I read David Swift’s Scouse Republic alongside Michael Heseltine’s breezily optimistic account of urban regeneration, From Acorns to Oaks. It’s impossible to deny that the city has brilliantly swerved the abyss of “managed decline”. It’s now a hen-night destination, a regular stop-off for luxury cruises, a seat of learning. The Georgian Quarter, with its cobbled streets shining under Narnian lamp-posts, is one of the most popular filming locations in the country. But Swift’s account of that voyage from chaotic sailor town to imperial port, from the Beatles to the Toxteth uprising, does not look away from the dark and stormy passages. If you ever feel tempted to flirt with trickle-down economics, remind yourself that in 1841, when the city was the premier port of the empire after London, life expectancy in Liverpool was 26. Seventy-five per cent of the lads who volunteered for army service were rejected for being unfit.

This is a highly personal book. Swift’s Israeli in-laws provi

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/24659751

Mayor Steve Rotheram has urged people to contribute to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), saying there has been "a worrying decline in our habitats and biodiversity" over the past decades.

"The Local Nature Recovery Strategy is about turning the tide, identifying the best ways to restore and enhance habitats, and ensuring that nature can thrive across our region."

Local officials say the area has experienced a 5% loss of land habitats since the 1980s "including 10% of its most biodiverse grasslands".

The Attorney General has rejected calls for the Court of Appeal to review the length of Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana's jail sentence.

Rudakubana, 18, is serving a minimum 52-year sentence for the murder of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in Southport in July 2024.

At his sentencing, the judge said Rudakubana, who was 17 when he carried out the attacks, would have been given a whole life prison order had he been an adult at the time.

In a statement issued on Friday evening, Lord Hermer KC said after "careful consideration" he had "concluded that this case cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal".

He added that no one would want the families to be put through an unnecessary further court process "where there is no realistic legal basis for an increased sentence".

Rudakubana's minimum term of 52 years means that he cannot be considered for release until he has served that amount of time in prison.

Lord Herm

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/23267747

The Mersey Forest is seeking public input on its new long-term strategy, More With Trees.

It aims to transform Cheshire and Merseyside by increasing tree cover, improving woodlands, and encouraging community involvement in nature-based activities.

The consultation is live until March 2, 2025.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/23250816

The first Mersey Margins Collective Comics Fair taking place next month at Future Yard CIC in Birkenhead is shaping up into a smashing showcase for comic creators.

Organised entirely by young people through the Marginal Changemakers project, the event is set to champion diversity, inclusion, and community within the comics industry.

Tickets are free but must be booked in advance via Comics Youth Eventbrite.

Taking place on Saturday 15th February 2025, the day includes free workshops like “Comics and Mental Health” with Bex Ollerton and “Comics and Climate Justice” with Emma Reynolds. There’s also a panel on “Comics and Identity” featuring creators like Lewis Hancox and Julian Gray (subject of the solo Lowry exhibition “Stories for Us”), delving into how comics empower marginalised voices.

The event will also showcase the work of twelve early-c

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/21723326

A man who featured in a viral video of him being hit in the crotch and head by bricks during the Southport riot has been jailed.

Brian Spencer was first hit in the head by a brick thrown by a fellow rioter as he goaded a line of riot police on 30 July.

As he held his head, he was then hit by a second brick directly in the crotch, causing him to stagger in the street.

The 40-year-old, of Lytham Road, Southport, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown to violent disorder and was jailed for two years and six months.

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Spencer also admitted a separate offence of racially aggravated harassment.

Merseyside Police said his injuries were captured on mobile phone footage which was shared widely on social media after "some wayward missiles" hit him during the "appalling scenes" in Southport.

A police spokesperson said Spencer "could be seen acting in an aggressive manner" as part of a large g

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23462341

It is known across Liverpool as the Radio City tower but that moniker may not be around much longer as the structure hosts its final live broadcast on Christmas Eve.

Microphone cables are being bundled up and heaving contacts books packed into boxes, leaving empty what is arguably the most famous building of the city’s skyline – St Johns Beacon, to use its proper name.

Built in 1969, originally as a luxury revolving restaurant that was one visited by Queen Elizabeth II, the tower was listed Grade II in 2020, with Historic England describing it as “embodying the technological bravura and spirit of the space age”.

Elon Musk has strong links with Merseyside thanks to his paternal grandmother, who was born and brought up in Liverpool. The tech billionaire's nan, Cora Robinson, was born on Bridge Road in Mossley Hill in August 1923, eventually leaving England to settle in South Africa, where she married Walter Musk in 1944.

Cora was the mum of Errol Musk, Elon's dad. According to Errol, Cora "grew up in poverty" in pre-war Liverpool. He said the family was "quite hard up" during her childhood, but that she and her siblings were part of a "proud, hard-working family". Cora’s sister reportedly died of scarlet fever when she was six.

In an interview with the Mirror in 2022, Errol recalled taking a young Elon to Merseyside for family holidays in the 1970s. Errol told the Sunday Mirror: "The first time I took Elon to England was when he was six years old. He loved going to Wimbledon. He also loved going to the fruit fields in the summer and picking strawberries."

On one family trip, Errol dr

British Pathé details

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/20784965

A man has experienced a terrifying moment after almost dying when his pet hamster clamped down on his hand and would not let go.

Nathan Halliday, 34, from Kirkby, Merseyside, sat down peacefully with Mochi, his Syrian hamster, when she suddenly attacked him and left him for dead.

He then experienced a anaphylactic shock and moments after she bit him Nathan’s body swelled up, he couldn’t breathe and was covered in hives.

His partner Rebecca Kidd struggled to get Mochi off him but once she did she thought the worst was about to happen so called 999.

Mochi had been looking frail for the last few days before this incident and once she was taken off Nathan she took her last two breaths and died.

In the ambulance Nathan was on death’s door and was given two shots of adrenaline, an antihistamine and put on oxygen.

...

‘One of the paramedics asked me if I was Freddie Starr.

‘Mochi

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/20547838

I was drawn to this graphic novel by its Liverpool setting. A brief flick revealed colour-suffused images of landmarks that I’ve come to love thanks to my scouse husband: the curved iron and glass roof of Lime Street station; the twin clock towers of the Royal Liver Building; even the space-age crow’s nest that sits atop St Johns Beacon, AKA the Radio City Tower. Chris Shepherd, who drew and wrote Anfield Road, grew up in the city, and his affection for it, even in the bleakest of times, can be felt on every page. When he gives us a series of drawings of the magnificent but (at the time the book is set) sorely neglected St George’s Hall, the murmuration of starlings that rises above it eventually forms the shape of a heart.

In the end, though, it was Shepherd’s story that made me hang around. A bildungsroman set in the 1980s, it’s about a teenage boy called Conor who lives with his grandmother, Mary, in a terraced house i

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/20033539

About 91,000 new trees will be planted in new woodland areas after a council agreed to sell land to the National Trust.

Sefton Council said about 193 acres (78 hectares) of disused farmland around Lunt Village, near Maghull, could now be used to create "more diverse, nature rich" habitats.

The project, partly funded by The Mersey Forest’s Trees for Climate programme, is also intended to increase flood defences and could even provide a home for red squirrels.

Trees will be planted between January and March, the council said.

...

The council hopes the project will connect existing pockets of wetland and woodland and provide homes to a variety of wildlife.

See also:

• Mersey Forest marks 30 years and nine million new trees

A £250m bypass planned to go through a Merseyside country park has been scrapped in the budget.

The proposal for a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley Country Park in south Sefton was first announced in 2017 to improve access to the Port of Liverpool.

In budget documents released today, the Transport Secretary said the A5036 Princess Way scheme would not progress as it was “unfunded and unaffordable”.

Bootle’s Labour MP Peter Dowd, whose constituency includes the port, said: "Rimrose Valley is a green lung for my constituents and the last thing we wanted was a road to be built through it."

He added: "We now have to ensure that the work to develop a long term, environmentally sustainable alternative continues."

The suspect accused of murdering three girls in Southport is facing new charges of possessing terrorist material and producing the highly toxic poison ricin, police have announced.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday charged with producing the biological toxin and having a document titled “Military studies in the Jihad against the Tyrants – the al-Qaida training manual”.

Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside police, said the murder of the three girls – Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven – was not being treated as a terrorist incident. She said no evidence pointing to a terrorist motive had been discovered.

...

Ricin was discovered at Rudakubana’s home in the village of Banks, about 5 miles from Southport, in early August, days after the attack. Kennedy said there was no evidence that ricin was present at Hart Space, the scene of the knife attack, and that counter-terrorism pol

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19123370

Merseyrail’s Maghull station has emerged victorious in the national grand final of the World Cup of Stations 2024, securing the title of Britain’s best railway station.

Forty-eight stations across the country battled for glory before the Sefton station beat finalists King’s Lynn and Dorridge in Friday’s decisive public vote to claim top spot.

This year’s World Cup of Stations celebrated the diverse businesses found in train stations across the country, highlighting facilities such as delis, florists, and cafes that enrich local communities and economies.

Maghull’s success is largely attributed to both its fantastic station team and to its popular café, ‘The Coffee Carriage,’ which opened in 2024. Founded by two local entrepreneurs, the café quickly became a community hub, offering a range of hot drinks, artisan bakes, and a welcoming atmosphere that has drawn both regular commuters and residents.

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cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18439911

Residents reported seeing flashing lights in the sky as production work began at Canal Street, St Helens, at the former Pilkington Watson Street Works.

Oblik Productions confirmed to the Star in September that filming for a Second World War Netflix film called The Immortal Man.

An article on whats-on-netflix.com suggests that the project is a 'Peaky Blinders' film.

It says that a "long-awaited Peaky Blinders movie" entitled The Immortal Man is soon heading into production and will be "set during World War II".

It says Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as Tommy Shelby from the hit TV series.

The article adds that Tim Roth is also among the cast members to have been confirmed, and it was reported that Tom Hardy has signed on for the movie.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18373887

Two men were found with kinder eggs filled with drugs up their bums as they tried to get into Creamfields. Marshall Maddock and Harry Hewitson were about to enter the north gate of the festival site before a drugs dog indicated to police that the pair may have illegal drugs.

When both were taken to a nearby area to be searched by officers, Maddock handed over a small quantity of drugs but refused to be searched further. Because of his refusal, an intimate search was conducted where officers found a kinder egg containing 10 bags of ketamine in his anus.

Hewitson also refused to be searched, claiming he didn't have any drugs, but when officers searched him he was also found to have a kinder egg with 10 bags of ketamine inside hidden in his anus. Appearing at Chester Crown Court, on Friday, October 4, the pair were handed sentences totalling 36 months in prison.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18130515

Our sixth show from 21st February 2024!

now on YouTube for absolutely free.

matches:

• LIZZY EVO v SCOTT OBERMAN
• JACK CRITCHLOW aka CRITCHY v KEMPER
• McCARTHY & MAGINNIS v MADE TO LAST
• ALEXXIS FALCON v HARLEY HUDSON
• SAM BAILEY v MAX BROOKER v TEDDY REAY v ETHAN KELLY
• TROY RYAN v NATHAN BLACK
• LANA AUSTIN v LILY WINTER
• ROB DRAKE v TONY WRIGHT

all filmed and edited by Ant Jones - AJ MEDIA

People in Liverpool have many different ways to define a Scouser. For some, the best test is based on the colour of your wheelie bin, for others it's defined by postcode and for some it's a matter of accent.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the term Scouser means "a person who comes from the Liverpool area in North West England". The crucial word there is "area", suggesting you do not necessarily have to live within the Liverpool city limits to be a Scouser, just the area.

For example, places like Bootle, Crosby, Kirkby and Huyton are technically not in Liverpool. The city of Liverpool, defined by the area governed by Liverpool City Council, does not stretch to those places.

It means the aforementioned towns do not have purple wheelie bins. For Bootle and Crosby - as they are in the borough of Sefton - their general waste is collected in grey bins. In the Knowsley towns of Kirkby and Huyton, the bins are maroon.

You would, however, have a hard task telling someon

The idea of a Scouse accent for many people from outside the city is rooted in prominent 20th century examples like The Beatles and TV dramas like 'Boys from the Blackstuff'. However, what you hear on the streets of Liverpool in the 21st century is markedly different, with many believing that a new variation of the Scouse accent has developed.

In order to find out if the accent has changed, we spoke to Liverpool-born Professor Tony Crowley. Tony has written extensively about Scouse - or Liverpool English as he refers to it. His books include the 'Liverpool English Dictionary', 'Scouse: A Social and Cultural History' and, most recently, his 2023 work 'Liverpool: A Memoir of Words'.

...

Firstly, Tony argues that our accent doesn't come from where people may think. The accepted wisdom is that Scouse is a combination of the Lancashire and Irish accents, driven by mass immigration to the city from the Emerald Isle during the Irish famine.

That theory was notably promoted by