From the Bunnymen to Oasis – a new walking tour reveals Sefton Park’s music stories

A new walking tour reveals little-known stories from Sefton Park’s music and arts scene including connections with artists from the Bunnymen to Oasis, Pulp and the 1975.

The two-hour tour has been created by Paul Fitzgerald, who’s spent most of his life connected in various ways to music in the city. After starting out in bands, he went on to be a tour manager, work in merchandising, music education and – after five years running the Bridewell – most recently as a music writer It was writing a monthly column focused on Liverpool music history, particularly from the ‘80s and ‘90s, that he first came up with the idea of The Music and Art of Sefton Park walking tour.

He said:

“I’ve always been really passionate about the things that happen in this city, the little known bits and weird daft facts. It’s not all mop tops and pretty buildings, there’s a lot more than that, and it’s not all in the city centre, there’s so much outside of the centre.

“I wanted to have a tour that’s unique, covering the history of this area and specifically the park, and how it inspired and continues to inspire musicians and artists.”

Paul’s own love of music is rooted in Sefton Park, when he went as a 15-year-old to see Echo & the Bunnymen play Larks in the Park.

“Of all the thousands of gigs I’ve been to since, that’s still the one that stands out. That’s where all of this really started for me.

“The things that are in this tour are a lot of the reason I live in Aigburth and I brought my kids up here. When I was still living at home in Childwall and at catering college, I started going to the lunchtime sessions they brought back at the Cavern.

“Someone said to me, ‘if you go to the Albert in Lark Lane you might see one of Echo & The Bunnymen drinking in there’ so I used to get the 68 down to Lark Lane and every time I went back for things like Larks in the Park or Earthbeat or the parties that used to happen, I always thought I’d love to live there.

“When we first moved here, we knew we’d stay, and the energy and atmosphere still exists down there now and it still hasn’t lost its magic for me.”

Paul put around two years of research into compiling the tour, which is packed with information and quirky tales most people have never heard before.

“It’s more than a walk in the park – it’s for people who want to know more, beyond the Beatles, and hear the stories they don’t already know. There are no documentaries about the things that are mentioned in my tour and that’s what I wanted: to stand outside of traditional Liverpool tourism.”

The Music and Art of Sefton Park walking tour starts at St Michael’s train station, passing the historic St Michael’s Church which has become one of Liverpool’s best live music venues.

Then it’s over Aigburth Road via Sefton Park library to Livingston Drive, which was home to lots of bands and artists in the 80s and 90s and, as a result, many of Paul’s anecdotes.

“We go on to Stuart Sutcliffe’s house in the park, up to bandstand where Larks in the Park, the BBC gigs, and Earthbeat festival were, and then take it forward to the big stuff that goes on now.

“Lastly we hit the Lane and that’s when the stories pile on top of us.”

They include a who’s who of famous names who lived, worked and drank there, such as Courtney Love at the Albert and Bjork playing the Police Station when she was just a teenager.

The tour ends at the Motor Museum recording studio, which is where the connection with all kinds of bands from Oasis and The 1975 to Atomic Kitten comes in. 

Paul launched the Liverpool Culture Walks with research help from some of those featured on it, and he hopes to build on the concept.

“The idea is to have my own tour, but long-term to get other people who have similar passions, similar cultural interests or backgrounds who want to do their own tours under Liverpool Culture Walks, so eventually I hope it’s going to build into something much bigger.

“I plan to back it up with events too and audio tours which people can download and take in their own time.

“My point is to be different, to step outside the usual sights and say, ‘what else is here?’.”

Find out more about the Sefton Park walking tours here.

Find more music events across Liverpool here.

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