The Heritage Ride 2

Princes Road. Liverpool

Broad streets and elegant buildings take me past the two Cathedrals and the University where I studied to Liverpool 8 where I lived for a while. Cycling down Princes Road I see the tall tenement type houses where I had a flat with Charlie, Jo and Sue; amazingly I am still in touch with all three.

At the time the Anglican Cathedral had still not been finished – I watched a huge block of stone being hoisted from the ground up to the top of the Cathedral tower, by the time it reached the top it was just a speck.

The houses have been regenerated, the shebeens that were in the basements with names like Silver Sands and Somali Club have long gone, and all looks a lot more civilised. Shame. http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/nerve14/l8_club_scene.php

I remember being in one club, listening to Sister Sledge and eating what I thought was potato, in fact it was overcooked rice, very very overcooked rice.

It was in this flat that we woke up on the Sunday morning after a pretty wild party the night before. We emerged to find that someone has kicked in the front door and stolen a few things including our TV. We had all slept blissfully unaware. We were not too bothered, and decided to go and get some breakfast: only we could not secure the smashed-in front door. I worked out that we needed a two-foot piece of wood to make it secure. We had a piece that was perfect... except it was three feet long. Of course we had no saw: we were students after all. I looked out of the window, high above a cold, damp, snow-smudged, urban landscape. Very few people about, but there was a small old man sitting alone on a wall down beneath the tenement. In his hand was a saw. I ran down the five flights of stairs, brandishing the wood. “Can I borrow your saw?” “Sure” he says without batting an eye-lash. Bracing the wood against the wall I quickly saw it to the required length and run back. When the rest looked out of the window the old man had gone. But I had the proof in my hand, a two foot piece of wood. We went out for breakfast.