Liverpool City Centre Accommodation

Merseyside Maritime Museum: Maritime History and Liverpool naturally go hand in hand

Liverpool's Blitz, Exhibits at the Merseyside Maritime Museum

The docking centre of Albert Docks, Liverpool. A mix of cafes, speciality shopping & the Tate

View across to the Liver Building from the Albert Docks, Liverpool

International Slavery Museum, Albert Docks

Liverpool Albert Dock Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum Liverpool

Liverpool's historic waterfront along the River Mersey is one of the city's top cultural hubs. Here sits the now World Heritage Pier Head, The Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool. The Albert Docks were extensively renovated to great effect in the 1980s and here sit some of Liverpool's most popular museums and galleries including the Maritime Museum incorporating on the third floor the definitive International Slavery Museum, the Tate Liverpool, numerous chic cafes and restaurants, and stunning promenade walks overlooking the striking dockside architecture by Herbert J. Rowse on the Birkenhead riverfront across the Mersey. If you're new to Liverpool, the Albert Docks is a superb area to start your Liverpool cultural city break before moving on to more museums in the centre and around the city.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock Liverpool

Give yourself plenty of time for this marvellous museum. Several floors are crammed with exhibitions exploring Liverpool's shipping and maritime history. On the thrid floor of the Martime Museum sits the International Slavery Museum where you can hear the experiences of slaves brought here by White Slave Traders to Liverpool, which was at the centre of the trans-Atlantic slave trade triangle from the 16th century. Indeed Liverpool became Europe's leading slave port.

Merchants like Robert Cunliffe and Richard Gildart grew rich on the back of slave trading, cramming millions of African people into their slave ships in dire conditions. Many died on the journey - you can hear their stories in this museum - and how these merchants went on to pump their profits into banks and businesses in Liverpool, as well as going on to become 'respected citizens' for their crimes. The abolition of the slave trade finally came in 1807, but the use of slave labour in the British Empire did not become illegal until 1834. A harrowing history, laid bare here in Liverpool's Maritime Museum. Other topics covered via exhibits include the history of Liverpool shipping companies and reflections on major shipping disasters like the Titanic and Lusitania in the early 20th century which had a devastating impact on the shipping industry in the city.

Shortly to reopen in the basement of the Merseyside Maritime Museum is the Customs & Excise Museum (due May 2008). The exhibit is to be titled 'Seized, revenue and customs uncovered' and will stand as the only HM Revenue and Customs museum in Britain. This promises to be a fascinating display on the history of contraband seizures across Britain, bringing it right up to date. The customs archive held in Liverpool is widely regarded as one of the world's best.

Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4AQ. Tel. 0151 478 4499. Open Daily 10am to 5pm.www.merseysidemaritimemuseum.org.uk www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/slavery/index2.html

The International Slavery Museum, Liverpool

Located within the Merseyside Maritime Museum on the Albert Docks, the International Slavery Museum is one of the most comprehensive museums on Slavery in the UK and not to be missed. One of the greatest groups of national museums in the world, National Museums Liverpool is ideally placed to elevate this subject onto an international stage. Our existing Transatlantic Slavery Gallery has won worldwide recognition and has been central to the development of our award-winning work on diversity and outreach.

The new Museum will open its display galleries on 23 August 2007, Slavery Remembrance Day. 2007 is the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade and 23 August commemorates the date of the outbreak of the slave rebellion, which created the first independent Black republic of Haiti.

The International Slavery Museum will be at Liverpool's Albert Dock, at the centre of a World Heritage site. The location is only yards away from the dry docks where 18th century slave trading ships were repaired and fitted out.

The International Slavery Museum will highlight the international importance of slavery and its issues both in a historic and contemporary context. Working in partnership with other museums with a focus on freedom and enslavement, the International Slavery Museum will provide opportunities for greater awareness and understanding of the legacy of slavery today. International Slavery Museum, Dock Traffic Office, Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4AX, England. Tel. 0151 478 4499. (see the International Slavery Museum's weblink right for more details and directions).

The Beatles Story, Liverpool

The Beatles Story Liverpool museum is also within the Albert Docks. The museum traces the story of the four Beatles beginning from the late 1950s. Living History audio guide is by John Lennon's sister Julia.

Features include Paul MacCartney recounting the story of when he first met John Lennon at Woolton Villate Fete and the Beatles playing at the Star Club in Hamburg. The famous Liverpool Cavern Club is recreated inside the museum and the journey moves on through the Beatles' Abbey Road and psychedelic period and details on the background behind the production of the Sgt Pepper album. View some rare Beatles artefacts along the way. The museum has on-site hospitality facilities plus the Fab4Store.

www.beatlesstory.com

Other Beatles attractions in the city include the Cavern Club on Mathew Strett with 2 hour Magical Mystery Tour on offer, Mendips/John Lennon's childhood home and 20 Forthlin Road/Paul McCartney's childhood home now museums run by the National Trust and next to the Cavern Club the luxury Beatles Themed Hard Days Night Hotel. (see webguides right for details).

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