documentary

Dennis looking down a fretboard to make sure it's straight.

Ukulele Dennis at the Waterloo Ukulele Fun Festival

ByJulia

In August 2017, the Liver Hotel in Waterloo, Liverpool, put on the Waterloo Ukulele Fun Festival – or ‘WUFF’, to go by its rather fun acronym.

The Liver is a family-friendly pub with a really great garden of decent size. It used to be a bowling green, but in recent times it’s been converted to a proper pub garden. It now comes complete with children’s play equipment and wonderfully oversized table umbrellas to shelter you in even the wettest weather.

The festival was, unsurprisingly, a day of ukulele-based music. It featured acts from individual musicians to ukulele orchestras, packing out the small stage and spilling out onto the grass. There were a few other attractions, such as henna tattoos, face painting and raffles. The place was packed and it was an utterly fun day.

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Looking up the Eye from the base.

A view from the Liverpool Eye

ByJulia

The summer holidays can be both a blessing and a curse for those with young children. Whilst we get to spend some wonderful, unadulterated time with our precious offspring, the weeks can end up stretching ahead, seemingly endlessly, and we find ourselves searching for fun days out.

This summer, we whiled-away a day being tourists in our city: we went to the Albert Docks. We explored the waterside village full of fairground rides and eateries. We lunched and took in art and culture at the Tate Liverpool. We wandered around the Albert Dock for a while. Then, we finished up by having a ride on the Liverpool Eye.

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Looking across the Great Bath from the walkway around the top. There are lots of visitors at both upper and lower levels

Visiting the Roman Baths: the good and the bad

ByJulia

The Roman Baths is the jewel in the crown of the city of Bath. Built on geothermal underground springs, the baths are filled with water that comes out of the ground at 46°C,

The Celts were the first people to build shrine at the site, which they dedicated to the goddess Sulis.

When the Romans invaded Britain in the first century AD under the Emperor Claudius, they renamed the settlement Aquae Sulis, identifying Sulis with the Roman goddess Minerva, and built their own temple and baths complex at the springs.

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A man with his young son in the World Museum Egyptian galleries. They're in front of a large photo of the temple at Abu Simbel. The boy is dressed up in a pharaoh's costume and is looking up at his daddy, who's doing an Egyptian dance

Opening day at the new Egyptian galleries, World Museum

ByJulia

On 28 April 2017, the World Museum in Liverpool opened its newly refurbished Egyptian galleries, after nearly two years of work. Being an Egyptophile, I was, of course, at the museum for when the doors opened at 10.00.

Although I wanted to get some photos of the gallery itself to share on my Egyptology blog, I wanted to do a bit of documentary work too. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had the chance to indulge in a bit of street-style photography.

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A boy sitting on top of a rocky outcrop, sitting side on to the camera. In the distance a wind farm can be seen out at sea

A New Year’s Day walk on West Kirby beach

ByJulia

New Year’s Day can be a bit of a non-day for many. For those who aren’t sleeping off a long night or nursing a severe hangover, going out for a walk somewhere can be a great way to blow away the cobwebs and pass some time.

As we were staying at a friend’s house over on the Wirral this New Year, we decided to go for a walk at Red Rocks on West Kirby beach.

Like much of the coast around the region, the beach is flat, sandy and has a large tidal range. West Kirby Beach looks out at the north coast of Wales and Hilbre Island. This stretch of beach has some amazing rocks which are great fun for the children to clamber around on.

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The Liver Building lit up by fireworks

River of Light, Liverpool 2016

ByJulia

The River of Light was Liverpool’s contribution to the UK’s annual Guy Fawkes Night for 2016. A joint venture between the Liverpool and Wirral councils, it saw celebrations on both sides of the Mersey, culminating in a floating firework display in the middle of the river.

Determined not to come home with any more unplanned pets this year (following last year, when we went to a local display and ended up with two goldfish), I decided to take my two girls into town to see the River of Light.

It’s been a few years since the city’s main firework display was on in the centre of town – it’s been out at Sefton Park for a while, which is a great venue, but not so easy to get to as the city centre for many parts of Liverpool – so I was excited to see what the evening had to offer.

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The banners set out between the columns of the hall spelling out 'truth' and 'justice'. People are standing and photographing the scene

St George’s Hall, Liverpool: Hillsborough inquest verdict

ByJulia

  On 15 April 1989, Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest, accompanied by thousands of fans, travelled to the Hillsborough football ground in Sheffield to play the FA Cup semi-final match. Only minutes after the 3.00 pm kickoff, the game had to be abandoned. The police had opened an exit gate to try to ease overcrowding at…

A bright spray of fireworks
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Guy Fawkes Night 2015

ByJulia

  November the 5th in the UK is Guy Fawkes night; the night we celebrate the foiling of the infamous Gunpowder Plot.   What was the Gunpowder Plot? Briefly put, Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, was a member of a group plotting to assassinate the Protestant King James I. He was caught setting up 36 barrels…

Looking through the Marsh Lane Time Tunnel, with trees overhanging and people walking through

Marsh Lane Time Tunnel

ByJulia

  Hiding underneath Bootle New Strand station in Merseyside, connecting the New Strand shopping area with a large Asda supermarket is Marsh Lane Time Tunnel. The pedestrianised tunnel is covered with a painted mural throughout, containing a historical timeline of the local area, including the building of the local railway in the 19th century and the effects…