Having given the visitor
some impression of the City side of Liverpool, we now propose to make an
excursion to other streets of an interesting character.
Starting from the pavement
at the great North Western Hotel, we cross the entrance to the Railway
Terminus, and, bearing to the left, pass into the narrowest part of Lime
Street. Lying to our west is a very busy neighbourhood. The first turn to the
right, through Elliot Street, conducts us to the finest Market in Liverpool. St
John’s Market is one-eighth of a mile in length, and was finished in 1822, at a
cost of £36,813.
There are no fewer than
three Squares in close proximity to St. John’s Market, and in each of these we
find a place of amusement. Elliot Street leads direct to Clayton Square, where
the Prince of Wales Theatre is situated. By turning through Great Charlotte
Street we enter Queen Square, which is quite the “Covent Garden” of Liverpool.
Partly facing this busy place is the Royal Court Theatre. Occupying the ground
where the Copperas and Brownlow Hills meet in Ranelagh Place, is the fine
Adelphi Hotel, the property of the Midland Railway Company. A short distance up
to the right of Copperas Hill, in the unlovely Hawke Street, is the Roman
Catholic Pro-Cathedral of St. Nicholas, with a fine marble altar by Pugin. At
the top of the hill we notice the spire of St. Simon’s Church. Directly facing
the Adelphi Hotel is the important Ranelagh Street, from which we gain access
to the Central Railway Station, and at its
western end, thirty feet below the ground, the Station of the Mersey Railway.
By this underground line we can travel via James Street Station and under the
Mersey, through a tunnel 3690 feet in length, to Birkenhead and other stations
in the Wirral peninsula. Some ninety trains run daily each way. The Railway was
opened in 1886 by His Majesty King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales. The
handsome Central Station, a four-storey stone building with single span roof 65
feet in height, is a terminus of the Great Northern, Midland, and Great Central
Railway systems.
Looking up Mount Pleasant
from Ranelagh Place, we notice on the right the French Gothic Tower of the
Y.M.C.A., some 100 feet in height. This is one of the finest Institutions of
its kind in the kingdom, opened by the late Earl of Shaftesbury in 1877, the
foundation stone having been laid by the late well-known Evangelist, Mr. D. L.
Moody. We now pass along Renshaw Street.
This narrow thoroughfare
promises to be one of the most important in Liverpool. Recently it underwent a
great transformation, being renovated and widened from end to end. In the
distance we notice the turreted tower of St. Luke’s, one of the leading
Liverpool Churches.

At the end of Berry
Street, where we cross Duke Street and enter Great George Street, a large
dome-topped building is prominent. This is considered to be one of the finest
buildings belonging to Chapel the Nonconformists. By a wide flight of steps we
pass through the circular portico. The leading features consist of the ten
fluted Corinthian columns, the shafts of which are in single blocks of stone. A
fine marble bust of Thomas Raffles, for 49 years minister of this congregation “the
eloquent preacher, the sound divine, the faithful and genial friend ”stands
in the entrance porch. The seats are so admirably arranged that it is possible
for every member of the congregation, being seated, to see their minister.
Now we will walk down Bold
Street. This is the Regent Street of Liverpool, and forms with its continuation
of Church and Lord Streets, for three-quarters of a mile in length, one fine
double row of first class shops of all descriptions. The upper end is narrow,
but the street widens as one proceeds downwards, and at night the thoroughfare
is admirably lighted by pendant electric lights in the middle of the roadway.
Compared with the splendid buildings of the City, those of Bold Street may seem
unpretentious. There are, however, some buildings which the visitor would do
well to note. At the top of the street, we notice the unusually open porch of
the London City and Midland Bank. A narrow opening on the left - Colquitt
Street, contains the Apothecaries’ Hall, an ornamental building of freestone.
Near by is the ancient building of the Royal Institution, formerly used in part
as an Art Gallery, and still the resort of the scientific and literary. It was
established as early as 1814. We shall be struck by the massive front, with its
figures of Hisculapius and his daughter Hygeia, the curious kneeling bull
brackets, and the ornamental snake entwined lamp standards. Emerging again from
Colquitt Street we see the large office of the Liverpool Savings Bank.
Continuing down Bold Street a frontage most likely to attract our attention is
Lloyds’ Bank, on the right, with lofty granite entrance. As we approach Church
Street, we pass on the right the fashionable Palatine Club, with its Italian
Renaissance facade, and at the end of Bold Street, adjoining the entrance to
the Central Railway Station, is the Lyceum Club and the Liverpool Library. This
is in the Ionic style, and was built in 1802. The News Room in this building
measures nearly 70 by 50 feet. Here, at the junction of
Ranelagh and Church Streets with Bold Street, the traffic becomes very
congested, but as we approach the point where Parker Street from the right side
enters Church Street the road widens.



Link
Source
Central Library
Liverpool Records Office
Littlebury Brothers
Leonard Pattern
Robert F Edwards