The Liverpool Festival Gardens on the Mersey river-front was a place I'd been curious to check out for a while. People had told me a bit about it's past and how it featured Japanese and Chinese gardens - that was enough to pique my interest!
Sadly the Festival Gardens went through a state of ruin until some TLC restored it. Here's the story behind it from the Festival Garden's website:
“The International Garden Festival took place between May and October 1984 and attracted 3.8 million visitors. The specially commissioned entertainment complex was the centrepiece of the city’s early regeneration efforts following industrial decline in the preceding decade.
When the festival closed its doors, a large part of the site was developed into residential housing, while the remainder experienced various incarnations as leisure and entertainment facilities, until it was left derelict in 1997 to fall into disrepair.
Now, after many years and numerous failed attempts to breathe new life into the historic site, the future of the restored Festival Gardens is secure, and the gates are well and truly open.”
So on a warm summer's day off together in August, Hannah and I decided to go for a stroll to the Festival Gardens. Have a look through the photos to see the journey there and back.
...and that was our stroll to the Festival Gardens. After this walk and a few bike rides along Otterspool promenade I can see potential in capturing a decent series of photos from this stretch of the Mersey. A project for next year perhaps!
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