This is my home town. I lived there until I was 22. To be honest, it’s not the greatest place on earth and I can’t get sentimental about it.

The heart of it was ripped out many years ago to improve road access to the Mersey Tunnel and to construct a soulless shopping centre. When I was growing up, apart from bingo halls, a few insalubrious cinemas and the kind of pub where even the police needed a police escort, there was very little on offer. On the rare occasions I ‘went out’, it would be far more likely to be over to Liverpool.

I was back recently, however, and had time for a wander round downtown. The cinemas have gone but not much else has changed. This gives you a flavour:

But to finish on a positive note, there’s still a little life and colour in the old place, like this restaurant:

Thursday Doors 13 September 2018