This weekend, the streets of Liverpool have once again been taken over by Royal de Luxe’s giant marionettes. They first visited in 2012 and again in 2014.
This time David and I only managed to pop into town to see the ‘uncle’ giant asleep on his raft. The crowds of 2014, were more than topped this time around, which put us off.
Royal de Luxe
Did you manage to see any of the visits from the giants? What were your impressions?
This weekend was a weekend much like David and I used to have before my Father passed. Maybe life is slowly getting back to how it used to be?
It was the weekend of Liverpool’s ‘Sea Odyssey‘ where the streets were given over to the puppetry of French company Royal de Luxe.
On Friday as David was in work all day with a headache, I followed, in anticipation online the progress of the Little Girl Giant as she walked through the city to King’s Dock and the ‘Uncle’, diver coming from the sea to walk the streets towards Stanley Park, Anfield. David being so kind later in the evening took myself, Daniel, his girlfriend Jo and my Mum around the city, to see the sleeping giants.
On Saturday, David and I got up early to head into town before the crowds, so we could get a good spot to see the Little…
This bank holiday weekend coincided with Cunard’s 175 year celebrations here in Liverpool. The city witnessed a three day spectacle as Cunard’s three Queen passenger ships visited the River Mersey.
On Sunday the Queen Mary 2 docked at port and in the evening there was a laser display projected onto the three Graces followed by fireworks.
Monday was the main event! The Queen Mary 2 was to leave Liverpool to meet and greet her sister ships, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. So, David and I decided to go to Crosby Marina in anticipation of seeing the ships. I am afraid I got carried away with all the excitement around this event.
Crosby Beach
So on a cloudy, cold Monday morning (25th May 2015), we headed to Crosby. We arrived just after 9am. We managed to find a street to park the car and walked towards the beach. Other sightseers were walking the coastal path, laden with chairs and binoculars, both of which David and I could have brought with us if we had thought on. However, we had to be content with standing as we overlooked the beach dotted with Sir Antony Gormley’s Another Place statues and brave the relentless onslaught of the chilling wind. It felt more like winter than late spring!
We stood in total for three hours during the spectacle. I could not feel my fingers they were that cold! Other spectators also shivered as we all waited for the Queen Mary 2 to leave her berth and make her way to the mouth of the Mersey to greet her two sisters. The crowed swelled. Many even went out towards the edge of the tide (that was going out) to get a better viewpoint. Where David and I stood was good enough, over looking the coast but high enough so no one could be in the way!
In the Irish Sea out in the distance we could see the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria as they made their joyous approach to the city. Seeing them draw ever closer gave us something to distract from the cold. The sun briefly made an appearance before being blanketed by a thick bank of cloud that did not shift. I was afraid that none of my pictures of the event would come out due to shivering too much!
Then from around the headland the top of the Queen Mary 2 could be seen, she looked so close! She had left Liverpool at 10.45am. The crowd seemed to buzz with excitement. Cameras started clicking and I juggled with three!
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The Queen Mary 2 lead by the mighty Mersey Ferry stopped opposite where David and I stood. She sounded her horns to her sisters. The horns sounded so forlornly to me. The crowed cheered in response! As Queens Elizabeth and Victoria came closer along the coast, Queen Mary 2 pivoted and faced her bow back towards Liverpool. Queen Elizabeth was the first to pass QueenMary 2 heading along the river, followed by Queen Victoria. QueenMary 2 brought up the rear as they both followed Queen Elizabeth in a cavalcade towards more awaiting crowds in the city! With the Queens’ departure the spectacle at Crosby was at an end!
While David and I returned home, the Queens paraded up the Mersey and turned 360° before lining up side by side in front of the Cunard building, one of the three Graces. The ships seemed to dwarf the city’s skyline! There was even the obligatory fly over by the Red Arrows en-route to Blackpool! Their flight path took them over our house. A thundering sound announced their approach but it was over too quickly for me to get my camera out. I saw nine red jets flying in arrow formation from my living room window!
I watched the remaining festivities at the Pier Head via webcams. After the three Queens had lined up before the Cunard building the city said its farewell to Queen Mary 2.Queen Victoria docked and Queen Elizabeth anchored in the middle of the river, but she too would leave the city after the second showing of the laser show and fireworks. Queen Victoria would leave the city on Tuesday.
I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the three Queens from Crosby beach, even though I was frozen to the bone. Spectacles like these truly show what a magnificent city Liverpool is. It’s street cred is definitely on the increase and quite rightly too! 😀
25th to the 27th July was the return of Royal de Luxe’s giant marionettes to Liverpool.
In 2012 not long after my father had passed, Little Girl Giant, Xolo her dog and the Diver came to thrill the streets of Liverpool in A Sea Odyssey, and left a lasting impact on the psyche of all who saw them.
In 2014, they once again took over the streets of Liverpool, this time with dear old Grandmother in tow. They were part of the World War One commemorations. Liverpool was celebrating the heroism of it Pals, 5,000 men who volunteered for the war effort! Almost half never returned and those who did were left with scars both physically and mentally.
David and I on the Friday took the bus into town at 8am on a bright sunny morning and stood for over three hours waiting and watching as Little Girl Giant and Xolo awoke to start their journey around town and witnessed the Grandmother visit the city for the first time.
While waiting for the Giants to wake up, David and I were magnets for the media. We were approached by BBC Merseyside, Juice FM and a gentleman asked if he could take our picture for a magazine, though I didn’t catch the name of it! David and I must look approachable or was it the red cat suit I wore on the day?
David and I in Newsham Park
It was hot, too hot and the swelling crowds seemed endless, like a sea of humanity stretching fathomlessly through the city’s streets.
For the next three days the weather played along and visitors came from both far and wide to witness the magical spectacle.
As the Giants took over the city’s streets, public transport was sorely affected. On the Friday we ended up walking half way home as buses were diverted. We finally picked up one by the Women’s Hospital, both disgruntled and with sore feet!
I struggled with a migraine all weekend. The heat and standing in the sun for hours did not help.
On the Friday evening, after trying to sleep off the migraine, David and I went to Newsham Park where the evenings events were to be held. We went with his family. As expected the fields were already filled with people, so we were not so lucky as in the morning in getting a front row spot!
The giants were over an hour late as Grandmother had a malfunction with her head!! At least it was a nice warm evening under a golden sun!
Giant spectacular, Liverpool 2014
Finally the Giants entered the make shift stage. There were Pipers pipping, drummers on top of double decker cars and Xolo ran around entertaining the crowds. The grandmother sat down next to the Little Girl Giant and told the tale of how the Giants made mankind! They then all bedded down for the night while cheesily John Lennon’s ‘Imagine‘ played into the twilight.
We did not go to see the other two days. Saturday was a blur as I recovered from my migraine and Sunday, because we knew there would be crowds, we decided to cut our loses. At least we had seen the Giants during their visit, and we had seen them two years ago. However I did not feel the emotion that I had on their first visit to the city. Perhaps I was still in mourning then? Either way, the Giants this time around was as good if not more productive for the city and its credibility. May they return in the future with a much stronger tale to tell.
Christine Lucas 