We had a visitor recently, our old chum Keith Sharples came to visit and he very kindly took my wife and I on a day out to Liverpool on a very sunny Saturday for a day of film photography fun. I took the opportunity to take my Agfa Isolette I and document our day on Kentmere 400 medium format film for the Frugal Film Project. I also took my Pentax K1000 with Tamron Adaptall 2 28mm f/2.5 and my Pentax SP500 with a Panagor 200mm f/3.5 to get plenty more shots for future blog posts.
It's been a while since I walked along the waterfront in Liverpool and the changes that have been made over the years are evident. I remember the Three Graces being covered in soot when I was a child and later when the council spent millions of pounds having the buildings cleaned up they looked so much better.
The redevelopment of the waterfront that began with the Royal Albert Dock has since seen a new multi purpose events arena added and the extension of the Leeds-Liverpool canal along the waterfront to allow canal barges to moor at the Royal Albert Dock. There is also a new Museum, Mersey Ferry terminal and Cruise Ship landing stage at Pier Head. The cruise ship landing stage has brought a lot of tourism to the city.
I began my roll of Kentmere 400 with a shot of the three masted schooner, De Wadden and the old Liverpool Pilot ship which are moored in dry docks as a part of the Maritime Museum. De Wadden is sadly going to be dismantled at the end of 2023 as it is beyond economical repair. The Museum plans to conserve as much as they can and display it, but the ravages of time and the salty air have taken their toll and it will be sad to see her go.
Next was the Ferry Terminal and Museum which just don't look quite right next to the Three Graces in my humble opinion. Brutalism and Victorian architecture are so far apart that it takes an acquired taste to appreciate them. I'm not one of them, so I concentrated on the Three Graces as we made our way along the waterfront. The Port of Liverpool Building, the Cunard Building and the Liver Building are looking every bit as regal as they day they were completed and I made sure to take a few photos with all my cameras.
Edward VII is still looking out across the Mersey astride his horse, as he has since the monument was inaugurated in 1916. The monument was restored in 2008 and several layers of protective paint and various layers of dirt were removed to reveal details lost over the years. He is aging gracefully and will undergo more treatment in the future to fend off the salty sea air. I got a nice shot with the statue between two of the more modern additions to the waterfront in the background.
The redevelpment of the docks to the north of the waterfront, and the new ferry terminal and museum between the Three Graces and the Royal Albert Dock caused much consternation between the Council and the United Nations who withdrew its World Heritage Status in 2021. The docks needed redeveloping and the City Council knew it couldn't let them stay derelict and unloved just to keep a prestigious name. We do things our way and the city will continue to grow and prosper without it.
I finished this part of our walk with a shot of the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn and a few more of the Three Graces, the Museum and Mersey Ferry terminal building before we headed back towards the Royal Albert Dock, which was still very busy despite it being early evening. Day trippers like ourselves were being replaced with revellers visiting the many bars and restaurants there. I finished my roll of film here with a final shot of the Earth floating in the Dock.
We had a great day out along Liverpool Waterfront, but there's only so much we could see and photograph in the time we had. We will definitely be back at some point this year as the Tall Ships are visiting during the summer and there's always a cruise ship paying a visit. There's so much more to see and do that you simply can't do it all in one day or even one weekend.
On the following Monday I developed my Kentmere 400 in Kodak HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry. I scanned it with my Nokia phone camera and processed the images with Affinity Photo 2. Here's a few favourites from our day out and I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2023 album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Frugal Film Project 2023
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