I will be very interested to hear, and thanks for the link.

We have pretty much the same itinerary floating around for a few years now, and Harlech is the only castle to have escaped me so far, it is trickier to get to by public transfport if you are on the North side of Snowdonia.

I hear you. We're only in Cheshire (in the middle of a Liverpool / Jodrell Bank / Pontcysyllte triangle) but Harlech is just a little *too* far for a day trip with our kids. Whereas two weeks ago we were easily able to add on fish & chips in Conwy at the tail end of a day out elsewhere in North Wales.

Is the general consensus that Liverpool doesn't care much about the WH status for the docks, and would prefer to cash in on development funds? I mean, tourism in Liverpool is probably higher due to football/soccer or The Beatles anyway, and the docks would still be there under some kind of National Trust symbol (whatever the national protection is).

The designs from Liverpool are miserable. I understand they want to develop the area, but landing an UFO in the buffer zone is not the right way to go. So, yeah, delisting seems right.

In comparison Dresden was a joke and probably a wrong decision looking back. I think the problem with delisting is that the process is too arbitrary, albeit if Liverpool goes ahead with the redevelopment greatly deserved.

Feels like too little too late. If building a bridge kilometers aways from the core zone gets you delisted, landing a giant football stadium right next to the core zone should, too.

I still understand that they want to develop the area; I recall some barren / desolate areas around the core zone. But what they have in mind here doesn't feel like considerate urban renewal .

Yeah a lot of the development is pretty rubbish and it seems that the heritage of the area really isn't the main thought, rather just real estate profits.

Though having followed Everton's attempts to build a new stadium over the last couple of decades, I think the proposed stadium is actually a very good use of the space, and someting that will be used by and benefit the local population, certainly moreso than the current derelict docks.


I would certainly agree with that. I felt it at the time and nothing has convinced me otherwise since. I revisited post construction of the bridge and from the city centre it is hard to fathom quite why UNESCO made the decsion. The World Heritage List is poorer for not having Dresden on it. I don't really think it will be the same with Liverpool, and teh reason for delisting seems more legitimate.

I think Dresden was about political unwillingness mainly and less about OUV. The bridge was really far apart and the assumption that you cna prevent development in an urbanized area for multiple kilometers of a river seems preponderous to me. Last but not least, last time I went I noticed that a very ugly bridge dating from the GDR is smack in the middle of the town.

Liverpool has that "Go fxxx yourself, Unesco" strain, too. But this is really smack in the middle of the OUV. I think an approach like the Hafen City or other more conscious urban renewal projects would have been a great fit. A big stadium, meanwhile, not convinced.

Anyhow, so long, and thanks for the fish (-1 WHS)

"Speaking more widely about World Heritage Status, Mayor Anderson added: "We don't want to lose the site, but does anyone book a holiday thinking 'I'm going to Liverpool for the World Heritage status?' Or for going to see the fantastic buildings like St George's Hall and everything else we've got."

I am perplexed by this statement. I agree with nfmungard, such a big stadium right there is too much. Nobody wants to negate the right to develop one's own city, but to me this seems a clear case of everyone being blinded by "progress", while it's just speculation. The same, ever-repeating sad story.

We should probably send the guy a link to our website :) My feelings exactly Astraftis when I visited ... construction frenzy and no attempt to maintain some sort of continuity already before the stadium!

why o why would so many places try to get this designation. don't tell me nobody ever thinks tourism will increase... and with decades in action, there should be some evidence one way or the other... in any case, good for everton, bad for liverpool.

Raises hand. Most of my recent vacations have revolved around World Heritage Sites. But I guess when I finally get to Liverpool, I may have to be satisfied with visiting a former World Heritage Site area, as well as Beatles sites; I have little interest in Everton.