Commodore Lithographic Publishers, Liverpool - September 2017

Visited with Porky Pig and Tbolt prior to demolition.

Very little history about the place, but it seems to have closed for business around 2007.

 

Not great, but not bad 4/10

Wellington Rooms, Liverpool - July 2017

The Wellington Rooms, Liverpool. Also known as The Irish Centre this Grade II Listed building sits rotting despite a £121,000 grant to fix the roof which to date has clearly not been done.

Built in 1815 the property has sat empty since 1997.

Having seen the building on a BBC4 documentary back in 2016 I had desperately wanted to take a glimpse of the the inside of the building. So myself, Blacksnake and Tbolt did when the word came around.

The simple fact is that in its heyday the Wellington Rooms would have been spectacular.

Having survived the damage of  the German bombings of Liverpool in 1941 it remains to be seen in what form this building will be saved in its latest fight.

Williamson’s Tunnels, Liverpool - September 2017

Mr Blacksnake invited us to take a look at his hole, so Tbolt and myself promptly got our helmets out and headed off to Liverpool.

We had been invited to visit the seldom seen tunnels at Paddington and under what remains of Williamson's house (not to be confused with the Williamson's Tunnels Heritage Centre).

Williamson was a business man in the 1800s and he paid his team of workers to dig vast tunnels and caverns under the city of Liverpool. Nobody knows why, theories range from loon to nothing more philanthropy in providing training and work to the unemployed in the local area.

No map has every been found of the labyrinth, many areas have been destroyed and surviving tunnels and caverns are filled with rubble over the years.

Our hosts for the afternoon are a gang of dedicated volunteers known as the Friends of Williamson's Tunnels, who have slowly by hand and bucket by bucket excavated the tunnels. Funded only by donations the work they have done is totally staggering, as are the size of the tunnels and chambers.

An excellent time was had by all at this ongoing and potentially vast excavation going on under Liverpool. Thank you to Blacksnake and

10/10

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Protestant Martyrs Church, Liverpool - January 2016

Founded in 1903, this church closed around 2004 and stands in terrible state of decay.

The local vandals had taken a pop at the place of late, so one of the local members of Team Weasel quickly secured the place for us to make a visit at our leisure, whilst keeping riffraff out.

Visited by Tbolt, Blacksnake, myself and the hobbit like one only known as Zer081.















Oh, lets cut to the chase with the proper stuff you really looking for.
















Rather like this place 8/10 - we finally seem to be making inroads into Liverpool's hidden gems.

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A Closed Synagogue - September 2015

I try to avoid return visits to most places, mostly as I am generally shocked and saddened by the vandals and halfwits that pillage. Having first visited this place back in March 2014, It was a reluctant return visit with Tbolt and the intrepid gentleman explorer known only as Blacksnake.



No external shots as such on this visit, on with a few shots












Yep, this place has still got it and remains that little bit special 7/10

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Heritage Days 2015 - Mersey Tunnel Tour

Every year in England thousands of places usually closed to the public open their doors for a four day festival every September, Heritage Days is your chance for a totally legal explore.

For our little wander Tbolt and myself took a drive over to Liverpool for the Mersey Tunnel Tour, the tour we took was a free sample tour of the control room of Georges Dock Building, Queensway Tunnel and under Queensway Tunnel.

You can do a full tour weekday evenings and Saturday morning, but you have to book in advance and we definitely will be soon, a bargain at £6 for the full 2 hour wander if our little potter was anything to go by.













Thanks to our guides for a totally fascinating look behind the scenes of something we all take for granted and begrudge paying the toll for, we will be back for more.

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