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Liverpool
Central Docks
Photographs ©
John Luxton 2000 - 2005
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January 01, 2000 |
The
photographs on this page were taken around four to five years apart.
Those on the left were taken on January 01, 2000 just
a month before the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company announced
a major £200 million development project to
redevelop the area for residential, recreational and business use in
partnership with other developers. The redevelopment it was claimed would be sympathetic to existing structures, many of which will be
restored and put to other uses. The time scale for the development work
was given at around 5 years.
However, five years the development has yet to start little has changed beyond the increasing
state of decay of some of the structures, in particular the Stanley Dock
North Warehouses. |
2004 / 2005 |
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massive granite walls surrounding many of the docks were typical of Dock
engineer Jesse Hartley's designs. |
Viewed from the lift bridge which links Collingwood Dock [foreground] to
Stanley Dock can be seen the famous six-sided Victoria Clock at the long
sealed Salisbury Dock river entrance |
The six sided Victoria Clock Tower just cries out for
restoration. This, and the next four photographs were taken on August 07,
2004. |
When the demolition men removed the
Scherzer Lift Bridge which was situated at Salisbury Dock, the left behind
the gates which protected the roadway when the bridge was in the open
position |
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| Stanley
Dock north warehouses. The warehouses are of similar
design to those at The Albert Dock and Wapping Dock,. Stanley Dock was a
transhipment point
for traffic heading up the Leeds and Liverpool canal. In the previous
picture, the opening for narrow boats can just be seen. |
The
winter morning sun shines through the girders of the last remaining Scherzer
Lift Bridge on the Liverpool side of the River. The bridge links
Collingwood Dock with Stanley Dock. |
The mooring bollard must have held the ropes to many
hundreds of ships over the years, now it only sees the use by pleasure
boats |
.The massive bulk of the Stanley Tobacco
Warehouses can be seen. Reputedly the largest brick constructed building
in the world. It can be seen how it was built in front of the Stanley Dock
South Warehouses - right of photograph. |
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| Regent
Road, more examples of the massive walls constructed to improve dock
security. Full of architectural merit they have gate "turrets"
inspired by castles. |
Stanley Dock south warehouse. The world's largest warehouse. Already in
the hands of a property company the ground floor is operated as a Sunday
Market. Unfortunately very low ceilings in the building's upper floors
have so far prevented reuse. Though a solution is expected to be found |
The autumn sun warms the illuminates and warms the bricks
of the old warehouses on November 19, 2005.
How much longer will it be before work starts to prevent these
impressive buildings from falling into further decay? |
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