Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th May 2022

Cost from £420*

Tour Includes

3 nights at the 4 Star Mercure Hotel, Haydock for Dinner Bed and Breakfast

Manchester:- People’s History Museum, Manchester. The ‘National museum of democracy’. Manchester Art Gallery, also for Chinatown, Albert Square,The Lowry, also for Salford Quays, Media City
National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.
Port Sunlight – the vision of William Lever for his workers
Anderton Boat Lift – cruise on the River Weaver Navigation & boat lift to the Trent & Mersey Canal.
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Tatton Park Gardens (NT).
Gormley Statues on Crosby Beach, just North of Liverpool.
Liverpool – 5 hours for self-guided visits, based on the Albert Dock. Options include:-
Tate Liverpool, Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Beatles Story Museum. Short walks to Museum of Liverpool, Mersey Ferries, the three Graces,
British Music Experience, Cavern Club, Cavern Walk, Liverpool ONE.
Easy bus journey to the RC Metropolitan Cathedral and Victoria Gallery & Museum.Taxis to the Anglican Cathedral, Strawberry Fields, World Museum, Walker Art Gallery.

*Costs

Total Base Cost £420 (£395 to travel firm Just for Groups + £25 to YPS per person sharing). Plus £45 single supplement, and £25pp insurance if required.
Costs assume NT membership, & free entry to Manchester & Liverpool museums.

Money back if Covid prevents travel. ‘Just for Groups’ and YPS terms and conditions apply.
Details subject to change due to any Covid restrictions etc.

How to book

Download, print, and complete the booking form BOOKING FORM Manchester & Liverpool and the insurance application JFG Insurance Policy application and return to Rod Leonard via the YPS Lodge with the deposit cheque for Just for Groups and the £25pp cheque for YPS. A full description of the booking process,  as well as terms and conditions can be found by clicking YPS Terms and Conditions for UK Multi-day Tours If you do not have a printer, contact Rod Leonard via info@ypsyork.org

Member’s report

Our first stop on this varied tour was The People’s History Museum in Manchester, chronicling life at home and work over the last 200 years. The pre-1945 section included exhibits on the Peterloo massacre and Tolpuddle martyrs. There were many huge 1920s banners from unions and friendly societies. We were able to observe the textile conservation area and learned that it can take a year to prepare a banner for display. The post-1945 section included exhibits of many strikes and a Spitting Image puppet.

Next, we went to central Manchester, firstly to visit the Art Gallery, home of one of the largest British art collections outside London, then on to Salford Quays, the regenerated dockyards. Options here included The Lowry, home to a fascinating film about the work of L. S. Lowry and the world’s largest collection of his work. We could also visit the nearby Media City which houses the Blue Peter Garden and statue of Petra, the dog many of us remember, or simply admire the waterfront modern architecture in the sunshine.

The next day we visited the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port. Our knowledgeable local guide gave us an illustrated talk and showed us round. Sited where two canals meet, the museum is home to over 50 boats. We could enter the living quarters of an oil-carrying barge to appreciate what a cramped existence the people had.

After lunch we went to Port Sunlight, built by William Lever for workers at his Sunlight soap factory. A guide joined our coach and took us round the village, providing a fascinating commentary about the architecture and history. After the tour most of us visited Lady Lever’s Art Gallery housing the Levers’ collections of art, furniture, and Wedgwood. Other options in Port Sunlight were the museum with a film and exhibitions on the village and working conditions at the factory, and the Edwardian Cottage, a recreated home of long-term tenants and factory workers. Close by is a United Reform church gifted to the village in 1904. This is spacious, with oak pews, eight bells and lovely stained glass and gives a sense of how the factory workers were well cared for.

On Saturday, our first visit was the Anderton Boat Lift, built to transfer boats between the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. We had a trip on a boat, with enthusiastic commentary from another excellent guide, and were raised in the restored lift. There was time to visit exhibitions on the history and restoration or simply enjoy the sunshine.

We next visited Jodrell Bank with its 76m diameter radio telescope, opened in 1957 and still playing an important role in research. There was a talk and many exhibits explaining how the telescope works. The whispering dishes and photography competition winners were favourites. We ended our day with a visit to Tatton Park. The lovely gardens are laid out as they would have been in Edwardian times and include a walled kitchen garden and Japanese garden.

On our final day we headed for Liverpool, via Crosby beach where Antony Gormley’s installation “Another Place” is situated. 100 cast iron figures are in a 3km x 1km beach area. Those who had been before were interested to see how seaweed and barnacles had continued to grow on the figures.

In Liverpool we were taken to Albert Dock where we stayed for over 5 hours to visit the many sights. In the docks area these include the Maritime Museum, the international Slavery Museum, Tate Liverpool, the Museum of Liverpool and a Mersey boat trip. It is now possible to enter the clock tower of the Liver Building, giving spectacular views over the city. Further into Liverpool centre is the Walker Art Galley which had an exhibition of 1920s beaded and sequinned dresses, and the World Museum with 5 floors of exhibitions on varied themes. St John’s Beacon viewing gallery was built in 1969 and is 138m high and despite its chequered past, now affords a 360-degree view of the city and surroundings. Other members of our group visited the red sandstone Anglican cathedral and the Roman Catholic Metropolitan cathedral with its fabulous stained glass.

Many thanks must go to Rod and Margaret Leonard for superb organisation and provision of excellent background information. Thanks also to Nicos our coach driver and to David Wharton-Street for relating anecdotes about his life in the area in the 1960s.

Rosemary Anderton