Liverpool or Manchester?

This could well be a question for football fans, with four Premier League clubs in the two cities, fans are well catered for. So, are you red (Manchester United and Liverpool FC) or blue (Manchester City and Everton)?

In practice, it is very difficult to attend a football match, tickets are (almost) unobtainable. I still invite you to admire the elaborate gate of the Liverpool stadium:

So this post is about the cities themselves, or at least some of the images of these two cities, which I was a neighbour of when I lived in England. A very subjective choice of photos that reflect the way I experienced them.

Let’s start with a street art walk in Manchester. The Northern Quarter is an area where you can find a lot of art. It was originally a working class area, with low brick buildings.

Many parts of Manchester city centre are made up of these low-rise buildings overlooking narrow streets. A Ken Loach movie atmosphere, especially on a grey Sunday morning with a little drizzle.

iew on the backyards and the small dead ends:

Manchester is also home to newer, more open areas, including here, the Quays, an area undergoing extensive renovation:

Direction the sea and Liverpool, a city which also grew a lot during the industrial revolution. The same low-rise red brick buildings can be found there, especially in the cordeliers district, buildings that have been renovated a little but not completely, some of which are not far from collapsing, right in the city centre.

Then there is the harbour area, a very open area overlooking the River Mersey which then flows into the Irish Sea, starting with the so-called “Three Sisters” buildings which belonged to the city’s shipowners and show its wealth in the 19th century.

The quayside area has been redesigned and museums and galleries are located along the river.

And more:

And to finish this visit of the city, a little dive in the docks. Lots and lots of mud, but also an interesting environment with lots of species that have arrived in the hold of ships. Special permit required, don’t go in the water like that!