Late Summer in Liverpool
Late Summer in Liverpool
Friday 18 to Sunday 20 September 2026
Start time/place: 5pm/The Augustus John, Peach St, L3 5TX
Finish time/place: 4pm/Lady Lever Art Gallery, Bebington, CH62 5EQ
Andrew Jackson leads a tour of Liverpool’s iconic twentieth century architecture, including both the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals and the first Mersey tunnel.
Friday evening begins at the Augustus John public house of 1968 at the University of Liverpool, before an evening at the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre (Ellis Williams Architects, 2022) to experience ‘The Dawn of the Railway’ – a new orchestral piece commissioned to mark 200 years since construction began on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1826.
Saturday starts on the steps of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (Frederick Gibberd, 1962-67). A tour of the building will include the adjoining Pontifical Hall, Concert Room, and Crypt Hall (Edwin Lutyens, 1933-41), before a walk to Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (Herbert Rowse, 1939) and a lunch of traditional Scouse at Liverpool Cathedral (Giles Gilbert Scott, 1904-78). The afternoon looks at the variety of architectural styles found at the University of Liverpool, as well as its sculpture collection featuring works by Mitzi Cunliffe, Barbara Hepworth, Phillip King, and others. A stop at the famous Ship & Mitre of 1935 rounds off the day, where hot food is available to purchase. The Ship & Mitre is also the meeting point for the following day.
Sunday morning takes in the numerous structures associated with the Queensway Tunnel (Herbert Rowse, 1934), starting in Liverpool and finishing across the River Mersey in Birkenhead. After lunch, by railway excursion, a stroll through the model village of Port Sunlight, concluding at the Lady Lever Art Gallery (William and Segar Owen, 1914-22).
The tour will finish at 4pm outside the Lady Lever Art Gallery, which is free to enter and open until 5pm, allowing time to explore the art collection or catch an earlier train back to the city centre.
Ticket price includes Friday evening concert, lunches and return rail ticket from Liverpool to Port Sunlight.
Places are strictly limited to 24.
Andrew Jackson is a former C20 Society trustee and is Chair of Merseyside Civic Society.
C20 Members’ price: £220
Non-members’ price: £250
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider and a registered charity, no 1110244.
Image: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (Herbert Rowse, 1939) recently refurbished by Caruso St John Architects. Photo by Hélène Binet.