By Kaltun Abdillahi,
What makes Liverpool so great? Here on ‘The Liverpool Line’ we wanted to put the question to at least a few people out there living in the city. We got some replies & decided to put it together in a short video, with some good videos of well known places & attractions.
Let us know what you think! Facebook, Tweet us or email us at theliverpoolline@Thereflive.co.uk.
By Kaltun Abdillahi
The area around Galbraith Close on Aigburth Road became the centre of a police investigation after shooting on Tuesday night.
A gun was discovered from the scene and residents heard loud bangs after shots were fired at about 10:30pm. Police confirmed later on that no one was hurt but found minor damage to a vehicle.
The incident meant the police cordoned off streets and became inconvenient for residents who were not allowed to get to their homes without getting permission.
Alan Barton on twitter
The blocked off streets caused more disruption for a wide variety of people from those who travel in the area to work to school students, several of them having to make different travel arrangements.
A resident near the scene recalled the start of the incident when they first heard a police helicopter hovering overhead. “Although I didn’t hear any gunshots, a friend told me about it and then I later remember becoming annoyed about the loud helicopter, not aware of what has gone on. So this morning was the only time I actually saw the scale of the incident and what had actually happened” said a resident.
Chief Inspector Roy McGregor said: “We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and we are determined to identify the people responsible. Thankfully no one was hurt in the incident. (Echo quote) Police are appealing to anyone who at the time of the incident was in the area to contact the police with any potential information to help towards their inquiries.
The road in both directions has now reopened after more than 12 hours of closure.
Were you in the area? Did you hear or anything? Let us know on Facebook, Tweet us or email us at theliverpoolline@live.co.uk.
By Catherine Cunningham
“The first night of Russell Howard’s Wonderbox tour reveals a fighting fit show but it’s time he moved out of his juvenile comfort zone.” -The Telegraph report, Dominic Cavendish.
“Wonderbox veers between playful and perverse, somehow finding a middle ground where the two extremes can blend.” – The Echo, Liverpool.
“Russell Howard was definitely one of my favourite comedians and now after his Wonderbox show, I couldn’t stop laughing. From his entrance, to his personal story at the end, he was absolutely brilliant- it was one of the best nights of my life!” – Charlie Black, Wonderbox attendee.
The floppy haired, 33 year old Bristolian comedian has recently been accused of losing his touch, and needing to diversify his act. Sitting in the Echo Arena on the 19th March, I can safely say that this crowd agreed with that in no way, shape or form.
Yes- he does stick to what he knows. Anecdotes about family and friends, childhood memories, fears- however with these base topics come all sort of tangents that could or could not be scripted, and the tangents are the ones that really get you in stitches.
Howard opened the act with a ridiculously stereotypical scouse impression, which was accepted with laughter and applause- one hell of an indicator that the night is going to go well. Then he started talking about tweets he’d received about Liverpool (apparently one of the best things to do here is to walk behind really slow old people.), again mocking the people of this city, however doing it in such a way that we managed to laugh at ourselves.
His dramatic entrance
The rest of the show, I want to say was predictable, but was far from it. He did talk about his usual subjects, but went off on tangents such as a lion and a penguin bar getting worried about royalties on their chocolate bars, what a females private parts would sound like if they could talk, and a heckle that is deflected to dinosaurs and evolution.
After a show with more gyrating and pelvic thrusts than Magic Mike, he brought it to a touching end- first of all opening the audience up to questions and giving out hugs and selfies, then proceeding to tell the inspirational story of a friendship blighted by terminal cancer… a story that showed his charitable, human side.
Want to see other shows coming up at the Echo Arena? Here’s what’s on:
Miranda Hart: My what I call, live show. 24-25th March
Men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics British championships. 28-30 March
Disney on ice presents World of Fantasy. 02-06 April
Tinie Tempah 2014. 07 April
Harlem globetrotters 2014. 08 April
Gary Barlow since I saw you last- the tour. 11th April
Elbow 2014. 12 April
McBusted. 19th April
By Catherine Cunningham
The flags were out, the face paint on, the Guinness was ready. Irishmen and Liverpool students alike took to the cobbled streets this year to celebrate St Paddy’s Night. With a massive Irish heritage in the city, the night was booming.
Green, orange and white adorned nearly every bar up and down wood street, especially the iconic Irish bar O’Neills. The flags and banners were not the only decorations to the city, as the singing drunkards also wore St Patrick’s Irish colours.
Flags and facepaints
By Bradd Chambers
It’s been two days since St. Patrick’s Day, which means that the hangovers have (hopefully) gone by now. With Liverpool having the highest proportion of Irish and Northern Irish students, residents and ancestry than any other English city, you can guess that the celebrations were in full swing from the minute the alarm clock was turned off.
With many people taking the day off work and university, pubs had a lot on their plates rather than their traditional ‘pub lunch.’ With people drinking in the day, the streets were filled with green, white and orange.
Flashing tiaras, tricolour flags and green tops littered Liverpool city centre. Drinks were flowing freely and old Irish folk songs were blasting from every direction. Words started to stutter before dinner time and many had Guinness, “the liquid lunch.” Singing and chanting were heard from every Irish bar, including city centre’s O’Neill’s, Shenanigans and McHales Irish/American Bar.
But why do people celebrate ‘Paddy’s Day?’
We all know the legend about Saint Patrick banishing all the snakes from Ireland.
But what did he really do?
It’s believed that St Patrick was born in Roman Britain. He was apparently kidnapped at the age of 16 by Irish raiders and was taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. He allegedly spent six years working as a shepherd when God came to him, telling him to flee to the mainland, where he became a priest.
Following his priest-hood, he returned to Ireland to convert people to Christianity. According to tradition, he converted thousands in the northern half of Ireland.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick’s Day gre
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My St Patrick’s Day was spent in class, but it wasn’t all bad – I was let out early because I’m Northern Irish. I then spent the day drinking in my flat with all my flat mates and friends who were all dressed in green and had their faces painted. It was my first time celebrating it over here and I loved it! How did you celebrate your day?
Let us all know in the comments below. Also send us in your pictures through braddchambers@outlook.com and we’ll put them up on our site!
Happy Paddy’s Day 2014!
Sent in by Luke McCausland
By Kaltun Abdillahi
This week saw Liverpool city enjoy some strong and rare spring sunshine in March. If you look back to this time last year Britain was having one of its worst summers in a while and snow was falling. But it seems that cold-dreary weather is now long forgotten as many of the city’s people enjoyed the spring sun in midweek, clearly adding to their anticipation for the summer ahead.
Below we have put together some pictures of Liverpool in the sunshine, from Aigburth to the flowers that have already begun opening up to let the sun through in the City Centre. Enjoy and as ever do let us know what you think in the comment section below. Is the recent spring sunshine getting you excited and in the mood for summer? Why not let us know! Facebook, Tweet us or email us at theliverpoolline@live.co.uk.
Picture contributions from Catherine & Bradd.
The Liverpool Line website is all about its readers and that’s why we will be trying to involve you in as many ways as possible, especially through the ‘Your Pictures’ page! (Do check it out)
But whether you have a story, pictures or anything you might want to share on Liverpool, we more than welcome it & you can get in touch with us via Facebook, Twitter or email us at theliverpoolline@live.co.uk
Hello
My name is Catherine Cunningham; I’m a 21 year old journalism student at Liverpool John Moores University. My interests are news, what’s going on in my local area and films. I’m from Crosby in Liverpool and will be making sure I bring you all the news and ongoing events in my area.
Hey!
Hi, I’m Bradd Chambers and I’m currently in my second year of BA Hons Journalism at Liverpool John Moores. I’ve also obtained an NCTJ Diploma in the subject and have won the Belfast Telegraph Award for Journalism. I can also write to 80 word per minute in Teeline Shorthand. My interests include news and music. I will be writing a variety of stories and articles for the website. I live in the Liverpool City Centre and will be bringing you features and opinion pieces from the area, plus any news stories in the ‘The Liverpool Line’ region.
Hi!
And last but not least is me, Kaltun Abdillahi or just Kal (since it’s easier to say and remember). I go to the same university as the guys above and we all study the same course (journalism). We came up with the idea of ‘The Liverpool Line’ after thinking about how we could all connect the different areas that live in, which all happened to be near the waterfront, so that is how the idea of our website was born.
You have Kal in Aigburth, Bradd in the City Centre and Catherine in Crosby which is essentially where our ‘Liverpool Line’ comes to an end. The Liverpool Waterfront is one of the city’s spectacular destinations and we are more than happy that we get the pleasure to cover this part of the city as well as the other areas.
The website is for you, the people, so we more than encourage you the readers to get in touch via Facebook, theliverpoolline@live.co.uk , Twitter, or Instagram us, take part in our polls or send in your wonderful pictures of the Liverpool waterfront, which we will use to create/compile a picture gallery-just for you!
We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!
By Bradd Chambers
Because ‘The Liverpool Line’ borders the city’s waterfront, we’ve decided to let you in on our top five favourite places to go in the Albert Docks. Whether it be art, music or just a casual drink. Been to the places before? Let us know by leaving us a comment below.
Liverpool’s 800 years of history can be found in the Museum of Liverpool. This replaced the Museum of Liverpool Life in 2011, and won European Museum of the Year in 2013. It’s the first of its kind in the UK, with exhibitions about Liverpudlian architecture as well as its stars in comedy, music and sports. There are also galleries of Victorian slums and rail carriages, as well as the Beatles show, Little Liverpool and a 180-seat theatre. The museum is free of charge and is open from 10am to 5pm.
If that interested you, then take the scenic route further down the dock to the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Built in 1980 and expanded in 86, you can spend an entire afternoon walking around its exhibitions, which are also free. See the rare surviving model of the Titanic, take a historical multimedia tour of the city or learn about the Merchant Navy.
And if you’re interested in music, The Beatles Story is right in the middle of the Albert Dock, dedicating the building to the 1960’s rock band, Liverpool’s home grown talent. The exhibition receives an estimated 300,000 visitors annually since it opened in 1990. There, you can trace the routes of their lives and massive careers with tableaux, memorabilia and artefacts. It opens in the summer from 9am to 7pm, and in winter from 10am to 6pm. Entry fees differ, from £12.95 for adults, £7.95 for students and OAPS and £7 for children.
Bored of museums? Well the wheel of Liverpool is just a stone throw away. When you climb onto one of the 42 capsules you can see beautiful panoramic views of the city, the River Mersey and the Welsh mountains. The wheel, not unlike the London Eye, stands at 196 feet, or 60 metres, and is located beside the Echo Arena. It has a luxury VIP, provided exclusively with glass floors, DVDs and champagne on demand. It opens at 9am every day except Friday and Saturdays, when it’s open a bit later at 11am. The standard adult price for the experience is £7.
After venturing around the docks, you can stop off at the very own Pump House. Built in 1870, it has been the dock’s original pub for thirty years, and since the extended restaurant area was added, we feel it’s a must-go at the end of your tour. You can go there for an after work drink to ease stress, or to spend time with friends on a hot summers day. Whatever the occasion, a drink overlooking the ships and water is a beautiful experience and view. Why not sink your teeth into their famous pub food such as fish and chips or chicken and bacon club sandwiches while you’re there.
The Albert Docks is one of Liverpool’s most cultural and scenic places in the city. Have you been there, or want to go there? Please comment, share and like, we want to hear your opinion on all this Liverpool!
Also; what’s your favourite part of the Albert Dock? Take part in our poll here:
Send us any of your favourite pictures of Liverpool Waterfront to us via Facebook, Twitter or email us at theliverpoolline@live.co.uk
By Bradd Chambers
The people of Liverpool are encouraged to drink sensibly, following the ‘NekNomination’ online drinking craze killing its fifth victim.
Bradley Eames from Nottingham has died four days after posting his ‘NekNomination’ on Facebook. The 20-year-old rugby player complained about feeling ill after drinking two pints of gin in minutes.
(Picture above taken from Facebook)
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Angela Slade, accident and emergency matron at Aintree University Hospital believes the game increases the already present risks caused by binge drinking.
She said: “Many of the patients in emergency departments end up there because of drinking too much – our clinical teams see the damage this causes each day. This can particularly be an issue for younger people living away from home for the first time.”
Bradley’s death follows four others due to the popular game which started in Australia. 29-year-old Stephen Brooks died in Cardiff. Isaac Richardson, from South London, died after mixing wine, whiskey, vodka and lager. Two men have also died in Ireland, including Ross Cummins from Dublin. 19-year-old Jonny Byrne from County Carlow jumped into a river and drowned during his nomination. Following his death, his brother tweeted saying the nomination’s ‘[had] to stop right now.’
The friends daring these people may face manslaughter charges if things go wrong. People have been mixing their drinks with not just alcohol, but dog food, engine oil, bleach and even live goldfish.
However, other people nominated for the craze have worked it to their advantage.
Steve Kay from Wrexham used his nomination to give clothes and food to a homeless man in Chester. Killian McIntosh from Northampton donated a pint of blood instead of necking a pint.
Irish amateur comedian Cian Twomey made a joke of his, by drinking a pint of ‘MiWadi’ and water, laughing that he’d be ‘so hydrated’ after it. You can watch his video, which has received over 3,000 likes here: Neknominate video.
What do you think of the recent craze? Have you taken part in it yourself? Do you have any stories you could share about the nominations? Comment, share and like this story and our others!
Contact us with anything you may have via Facebook, Tweet us or email us at theliverpoolline@live.co.uk
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