Mersey Shipping: The Twilight Years

This is a book about life in a great maritime port of the 1960s. The photographs from the period show a busy, vibrant scene of commercial and industrial activity. However, this was a point when shipping was about to change drastically, as the emphasis switched to the shipping of goods and general cargoes in containers. The large shipping lines restructured into new container consortiums and the big fleets of conventional ships vanished almost overnight. Along with them went the tugs, barges and ancillary industries that provided employment to thousands in the region. Today, many of Liverpool’s docks and warehouses lie empty as most goods are shipped through the Royal Seaforth Container Terminal. The twilight years of the 1960s were the last heyday of Liverpool’s long maritime history and are captured in Ian Collard’s striking period pictures. From the glories of Cunard to the everyday to-ing and fro-ing of coastal ferries, the busy scenes of a port at work are bought to life. Sadly, it is a scene that has gone forever, but as Liverpool’s dock buildings take on new roles and the city moves into the twenty-first century, we can at least look and remember the sea-going commerce that made Liverpool great.