they're seeing Liverpool at less than its best, it's hard to see beyond the buildings sites & consequent limited access to certain areas at the moment.

As for the transport maybe they're saving it all for the weekend ?? Most I saw lined up at the Crowne Plaza was 3 buses - together with a nicely disgruntled queue. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was around 3/4 miles from the City Centre to Wellington Dock - none of the organiser suggested walking to it anyway ?

The access around the pub side of the Albert Dock is all fenced off, about a 2ft wide walkway - it took 20 minutes to get from the main gates to just past the patio area behind the pub & like I said it wasn't even that busy today.

I originally intended using the Park & Ride at Hooton that's advertised on the Tall Ships website, apparently very well signposted...no sign of it today though so had to drive into Liverpool


Hopefully the organisers will get a grip over the weekend & make sure the experience is a more pleasant one !!

simon
 
Travelling up tomorrow for this :(

Anyone know what the traffic is like round Southport? Staying at the Pontins there and didnt know if there was any restrictions because of the Open :thinking:
 
simonkit said:
I've been to Liverpool quite a few times & lets be honest it certainly isn't pretty to look at in its current state...that's not to say it won't be much better for the building work when its finished but for me it really takes the edge of its "Capital of Culture" year.
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Fair enough. Your original posted sounded like the sort of thing those people say when the pass through for 5 mins. "This is a capital of culture?!" I do agree that the construction at the Pier Head is annoying. In its biggest year that should be open for tourists. The flip side is that 2009 has to be an even bigger year to show that we're not just all about 2008. More things will open in 2009, and 2010. Its a city rapidly expanding. But realisitically now its only the Pier Head that is a building site. There is part of Liverpool 1 still closed but thats only going to be a park area. Not really why people travel there. The rest of town has pretty much calmed down now.

As for the transport maybe they're saving it all for the weekend ?? Most I saw lined up at the Crowne Plaza was 3 buses - together with a nicely disgruntled queue. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was around 3/4 miles from the City Centre to Wellington Dock - none of the organiser suggested walking to it anyway ?
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Maybe. Its a Friday and everyone is still at work.

[quote The access around the pub side of the Albert Dock is all fenced off, about a 2ft wide walkway - it took 20 minutes to get from the main gates to just past the patio area behind the pub & like I said it wasn't even that busy today.[/quote]

Damn :/ I dunno why they always put up extra protection around there. Its not like people normally fall in.

I originally intended using the Park & Ride at Hooton that's advertised on the Tall Ships website, apparently very well signposted...no sign of it today though so had to drive into Liverpool
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Odd. I've seen signs at Cheshire Oaks for the past week. I saw a sign on the M6 last night too.


Hopefully the organisers will get a grip over the weekend & make sure the experience is a more pleasant one !!

simon
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They've been planning it for 4 years. I can only assume that something has gone terribly wrong or that this is just a quieter day. Ships are still coming in. I doubt they'll suddenly panic over night and fix it as they're expecting 1m people between the Tall Ships and The Open.
 
the roads around work in deeside and where i live have the sign posts up - looks a bit mental at the moment TBH thank god im going away from here for the weekend!!
 
BTW, i work past hooton, and i saw the signs up last night on the way home from work on the M53.

Loads of them there is, so i don't know where you;resaying there is no signage for the P&R.
 
ok this is actually madness. I'm having to walk around the entire dock to get to the press office which I parked by to save walking.
 
Ant said:
BTW, i work past hooton, and i saw the signs up last night on the way home from work on the M53.

Loads of them there is, so i don't know where you;resaying there is no signage for the P&R.
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I drove from Mold, North Wales along the A494 / A550 to junction 5 of the
M53 - the only sign I saw was saying use the Park & Ride on the M56 :shrug:
No signing for the Hooton P&R along that route, maybe they're not expecting anyone from North Wales ?

I ended up driving all along the A41 to the Birkenhead tunnel - no obvious signs there either ?


simon
 
petemc said:
They've been planning it for 4 years. I can only assume that something has gone terribly wrong or that this is just a quieter day. Ships are still coming in. I doubt they'll suddenly panic over night and fix it as they're expecting 1m people between the Tall Ships and The Open.
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Looks like another famous piece of British planning....

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...03/09/02/culture-year-delays-100252-13361081/

As I said hopefully things will be better over the weekend, I did read something somewhere about today been targeted at locals so maybe that means they only expected people from Liverpool to visit and didn't put the full "plan" into action ?

I was looking forward to the day but so be it - I might make Hartlepool 2010 instead :thumbs:


simon
 
please don't quote an article from 5 years ago on an attempt to create sensationalism. Half of Liverpool 1 is open and as I said the other is a park. I already mentioned the pier head area. Do your research :p People come to see that not a garden. Pick on that if you want to be silly. Now I will agree that Liverpool has building sites and that it is indeed chaos at the tall ships. But tourism is up and it's been a stunning year so far.
 
Liverpool City Council ********* things up? Surely not.:shrug:

'They couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery', as the saying goes. :nono:

I feel ashamed when they mess things up so badly, especially at such an important time in Liverpool's history. :(

I did walk to Wellington Dock from the centre of town a couple of years ago. It is a bit of a hike, but there are normally buses coming back as not many people have been able to get there on the buses in the 1st place. ;)

Hopefully things will improve from tomorrow. :)
 
petemc said:
please don't quote an article from 5 years ago on an attempt to create sensationalism. Half of Liverpool 1 is open and as I said the other is a park. I already mentioned the pier head area. Do your research :p People come to see that not a garden. Pick on that if you want to be silly. Now I will agree that Liverpool has building sites and that it is indeed chaos at the tall ships. But tourism is up and it's been a stunning year so far.
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Pete,

It wasn't my intention to create sensationalism, just find it incredible that this country in general seems so inept at planning large projects, certainly the situation in Liverpool isn't any differenet from many other such events around the country.

I'm looking forward to visiting Liverpool again when everything is complete, it's just a shame that the "powers that be" can't seem to get there act together & aren't accountable for their ineptitude when it impacts on the general population.

Back on the Tall Ships I'm sure the parade of sail will be well worth seeing, just a shame I couldn't make it on Monday instead :(

simon
 
No worries dude :) I get a bit edgey when people appear to slate Liverpool. Its given me a photography career and I just love the place. But I do agree. I've been to many event here that seems so badly planned. I spoke with the stewards and the reason for the stupid one way system is to limit people on the dock. They have clickers so they know how many people are there. Its annoying but I guess on the flipside it would be worse if it was dangerously crowded. Tomorrow should be interesting though. I imagine it'll be stupidly busy. I had such an annoying time when I arrived. The stewards wouldn't let me go through to get my pass because I didn't have a pass. They sent me all around the dock via the main road and then back again. At one point I thought "Screw this!" and went to skip through a barrier. The steward let one guy with a pass through but wouldn't let me through. Now this is where it gets really absurd. You were allowed on either side of the barrier but I had to go all the way around it because I didn't have a pass. I had a go at the guy saying that I just wanted to be on the other side, let me through. But he was having none of it. **** Once I got my press pass things were better. I stopped by a fence to get some shots and the stewards said "Hey mate, you've got a pass come over here its better." Had a nice chat with the guys and got some photos. It is a classic event filled with stupid annoyances but its a good photo op. I would suggest that if you can go then go and brace the stupidity.
 
Just got in from an evening with the tall ships.

i have had an experience quite the opposite of Simonkit.

Excellent marshalling, everyone knew what was happening. So easy to get about, i got there about 8pm this evening, no queues for anything. Shuttle bus was good, quick, albeit full, with no waiting again.

The boats looked good too! Didn't seem like there were 70 there, more like half that. Went round to the big ships, and also to the albert dock.

It was good IMO!! Nice to see a lot of the roadworks have gone too!!
 
Me too. Just got in and everything was great. There was no queue at all. Got the bus to Wellington Dock. Admitadly I went at around 6pm but that was the best time as the sun came out and we had lovely blue skies. Spent 2hrs at Wellington and back to Albert dock for dusk. Also went on the press boat around the dock and met some lovely lovely girls. Pics will be online at some point but for now I have to make my bed and rest. Excellent day. Surprised it ran so smoothly.
 
Anywhere from Birkenhead to New Brighton. 2-4pm. I'll wave from the press boat :D
 
We went on Sunday and were also quite impressed. Turned up at 11am and spent the whole day. Well, till 5pm.

Very busy, but well controlled !!
 
we were at new Brighton and i was very impressed but would have like to see more sails..but no complaints from me.
 
I went to watch the ships at Woodside after getting the train over. It was disappointing sight for me. :( Saw loads of people with cameras. Hope they got better pics than me or they will be a lot of unhappy people.

I can understand why the sails weren't up, as the wind was going up the river. The big ships would never have got out into the bay, and may have ended up nearer to Manchester. ;) :lol:

I waited for about 30 minutes after the last ship, to have a walk about and take a few more pics, and then made my way back to the station. What waited was a huge queue. It was 3-5 deep, and went on for about 150 metres. :eek: It took me nearly 30 minutes to get into the station. :( Once in it was straight down in the lift and onto a train. :)
 
If i remember rightly a number of the ships berthed in Birkenhead on a prior visit why could that have not happened this time.Split the crowds and the waiting times. With Bikdale being on also a lot of congestion on town routes eased possibly.Not known for logical thinking the local beaurocrats
 
They were but think about it, the bus from Liverpool to that dock and back would have been a really long wait. When I was there I didn't really see much congestion, less than rush hour tbh. I think it was best to keep them close in Wellington dock as it was only about 5 minutes away by bus.
 
I'd have liked to have gone, as I've enjoyed it in previous years. But I was in Paris. Now Paris has culture... :)
 
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