In 1945 the Labour government deported hundreds of Chinese seamen from Liverpool. Thousands had been brought to the UK to support the war effort and risked their lives on British ships. Many married and started families. Wives and children were left desperate as fathers and husbands were picked up by the police and deported. This… Continue reading

Risen  Arthur John Dooley (17 January 1929 – 7 January 1994)  Worker and sculptor He coughed his way downstairs, tousled thinning hair, his heavy overcoat took the place of a dressing gown over his pyjamas. His wake up fag hung from his lip as he turned on the gas. His fumbling hands expertly struck a… Continue reading

The sculptor Arthur Dooley was born in The Dingle, worked in Cammell Lairds, and travelled the world with the Irish Guards, at one point he was a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. A well travelled man he eventually settled back in his native Liverpool. For a period he worked in Dunlops in Speke to… Continue reading

I posted an article from the Jacobin earlier in the week on the famous battle of Cable street in London. https://www.facebook.com/groups/522800758257136 There was also short qoute from someone born in York St, Garston. He explained how a Polish Jew Mr Tumarkin helped his mother out when she was desperate. The speaker was Jack Jones, the… Continue reading

I heard this week that the Metal Box in Speke had been knocked down. It had been closed for years so I guess it’s no surprise. My last blog post reported on the closure of many of Liverpool Eight’s clubs, a whole social scene was removed, wiped out. In their heydey some of those clubs… Continue reading

In my book Under The Bridge, Vinny and Anne are talking, she’s picked him up from Huskisson St in Liverpool Eight and is driving him to Garston. She pulled out into the street, moved up the gears, slowed, and turned into Catherine Street.  As they moved through the lights into Princes Avenue, Vinny asked, “Remember… Continue reading

Another place…another time…another people…silent figures defying time and tide, looking out to the Mersey Estuary to the migrants who came and left and those who remain. I guess because I am from one of those migrants I feel the pull of these statues. If you haven’t seen them do yourself a favour and make the… Continue reading

This is one of the most famous political remarks in modern history. It was used by Malcolm X in 1963 when he was in the Nation of Islam but finding it increasingly difficult to remain outside of politics. He was ordered by the leader of the Nation not to comment on Kennedy’s assassination, instead of… Continue reading