We Love You Bold Street, We Do

An ode to the sights, sounds and smells of Liverpool’s ever-changing, cultural melting pot.

Bold Street. Named after a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool. A stretch of land used to measure rope back in the day. Cut to 2019 and it is lined with shops, bars, restaurants, curiosities.

Where else in the city can you buy Japanese Pokémon soft drinks, lounge in beanbags while listening to classic vinyl albums in full, share a latte with a kitten and pick up a 1980’s wedding gown for a fancy dress party, all on one street Bold Street is unique and we love it, just the way it is. Here’s why.

A Scrolling Tribute To Bold Street.

Bold Street wears the Bombed Out Church like a crown. Royalty among bustling city streets.

Its regal robes are made up of locals, immigrants, entrepreneurs,  homeless, ancient family recipes and the best coffee.

All stitched together with vintage jeans, fancy dress costumes and second hand shoes.

Bold Street is worldly wise. Welcoming renovations, revamps and re-openings

alongside the stalwarts. The Ladies in Waiting. Rennie’s, Italian Club and The Lyceum.

The Lyceum, still waiting for its revival. It will come.

The home of the first ever lending library, Bold Street has offered shelter to the lost, the driven and the needy

Makeshift beds between its Grade II listed columns and coveted contract agreements

Its narrow pavements force us to spill out on to the street

Following in the footsteps of carnival dancers

Chinese Dragons, drum beaters, illuminated lanterns, runners and delivery people

All the delivery people.

Bold Street is a palace to generations of families and legions of students searching for a home sickness remedy

Italians, Spanish, Indian and more. A slice of pizza, exploding chat bombs and tapas that lift you from your window seat

and plonks you down in deepest Barcelona. A celebratory Chinese takeaway that’s never as good as back home.

Arty types, bohemia, creatives, mix gouache while others sew hair extensions in for the weekend.

The cash point at Sainsburys spews out the fuel for nights out in Bold Street bars

And unforgettable meals. The food leaving a permanent imprint on your taste buds

Salt n’ pepper chips and the best scouse in the city, fight me.

The smells. Each doorway an advent calendar surprised filled with culinary delight.

Pie, Mash & Gravy, an oily wok, smoking coal pit bbq, incense and hairspray

The dimmed lightbulbs, brewing tea leaves and open mic await your inner most thoughts

while a bench outside a coffee shop gives strangers a chance to connect

On Bold Street women have moved mountains for 35 years

just with their voices

Scousers have seen dreams come true here. Poured their every last penny into a polished bar top, kitchen tiles

wages for students and service with a smile

Vegans, veggies, meat eaters, dancers, singers, chefs, those who can pour that amazing coffee

so that the cream lasts all the way to the bottom, just like it should.

The see-saw of old and new throws you from one side to the other like a pinball machine

Retro trainees, the latest kitchen gadgets, books from faraway lands, the latest kooky greetings cards

‘Appy Birthday Soft Lad’ and ‘Shurrup Yer Divvy’ a foreign language to some

There’s quiet corners, places to gather your thoughts, type that email, scroll

Dancing on the bar and strangled karaoke but no one cares, you just think you hit the high notes.

Passing Concert Square noise levels notch up several hundred decibels as sporting history

and legendary nights out are made.

All shisha smoke, flares and outfits from St Johns. A rite of passage.

The same energy and bustle occurs at Liverpool Central

Revellers, festival goers and visitors clamour for the last train home while dancing with buskers

Down the ramp and on to the platform

Or half way into Berry Street with your arm outstretched, hoping for an orange taxi light outside St Lukes.

Bold Street bids you farewell with a regal wave, packing you off with good times, boss memories and a nod

In return, you’ve left a little bit of your heart, you just don’t know it yet.

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