I'm Emily, a student at Liverpool John Moores University studying English and Creative Writing. This project is about coming together as a community to connect over Liverpool. In this project, my goal was to encapsulate the vastly changing landscape of Liverpool and the uniting identity we all share. I reached out for people's stories, memories, poems, and photos of their Liverpool versus today's Liverpool. 

       I decided to create this piece because a lot of people during the pandemic felt isolated particularly as they were unable to leave their homes, to see loved ones, and were not even able to go for an extended walk. It highlighted for me that my family is a rare case, we are a close-knit family who has made a point to keep in touch and have connections to relations across the globe. The pandemic showed that many people do not have these families ties to keep them going through tough times. One of our tools for this is social media. It is no secret that social media played a large role in keeping people connected to their loved ones during the pandemic, however for those who had lost their loved ones or had few people to talk to, it posed more of an issue. Therefore, my project was a way to establish a common ground among people, one that could cross age differences and evidently continents. It allowed people a chance for me to open a conversation and people to contribute and make friends, reunite with lost connections, and lift spirits.

       My nan used to live on Wide Street, L7 until 1959. This place no longer exists and has been replaced by the University of Liverpool’s Science buildings. I loved to listen to my grandparents share stories about their antics around the small corners of their town. I have always wanted to take them back and have them show me their old stomping ground, however, two of them recently passed away. Upon discovering that the likes of TJ Hughes on London Road is being knocked down, where many of their stories were based and where I currently live, I have been quite reminiscent of how my view of Liverpool differs from theirs. When coming into the City Centre years later, my mum expressed how severely the city had changed since she lived and worked there not only a decade previously. This inspired me to think about the Liverpool that I know compared to the one older generations know. It also pushed me to look at the past, as a way of moving towards a more hopeful future. To use the loss of sections of their city and hopefully encourage a new outlook on how this has created new experiences for younger generations.

       My family were moved out of Liverpool due to social engineering in the 1980’s, their houses were knocked down and the councils moved them to various such as Kirby and Speak which are still considered a part of Merseyside. My family, however, was moved a little further afield to Runcorn which is still only a short 15-minute train ride away however is under the borough of Halton. The towns of Runcorn and Widnes often receive a lot of slack being dubbed ‘Wools’ and ‘Plastic Scoucers’.

       I feel deeply connected to Liverpool and would call this my hometown, although I was born and raised in Liverpool, frequently coming here. I do not have the recognisable Scouse accent however the rest of my family does. I may live in Runcorn however I have never felt quite at home there. This feeling of detachment and lost belonging seems to have spread throughout my family, as my grandparents always felt a sense of loneliness after moving out of Liverpool. My nan in particular always expressed how she knew everyone on her street and how there was a large sense of community there. Growing up in the aftermath of the war, families back then had an average of 10 children. Money was sparse and she once told me how there was a trip at her school, she never took home the letter as she knew they could not afford it and to her surprise, the whole street had chipped in so she could go.

       Everyone I have come across, particularly in Cheshire has roots in Liverpool. Everyone loves to talk about their connections, memories, and associations with the city. Even those whose connections are far-flung, everyone wants a piece of the city. Therefore, it is no surprise that as the grandchildren grow up, we have all slowly gravitated back to our roots and disputed with our own sense of identity as we come back home to Liverpool.