James Wood New World Vistas

SELF-PORTRAIT, CIRCA 1918 

James Wood 1889-1975 - Painter, draughtsman, writer and aesthete, born in Southport, Lancashire. From 1908-11 he read history at Cambridge University, then in Paris, after studying etching, pursued painting with Percyval Tudor-Hart before going to Munich. During World War I he was in the army and Royal Flying Corps, later working on battleship camouflage. 

Among Wood's writings after World War I were The Foundations of Aesthetics, written with C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards. He also wrote on colour harmony, a favourite topic, and in 1926 published New World Vistas, an autobiographical work. 

From the 1930s Wood became increasingly fascinated by Persian Art; he learn Persian and subsequently became art adviser to the Persian government. His own paintings were influenced by Kandinsky, and he showed at Leicester and Zwemmer Galleries in solo exhibitions. 

After 1955 he rarely exhibited, but painted several portraits of Cambridge Academics. Wood lived in a remote cottage above Llantony, Monmouthshire, from which he continued to monitor artistic development and where he worked until his death. In 1980 Blond Fine Art held a show of his output. Wood was married to a painter, Elisabeth Robertson, who had previously been the wife of the artist and writer Humphrey Slater. British Abstract Art

Lowry makes no direct reference to James Wood's New World Vistas 1926 but he does use lines from the book in the short story 'Goya The Obscure'. Lowry also utilises the overall atmosphere of Wood's work for the Liverpool scenes in 'Goya The Obscure' as both works include a walk around the Pier Head, Liver Buildings and docks. Compare:

"the wind rushed round him with a cold monstrous final insistency." ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 277)

"the wind rushed round me with a cold monstrous final insistency." (New World Vistas Pg. 70);

"Tram- lines ran in front of the offices; further away secret tunnels bored through the gloomy buildings and the Overhead Railway and a number of sloping bridges leading to the landing stage spread round in bleak and bare confusion." ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 277).

"Tram lines ran in front of the offices, dark tunnels branched away between side buildings, the overhead railway and a number of sloping bridges leading to the landing stages spread round in bleak and bare confusion." (New World Vistas Pg. 70).

"Yet the howling wind had blown everything clean as a whistle and the sky was a ferocious blue" (Pg. 277).

"A howling wind had blown the air as clean as a whistle for miles and miles" (New World Vistas Pg. 67).

"Tram bells clanged" ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 277).

"The tram bells clanged but no one heeded..." (New World Vistas Pg. 69).

"Mothers with warm-smelling furs.." ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 277).

"..graceful girls smelling of fur.." (New World Vistas Pg. 67).

"But the wind had enveloped and overarched all these masses of iron and concrete......('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 277).

"The wind alone seemed to surround and over-arch this mass of concrete and iron...." (New World Vistas Pg. 70).

"Brutal buildings strode into the air above Joe Passilique.." ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 277).

The twin towers capped with dull green lead and the peculiar figures of the Liver bird abutted on the blue sky with an unpleasant brutality."  (New World Vistas Pg. 70).

"A drove of black cattle clattered past, herded by a hooligan with a twisted stick." ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 278).

"..a herd of black cattle..pursued by a tramp in a ragged blue suit....waving a stick as he rushed after them with the gaunt determination of a maniac.." (New World Vistas Pg. 71).

Lowry utilised the same lines in Chapter 2 of Ultramarine (Pg.s.69-70).

Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC, DSO

Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC, DSO & Two Bars (1886 – 3 July 1953) was an English naval officer, later a writer and politician, who was a recipient of the Victoria Cross.

He was educated at Dulwich College, which he attended between 1898 and 1900. He then joined the Royal Navy. In 1917, by the age of 31, he had reached the rank of Commander during First World War when the act for which he was awarded the VC took place. On 17 February 1917 in the north Atlantic, Commander Campbell, commanding HMS Farnborough (Q.5) (one of the "mystery" Q ships) sighted a torpedo track. He altered course and allowed the torpedo to hit Q.5 aft by the engine-room bulkhead. The 'Panic party' got away convincingly, followed by the U-boat. When the submarine had fully surfaced and was within 100 yards of Q.5—badly damaged and now lying very low in the water—the commander gave the order to fire. Almost all of the 45 shells fired hit the U-boat which sank. Q.5 was taken in tow just in time and was safely beached. Read more on Wikipedia

Campbell wrote several publications, including the successful My Mystery Ships published in 1921:

And an Introduction by Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly. Illustrations from photographs and sketches and diagrams by Lieutenant J. E. Broome. An interesting account by Campbell in his own words of his experiences on board the mystery ships in which he served. Mystery ships were camouflaged to appear like peaceful merchant ships, but with real guns that were hidden until a few seconds before opening fire, or more frequently opening fire the instant the guns were disclosed. They cruised on the trade routes hoping to encounter an enemy submarine so that they might attract her attention, and then when the submarine came to the surface to sink her because of heavier armament. He relates the encounters with the enemy, both successful and unsuccessful and how his crew were the only ones who, not only once, but twice, succeeded in sinking an enemy submarine after their own ship had been torpedoed. Kessinger Publishing, 2011

Gordon Bowker states that Lowry and brother Russell were taken by their elder brother Wilfrid, a part-time officer in the RNVR, to see an unidentified Q-ship in the Mersey sometime in 1918/19. (Pursued By Furies Pg. 16). Lowry must have retained an interest in Q-ships as they appear in the short story 'Goya The Obscure' when Lowry notes an advert; "Mystery Ship VC Visits Wallasey" (Pg. 273). This relates to a lecture given by Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell at Wallasey Town Hall on Friday, January 10th 1930. The advert noted by Lowry appeared twice in the Wallasey News on December 21st 1929 and again on December 28th 1929. A short reminder also appeared inside the paper on December 28th as seen below:

There is no record of Lowry attending the lecture though he may have attended as could have been home in Caldy after his first term at Cambridge University. The date of the lecture is significant as it shows that he was collecting newspaper headings/signs for inclusion in 'Goya The Obscure' during this period. 'Goya The Obscure' was published in June 1930 in Venture 6.

A report on the lecture appeared in the Wallasey News on 18th January 1930 with the headline: Beating the Submarines - Admiral Campbell, V.C., and the "Mystery Ships". The event was organised by the Mersey Mission to Seamen to raise funds. There was a full attendance at the Town Hall to hear the one and half hour illustrated talk by Rear-Admiral Campbell who gave a "thrilling account of some his own experiences". Below are extracts from the newspaper account:

......The dire perils which fraught the means of coping with the submarine menace during the Great War by "mystery ships" were graphically recounted........

....In view of recent attempts at stark realism in books on the war, ostensibly with the objective of promoting peace, the nature of Rear-Admiral Gordon Campbell's lecture assumed a special importance. In its grim vividness it militated towards such an objective...

...The Mayor (Alderman J.G. Storey) was present and at the conclusion of the lecture proposed a vote of thanks to the speaker..."Rear-Admiral Campbell has told us of deeds of heroism," he said, "that will live long as the British flag flies; deeds of which every man and woman in Wallasey is proud, and always will be, if only for the fact that two Wallasey men took part in the gallant action under his command."........Mr Martindale (Wallasey), who served under Admiral Campbell, sat among the audience, in which was the mother of another man who served under the Admiral, named Morrison. Wallasey News 18th January 1930.

Q-ships appear later in Lowry's novel Under The Volcano. The character Geoffrey Firmin, the Consul in Lowry's Under The Volcano was a Lieutenant-Commander of the Q-Ship S.S. Samaritan during WW 1. In the novel, Firmin is haunted by his involvement in the deaths of a captured German U-Boat crew by placing them in the furnace of the Samaritan. Read more on Malcolm Lowry @The 19th Hole

Y'lang, Y'lang

Lowry uses the words "Y'lang, y'lang" to describe the sound of a bell ringing in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; "and the Canning Dock, the sinister bell of warning singing out its desolate nostalgic phrase, y'lang y'lang:, y'lang y'lang, - The voice of the chiming bell-buoy chiming and wallowing and rolling..." (Pg.278) and "A woman passed. Y'lang y'lang. 'Excuse me Miss, are you going anywhere?' " (Pg. 278). Lowry revives the  words in his novel Ultramarine;  "and the Canning Dock, the sinister bell of warning singing out its desolate nostalgic phrase, y'lang y'lang y'lang y'lang. ... tolling, enforcing his sad solitude. 'Ware Shoal! A woman passes. Y'lang y'lang. Norwegian liner aground in Mersey!" (Pg. 70). Lowry also uses the words in a letter to Gerald Noxon dated 1952; "Time for the train that "goes a long way," i. e., toward Port Moody and points east. . . y'lang, y'lang." (Collected Letters Vol 2 Pg.)

Lowry would have been aware that Ylang-ylang was a tree found in Far East which is a one valued for its perfume and is considered to be an aphrodisiac. Lowry would have read a reference to a tree in Penang mentioned by J. Johnston Abraham's in his The Surgeon's Log  - a book Lowry refers to in the short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour'. (Psalms Pg. 231).

Lowry appears to be linking the tree's aphrodisiac qualities to its pronunciation sounding like a bell to develop a complex sexual allusion. The use of sexual allusions is a theme that runs throughout 'Goya The Obscure'. The bell is warning Joe Passalique of the dangers of having sex with a prostitute as he drifts around Liverpool - "A woman passed. Y'lang y'lang. 'Excuse me Miss, are you going anywhere?' " (Pg. 278).

Cleveland Street, Birkenhead

A street named after John Cleveland, a Liverpool merchant who once owned the Birkenhead Priory estate. The street runs from Hamilton Square to Corporation Road and was part of Birkenhead's original grid-iron pattern street layout conceived in the 1840's. The street was a mixture of housing and industry with many public houses serving the nearby docks and associated industries.

Lowry refers to the street in his short story 'Goya The Obscure' (Pg. 273).

Dock-road, Birkenhead

A name given by local people to Corporation Road which runs parallel to Birkenhead Docks from Rendell Street to Beaufort Road. The dockside of the road still features a high wall while across the road there used to be a mixture of terraced housing for dockers, workshops and other industrial sites. Though most of the housing has since been demolished and many of the former dockside industries replaced.

Former Mersey Arms

Former Wheatsheaf Hotel

The road also featured many docklands pubs including the Wheatsheaf Hotel (corner of Pool Street), Dolphin Hotel  (corner of Cathcart Street) and Mersey Arms (corner of Neptune Street) which have now all closed. The road is crossed by Cathcart Street which led to the Blue Funnel Line berths where Lowry sailed to the Far East in 1927.

Lowry refers to the road in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; "Yellow-toothed the piano, Bluthner, which stood in the corner of the saloon in the Dolphin Hotel, Birkenhead Dock-road." (Pg. 270). A journey along the road may have inspired a scene in Lowry's short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour'; "Drawing near the dockside the pubs came thick and fast, with sea-sounding names here: the Dolphin, the Blue Peter, the Right Whale." (Pg. 233). The last 2 pubs are fictional.

Liverpool Overhead Railway

The Liverpool Overhead Railway was the world's first electrically-operated overhead railway. The railway ran close to the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, following the line of Liverpool Docks. The Liverpool Overhead Railway was opened on 4 February 1893.

The railway ran from Alexandra Dock to Herculaneum Dock, a distance of six miles. It used standard gauge track with 11 intermediate stations along the line. The railway gained the affectionate nickname of Dockers' Umbrella, as a great proportion of the railway was elevated and dockers could walk beneath it as they travelled around the docks. During World War II, the railway suffered extensively from bomb damage. As a purely local undertaking, it was not nationalised in 1948 with the rest of the British railway system.

The railway was carried mainly on iron viaducts, with a corrugated iron decking, onto which the tracks were laid. As such, it was vulnerable to corrosion - especially as the steam-operated Docks Railway operated beneath some sections of the line. During surveys it was discovered that expensive repairs would be necessary to ensure the line's long term survival, at a cost of £2 million. The Liverpool Overhead Railway Company could not afford such costs and despite considerable protest, the line was closed on the evening of 30 December 1956

Lowry refers to the railway in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; "and the Overhead Railway and a number of sloping bridges leading to the landing stage spread round in bleak and bare confusion." (Pg.277) and the sames lines in his novel Ultramarine (Pg. 69) and "A dockside train with its diminutive engine is rumbling along cautiously beneath the Overhead railway bridges in the direction of Mann Island and Canning Dock...." 'Goya The Obscure' (Pg. 2770 and Ultramarine (Pg. 70).

Liverpool Evening Express

Liverpool's first evening newspaper established in 1870 by Charles Tinling. Initially, supporting Conservative interests in the city later became a popular paper until ceasing publication in 1958.

Lowry refers to the paper in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; " 'Liverpool Liner aground,' Last Echo and Exprey!-' (Pg. 278) and "The wind blows up from the road an old copy of the Liverpool Express, rumples and whisks it down the Goree Piazzas. It clung finally to a lamp-post, like some ugly cringing wraith." (Pg. 278); Lowry repeats the sentences in Ultramarine (Pg.69) but changes the liner to; "Norwegian liner aground in Mersey!"

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England on the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool. The town was a Borough Council in the 1920’s/1930’s having rapidly expanded due the growth of the port in the 19th Century and associated industries such as ship building. The town’s significance for Lowry is that he sailed from the port in May 1927 for the Far East. Lowry appears to have frequented the theatres, cinemas, cafes and bars in this once thriving and busy town featuring as much as Liverpool, it’s larger neighbour, in Lowry's work; "His whole being was drowning in memories, the smells of Birkenhead... were again heavily about him." (Ultramarine Pg. 27)

Click map to enlarge

The town features in ‘Goya The Obscure’, Ultramarine, ‘Enter One In Sumptuous Armour’, the poem ‘Freighter 1940’ and Under The Volcano. Lowry references several roads, buildings, etc in the town including; Anchor Hotel, Argyle Theatre, Bidston, Birkenhead Docks, Birkenhead Park Railway Station, Board of Trade Mercantile Office, Cammell Laird, Cathcart Street, Central Railway Station, Cleveland Street, Crosville Bus Stop, Dock-road, Dolphin Hotel, Grange Road, Great Float, Hall Line Sheds, Hamilton Square, Hippodrome Theatre, Hubbard & Martin's Tea Rooms, Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club, Mutual Aid Society Booth, Queensway Tunnel, Rock Ferry, Rock Ferry Railway Station, Scala Theatre, Seaman's Temperance Restaurant, Tranmere Rovers Football Club, West Cheshire Golf Links, Woodside Ferries.

L.N.E.R. Timetables

Lowry notes “L.N.E.R. time-tables” in his short story 'Goya The Obscure' (Pg. 275). The timetables are those on the London North Eastern Railway information boards (most likely at Liverpool Central Station where the L.N.E.R. operated). An example from 1931 can be seen above.

Liverpool Central Station

The original station, which was a large above ground terminal station, opened on 2 March 1874, at the end of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line to Manchester Central. The three-storey building fronted Ranelagh Street in the city centre, with a 65 feet (20 m) high, arched shed behind. There were 6 platforms within the station, offering journeys to Manchester Central (in 45 minutes, making the route the quickest and most direct between Liverpool and Manchester), London St. Pancras, Hull, Harwich, Stockport, Southport and an alternative London route to that of the Midland Railway terminating at London Marlebone. In 1966, most services on the CLC route were diverted to Liverpool Lime Street and the building demolished.

Lowry would have passed through this station as the Lower Central Station was part of the Mersey Railways, which connected the Wirral to Liverpool via an underground link under the River Mersey.

Lowry notes the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) timetables in his short story 'Goya The Obscure' (Pg. 275). This most likely was noted at Liverpool Central Station where the L.N.E.R. operated)

Mann Island, Liverpool

Originally an island in the River Mersey called Mersey Island. Created between the docks off Liverpool. Renamed Mann Island in 1784 after oil-stone dealer John Mann. When George's Dock was filled in (the present site of the Liver Building and its two companions) it ceased to be an 'island'.

Lowry refers to Mann Island in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; “A dockside train … was rumbling… beneath the Overhead Railway bridges in the direction of Mann Island and Canning Dock”.(Pg.278) and his first novel Ultramarine; "with its diminutive engine is rumbling along cautiously beneath the Overhead Railway bridges in the direction of Mann Island and ..." (Pg. 70).

Howell's Bookshop, Castle Street, Liverpool

Located at 46 Castle Street in 1927. Joe Passalique settles his account there after returning from sea in the short story 'Goya The Obscure' (Pg. 271). Possibly based on Lowry's own experiences.

The shop had been located at 83 Church Street as can be seen from the extract below of Liverpool bookshops in 1921 from the Literary Year book whose editorial offices where located at 67 Dale Street, Liverpool:

Seamen’s Temperance Restaurant, Birkenhead

Lowry mentions this restaurant in ‘Goya The Obscure’ when he lists several signs/adverts (Pg. 273). This is probably the National British Women’s Temperance Association Refreshment Rooms located at Woodside Ferry (Kelly’s Directory 1927).

The British Women's Temperance Association (1876-1925) was founded under the presidency of Mrs Edward Parker in 1876 to organise women to encourage temperance by education and other means, and to agitate for the restriction of sales of alcohol. In addition it targeted activities at the 7-30 age group, including summer schools and competitions. In 1925 the Association and the Women's Total Abstinence Union resolved their differences and merged to become the National British Women's Total Abstinence Union.

Lowry could have possibly eaten there on route to Liverpool by ferry-boat or known the restaurant through his teetotal parents.

Lowry refers to a similar restaurant in his novel Ultramarine; "He was standing by a sign: Seamen’s Temperance Restaurant - all welcome (Pg. 36), "Seamen’s Temperance Restaurant." (Pg.81) and Lowry notes a sign for Sailor's Temperance Restaurant when Dana is on his drift through the red light district of Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen) (Pg. 104). No record of such a restaurant has been discovered to date.

Sabang, Indonesia

Sabang is a city consisting of an island (Weh Island) and several smaller islands off the northern tiup of Sumatra. The islands form a regency within Aceh Special Region, Indonesia.

Lowry refers to the city in his short story 'Goya The Obscure' and in a letter to John Davenport dated 27th October 1930; "The third - (Richard Ghormley Ebehart!), unamazed in meditation looked up from Persia - more likely sailing down the coast by Iloilo, Zamboanga, Sabang, anywhere, Eberhart Icarus at this time". (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 73-74).

The letter is influenced by Lowry's reading of Richard Eberhart's poem A Bravery of Earth published in 1930. Eberhart's poem reflected his experiences at Cambridge University and his time as a ship's hand in the Far East which would have had obvious appeal to Lowry.

There is no documentary evidence to suggest that Lowry visited the city as part of his 1927 voyage to the Far East. It would appear that Lowry's mention of the peninsular is also part of a youthful obsession with the "exotic East" which, manifested itself in the composing of the song 'I've Said Goodbye to Shanghai' with his Cambridge musical partner Ronald Hill. Lowry may have also known that the port was often visited by Blue Funnel Line ships.

Iloilo, Philippines

Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province, once part of Iloilo Province but now a province in its own right. Across the Panay Gulf and Guimaras Strait is Negros Occidental. Iloilo's capital is Iloilo City though the city itself is independent and not governed by the provincial government of Iloilo.

Lowry mentions Iloilo in his short stories 'Tramps' and 'Goya The Obscure' and later in Ultramarine; "……his tattooed arms (where had they been tattooed, ….Iloilo?)" (Pg. 26).

There is no documentary evidence to suggest that Lowry visited Iloilo as part of his 1927 voyage to the Far East. It would appear that Lowry's mention of  Iloilo is perhaps part of a youthful obsession with the "exotic East" which, manifested itself in the composing of the song 'I've Said Goodbye to Shanghai' with his Cambridge musical partner Ronald Hill. The reference to the Iloilo may have been influenced by Lowry's reading of Richard Eberhart's poem A Bravery of Earth published in 1930. Eberhart's poem reflected his experiences at Cambridge University and his time as a ship's hand in the Far East. In a letter Lowry wrote to John Davenport dated 27th October 1930; "The third - (Richard Ghormley Ebehart!), unamazed in meditation looked up from Persia - more likely sailing down the coast by Iloilo, Zamboanga, Sabang, anywhere, Eberhart Icarus at this time". (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 73-74). 

Woodside Ferry, Birkenhead

Woodside Ferry is a small riverside locality in Birkenhead, on the Wirral, England, situated almost opposite Liverpool Pier Head across the River Mersey.

Woodside is one of two Wirral terminals for the Mersey Ferry to the Pier Head in Liverpool. This terminal underwent a programme of extensive refurbishment in 1985. When reopened on 13 March 1986, the restoration of the historic booking hall had been completed and the large, dilapidated Victorian landing stage replaced with the current facility. With the closure of Woodside railway station in 1967, and the construction of the new Birkenhead Bus Station in the late 1990s, the importance of Woodside as a major transport hub has declined, although numerous local bus services still use the terminus. 

Mentioned by Lowry in his short story 'Goya The Obscure' (Pg. 273).

Water Street, Liverpool

Originally Bank Street or Bonke Street. It was one of the original seven streets and it was so called because it led to the shore or riverbank. Joe Passalique walks up the street from the river in ‘Goya The Obscure’ (Pg. 276). Water Street was also the location of India Buildings which housed the office of Alfred Holt and Holt Company (the Blue Funnel) Shipping Company. Lowry was a deckhand on one of the Blue Funnel line ships Pyrrhus when he sailed to the Far East in 1927. He may have visited the office to sign on for the voyage.

Seraphina

Birkdale - a barque used on the Chilean nitrate trade

The sea shanty "Seraphina" appears in Lowry’s short story ‘Goya The Obscure’ (Pg. 270). A group of sailors returning from a voyage sing the sea shanty in the Dolphin pub in Birkenhead's docklands. Tradition has it that the song originated amongst the sailors who sailed the nitrate trade on barques between Birkenhead and the West Coast of South America. Lowry refers to the song in Chapter 2 of Ultramarine; "Sera- phina's got no drawers, I been down and seen her, Seraphina," (Pg. 64).  Lowry later reprises the line "Seraphina's got no drawers" during Dana's trawl around the brothels of Dairen in Ultramarine; "Three stokers swayed along the road, singing Seraphina. "Sera- phina's got no drawers, I been down and seen her, Seraphina," they shouted happily" (Pg. 100).

Lowry probably heard the song in the pubs of Birkenhead before and after his voyage to the Far East in 1927 aboard the Blue Funnel ship Pyrrhus. A former Blue Funnel sailor has told me that the song was still being sung into the 1950's around Birkenhead pubs. There appear to be many different versions of the song including some without the refrain "Serafina's got no drawers" which obviously stuck with Lowry.

See 'Seraphina' on Malcolm Lowry @ The Ninteenth Hole

Pierhead, Liverpool

The Pier Head is a riverside location in the city centre of Liverpool, England. It is part of the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was inscribed in 2004.

The site encompasses a trio of landmarks, built on the site of the former George's Dock and referred to since at least 2000 as "The Three Graces":

Royal Liver Building, built between 1908 and 1911 and designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas. It is a grade I listed building consisting of two clock towers, both crowned by mythical Liver Birds. The building is the headquarters of the Royal Liver Friendly Society.

Cunard Building, constructed between 1914 and 1916 and a grade II listed building. It is the former headquarters of the Cunard Line shipping company.

Port of Liverpool Building, built from 1903 to 1907 and also grade II listed. It is the former home of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.

Read more on Wikipedia

Originally, the Prince's Landing Stage was situated at the Pier Head to serve the trans-Atlantic liner service. There were a number of these stages built during Liverpool's history, the most recent opened in the 1890s and was joined to the neighbouring George's Landing Stage, situated to the south. After further lengthening took place in the early twentieth century, the combined structure originally measured 2,478 feet, almost half a mile. Both were scrapped in 1973, following the termination of trans-Atlantic services from Liverpool. A new terminal has now opened to facilitate liners.

The Mersey Ferries operate from George's Landing Stage. The Ferries travelled to Woodside in Birkenhead, Seacombe, New Brighton, Egremont, Rock Ferry and Eastham during the time when Lowry was living in New Brighton and later Caldy.

Lowry refers to the landing stage in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; "and the Overhead Railway and a number of sloping bridges leading to the landing stage spread round in bleak and bare confusion." (Pg.277) and the sames lines in his novel Ultramarine (Pg. 69) and "The ferryboat was now warping in to the Liverpool Pier head." ('Goya The Obscure' Pg. 275); "Or On Pier Head my heels I'd cool/Gazing at freighters far away/For I was born in Liverpool" 'Villaknell' (Collected Poetry Poem 138.5).

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.