I love Liverpool

I do.

It’s beautiful: big sky, tall buildings, wide river, friendly people, scouse accents. There is a lot to love here. This morning I skipped an 8am session on immigration law to run 6 miles around the city centre and the docks. I ended up in Toxteth at one point because my navigation skills were rather lacking, but that just added an extra frisson to the experience.

The docks are spectacular, great clouded pools of sky. There were hardly any people around – I ran right past the conference centre but saw no police with guns; it was much more relaxed than Birmingham. Like that city, huge amounts of money have been spent here on regeneration but, in contrast, it hasn’t all been spent on shopping centres. Whatever you think of the Museum of Liverpool building, it is at least a whacking great monument to there being more to Liverpool than places to buy stuff.