Last April, Liverpool had three
larger than life tourists. I finally got around to watching the
documentary about Liverpool's Giant Spectacular which has been sat in our Sky+
recordings for months and months. It took me right back to that weekend,
almost one year ago.
The story, played out magically by the Royal De Luxe street theatre company, was inspired by a real letter that was sent by a little Liverpudlian girl, May McMurray, to her father the day before he set sail as a steward on the Titanic. Of course, sadly, the letter never reached him.
In this magical story, created by Jean-Luc Courcoult, the artistic director of Royal De Luxe, the Titanic held a Giant stowaway:
"...loaded on board during the night, unnoticed - a thirty foot tall Giant capable of travelling through time, on his way to another continent to meet his daughter, the Little Giant...
When the Little Giant heard the news, she sought out her uncle, the Great Giant's brother. While listening to her, the uncle made a decision that was to take him a century to carry out.
First, he would make himself a diving suit. Then he would scour the ocean floor for the shipwreck. After that, he would bury his brother in the deep-sea bed. Most importantly, he would come back with the letter the Great Giant had written to the Little Giant Girl. This is why he walked for many long years across the ocean floor, pulling the Titanic's mail trunk to bring back the post to Liverpool.
This is a story about my Giant adventures in Liverpool last April.
Saturday 21st April
We (me, M, my mum and my brother) set out to find the Giant Uncle as he searched the city for his niece, the Little Girl Giant. When we caught up with him, he was wandering through the city centre looking for her. He was incredible. Massive. Dare I say it, a little bit scary! We joined crowds of people lining the roadside watching as this giant in a diver suit, brought to life by puppeteers in funny little red outfits, made his way down towards Liverpool's Chinatown. He jumped over the beautiful Chinese gate and continued down to Liverpool's dock area.
As we arrived at Kings Docks we saw the Little Girl Giant on a massive boat, led by her Giant Dog, Xolo, travelling down towards us from a different direction. Amazing sight! She was beautiful, with big eyes that took in the sights of the people below her.
Then, after 100 years of searching, the Little Girl Giant was finally reunited with her Uncle at Kings Dock. He read her a letter written by her Great Giant father that he had kept hold of for all of these years. She did a little dance suspended in the air and then moved to rest on his lap and fell asleep. Giants have a very loud snore. True.
Naturally, we wanted to be giants, too.
Sunday 22nd April
M's mum and dad came to visit and we went on a second day of giant hunting. By the time we had managed to find somewhere to park, the giants had woken up and started to make their way around the city, exploring Liverpool's sights together. The giants were in a celebratory mood and littered the streets with sparkles and letters as they moved through the streets to music. We joined the crowds at the edge of the Albert Dock, waiting to say goodbye to the Little Girl Giant and her Uncle as they sailed off down the Mersey. It's a bit of a 'Spot the Uncle' in this first photograph but he's there, I promise!
We rushed over to the main dockside and said 'ta-ra' to the giants for the last time.
Liverpool is an amazing place to live and makes a great place to visit for a weekend. There are so many brilliant, often free, events throughout the year and there is so much to see around the city. Over the next two month's Liverpool is hosting a literary festival and a late night culture-vulture night, where museums and gallerys are open into the wee small hours. The Albert Dock has long been a favourite spot of mine. If Fred the weather man's map isn't enough to draw you there, it's full of history and the former warehouse spaces house museums, galleries, restaurants, bars and lovely shops, including my childhood favourite sweet shop, Quay Candy. If you get there, try their homemade fudge which comes in pretty much every flavour you could want! Needless to say, we stopped in after our Giant adventure and stocked up on fudge before heading home to look at all our photos!
The story, played out magically by the Royal De Luxe street theatre company, was inspired by a real letter that was sent by a little Liverpudlian girl, May McMurray, to her father the day before he set sail as a steward on the Titanic. Of course, sadly, the letter never reached him.
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"...loaded on board during the night, unnoticed - a thirty foot tall Giant capable of travelling through time, on his way to another continent to meet his daughter, the Little Giant...
When the Little Giant heard the news, she sought out her uncle, the Great Giant's brother. While listening to her, the uncle made a decision that was to take him a century to carry out.
First, he would make himself a diving suit. Then he would scour the ocean floor for the shipwreck. After that, he would bury his brother in the deep-sea bed. Most importantly, he would come back with the letter the Great Giant had written to the Little Giant Girl. This is why he walked for many long years across the ocean floor, pulling the Titanic's mail trunk to bring back the post to Liverpool.
This is a story about my Giant adventures in Liverpool last April.
Saturday 21st April
We (me, M, my mum and my brother) set out to find the Giant Uncle as he searched the city for his niece, the Little Girl Giant. When we caught up with him, he was wandering through the city centre looking for her. He was incredible. Massive. Dare I say it, a little bit scary! We joined crowds of people lining the roadside watching as this giant in a diver suit, brought to life by puppeteers in funny little red outfits, made his way down towards Liverpool's Chinatown. He jumped over the beautiful Chinese gate and continued down to Liverpool's dock area.
Sunday 22nd April
M's mum and dad came to visit and we went on a second day of giant hunting. By the time we had managed to find somewhere to park, the giants had woken up and started to make their way around the city, exploring Liverpool's sights together. The giants were in a celebratory mood and littered the streets with sparkles and letters as they moved through the streets to music. We joined the crowds at the edge of the Albert Dock, waiting to say goodbye to the Little Girl Giant and her Uncle as they sailed off down the Mersey. It's a bit of a 'Spot the Uncle' in this first photograph but he's there, I promise!
We rushed over to the main dockside and said 'ta-ra' to the giants for the last time.
Did you manage to see Liverpool's giants last April? I want to do something with some of these pictures; maybe make one as a large canvas as a way to help us remember such a 'Spectacular' weekend, but which one to pick?
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