A TWELVE-SECOND MOVIE PANORAMA FROM LITHERLAND, 51 YEARS AGO Below is a 12-second clip filmed from the open window of our prefab at 5 Hatton Hill Road in 1971. It unwittingly captured things that have changed, have gone and remain the same over the last half-century. Playing the movie itself doesn’t reveal much, it’s over in a jiffy. However freeze-framing and joining up the fragments into pictures lets us see more detail (see the stills below the movie). 

FREEZE FRAME 1 - Made from the first part of the clip - doesn't reveal much, due to the large tree in the foreground. However to the extreme left we see the prominent chimneys of Brothertons Tar Works, before the fire (that has been detailed in another post on here). A teacher at St. Wilfrids (opposite the chimneys) once told me the smoke coming from the stacks was good for your health! The only other thing of note is the presence of huge electricity pylons both triangular and square, which were a part of the Litherland scene until the cables went underground in the 1980s.
FREEZE FRAME 2 - The left-hand-side shows the view over Bootle, with a prominent view of St. James's Church. About mid-frame, you can see what's now called The Plaza (also known as the Sir John Moores Building at 100 Old Hall Street) in the L3 commercial district of Liverpool. Back then it was where the huge John Moore's catalogue enterprise was based. Right next you can just see the Liver Buildings and further on the famous Clarence Dock Power Station "three sisters" chimneys (some called them the ugly sisters) which were toppled in 1997. On the right are the Seaforth tower blocks now known as Vine House and Willow House. In the foreground, you can see so much that was lost from Litherland - the tennis courts in the park (there were six courts altogether, always full at Wimbledon time but empty the rest of the year). The old stone cottage on Field lane adjacent to Pauldings Lane is Moss Bank (c.1760) - saved from the Bulldozer in 1983. It was renovated and thus survives but is rendered in white. Right next you can see Beach Road School. To the right you can see the high stacked wood in Owens Peck Woodyard.
FREEZE FRAME 3 - It used to be great looking out on a clear day across Liverpool with binoculars or telescope you could see the time on the Liver Building clocks and constant movement along the north docks. The old fashioned jib cranes are evident on the shot of Gladstone Dock. A frequent visitor was the Empress of Canada with its distinctive chequered funnel (last sailing from Liverpool-Canada was Nov 1971). This years also marked a turning point - the very first Blue container crane is being built as is the Kellogg's grain silo. It used to be that "containerisation was a dirty word" and by the pollution that have brought to this area and small workforce requirement that wasn't far off. If you look hard above the Field Lane buildings on the right hand side, you'll see the mountains of North Wales
FREEZE FRAME 4 - The Seaforth Skyscrapers - Montgomery House, Alexander House, Churchill House - on Sandy Road (built early 1960s) were always the most obvious buildings on our horizon when we opened the curtains. We also always wondered what the heck that huge concrete thing was on the left hand side (the grain terminal). Just to the right of that you can see the green dome of Sts Peter and Paul Church. Because it looked like the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in London (which was always on the telly) little Ed was under the impression that New Brighton was London - see a close up of Sts Peter and Paul in FREEZE FRAME 5.
FREEZE FRAME 5 - The dome of Sts Peter and Paul (visible on the horizon of the previous photograph) which made made the young Ed think New Brighton was London (that place always on the telly that people were always banging on about!). Can you see the resemblance to the dome of St. Pauls? This view is looking back towards the prefab in Litherland.
FREEZE FRAME 6 - A 2020 picture showing where the panorama was taken from and the angle it swept in 12 seconds. The entire panorama from 1971 (stitched together in one picture) is the final picture (below).
The entire 12-second screenshot condensed into one panoramic photograph.

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