Old Ropery, Liverpool

A street that used to run from Fenwick Street to Drury Lane which still exists but is now curtailed by new developments. The name derives from a ropery set up in a garden behind Castle Street in the 18th Century by William Bushell. The street was severely damaged during WW11.

Joe Passalique walks up and down the street looking for prostitutes in ‘Goya The Obscure’ (Pg. 276). Dana daydreams aboard Pyrrhus about walking with Janet Travena in the street (Ultramarine Pg. 63); Dana walks down the street while ambulating around Liverpool city centre in Ultramarine (Pg.69). In 1927, Mrs. Annie Rust ran the Cornmarket pub in Old Ropery, one of Liverpool’s oldest existing pubs, which may have appealed to Lowry. History has it that the wooden panelling in the lounge was from the interior of the captains cabin of the clipper ship Rio del Mar.

 

The above 3 photographs show the Old Ropery in October 2009.