THING OF THE WEEK
GRANITE ANNIVERSARY… It looks like the Queensway Tunnel is due for a giant rock, celebrating its 90th birthday this weekend. This two-mile tunnel took 1,700 people nine years to build – with much of the 1.2m tonnes of rock having to be excavated by hand. To pay homage to the tunnel connecting Wirral and Liverpool, there will be free behind-the-scenes tours at the George’s Dock Building starting at 10am on Saturday and Sunday. These are first-come, first-served, so this is not a weekend for a proper lie-in if you want to check it out. In the meantime, please join us in wishing this modern marvel a very happy birthday.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram gives VR a try. Credit: via LCRCA
FUTURE VIEWS… Consultations have gone high-tech. The public sector is embracing virtual reality to give the public a better sense of what the future £100m Liverpool Baltic station will look like. Those who attended a walk-in consultation event on Tuesday were able to explore the CGIs themselves or, at the very least, watch others looking strange in headset. A win for both, in our opinion. Fancy a virtual walk-through yourself? The next consultation event with VR will be on 23 July at the FireFit Youth and Community Hub in Toxteth. You can also check it out on the virtual experience on the consultation website, but let’s be honest – it’s just not as cool without a headset.
A plaque for Ernest Leeming is now at Davyhulme Park. Credit: via Trafford Council
PREFAB PLAQUE… A Trafford golden boy has received blue plaque honours at Davyhulme Park, where Trafford Council erected a memorial for Ernest Leonard Leeming. Leeming was an engineer and surveyor who worked for the old Barton Rural District Council and Urmston Council from 1922 to 1954. So why has this public servant from years gone by gotten a plaque? He’s the one responsible for much of the design around the pre-war housing in Urmston, as well as its road development. Leeming was also a leader in the prefab movement, designing a prefabricated home for himself and for many in Urmston 20 years before the prefabricated housing method became vogue.
King Charles outlined the agenda for the Labour government as he opened Parliament on 17 July. Credit: Roger Harris for the House of Lords
WHERE IS THE LOVE?… While the King’s Speech itself refrained from indulging in too many specifics, the briefing notes accompanying it had no such qualms. It is these notes that we can get a fuller sense of what’s on the agenda for the new government. Manchester gets 12 mentions, while Liverpool has none. Now, granted, five of those mentions are virtue of the HS2 legislation being named High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill – but still. Leeds and Newcastle each got one nod, while Hull got two mentions. Does this mean bad news for activity in those Northern towns? Nah – we wouldn’t go that far. But we would like to see more Liverpool love in the future.
View this post on Instagram
YO QUIERO… Welcome to the wild world of fast-food TexMex, Burnley! Taco Bell, via Soul Foods Group, is officially the final tenant at the £23m Pioneer Place. This will be the first Taco Bell in East Lancashire and the second in the county – so we fully expect the region to soon be converted to Crunchwrap Supremes, chalupas, and cinnamon twists. This is the menu you want at the end of a long night and a few pints too many. Far from the only choice of eatery at Pioneer Place, customers could opt instead for a cheeky Nandos, Heavenly Deserts, Lounge, or Starbucks. But who would want to pass up an opportunity to Live Mas?
Last time a tunnel was constructed with pick and shovels and before the Mole turned up.
By Eric