My magical Merseyside tour of socent streets
April ’15 Associate Andy Smith tells us about his #BikeSocial Merseyside mini-adventure.
Did you know that in 2015 the biggest art prize in the UK was won by a social enterprise?
The so-called “art with a heart” urban regeneration project, that aims to use art and design to improve houses and the lives of residents living in an area of Liverpool called Granby Four Streets, hit the headlines in December when London-based collective Assemble scooped the Turner Prize. Despite some commentators questioning whether they should have been eligible for the prize, Judge Alistair Hudson said they were “part of a long tradition of art working in society”.
#BikeSocial
So why was I there on a wet Saturday in February? Well, I was doing my first #BikeSocial cycle trip, an initiative started by Clarity CEO Jeremy Robinson: “It is simply the idea of making time to visit, understand and promote social enterprises and travelling to them by bicycle.”
I’m incorporating this idea into my 1,500 mile Tour des Stades cycle trip around France with my girlfriend Annie this spring, and as a bit of practice for that adventure we decided to explore Merseyside by bike and visit two thriving Community Land Trusts, plus a historical contrast, and see a few sights too!
In order to understand the projects, we enlisted the help of Liverpudlian socent expert Ronnie Hughes — who I met during my first On Purpose placement at HCT Group — and he kindly agreed to meet us and explain how a combination of artists, architects and local people have achieved amazing things together to revive two previously derelict communities.
Community Land Trusts (CLTs)
Ronnie summed up the ethos of CLT’s nicely when he said over lunch: “I think they’re three great words: community, land and trust. Who wouldn’t want those things in their life?”
By definition, Community Land Trusts are local organisations set up and run by ordinary people to develop and manage homes as well as other assets important to that community, like community enterprises, food growing or workspaces. The CLT’s main task is to make sure these homes are genuinely affordable, based on what people actually earn in their area, not just for now but for every future occupier.
Saturday 20th Feb
After an early train up from London, Annie and I cycled to North Liverpool’s Anfield district and met Ronnie at a community bakery and CLT just across the road from the famous football stadium. Homebaked has grown out of a project, 2Up 2Down, initiated by Dutch artist Jeanne van Heeswijk that aimed to support the local community to “take matters into our own hands” regarding the future of their neighbourhood.
After years of decline that left many streets largely boarded up and closed down as part of the Liverpool Housing Market Renewal Initiative, the re-opening of the former “Mitchell’s Bakery” premises was a great boost to people who love the area. It’s now open six days a week selling freshly baked bread, cake, homemade soup, pasties and sandwiches — everything is made in their own kitchen. The next phase will see the renovation of two flats above the shop and then also the adjacent terraces, which are currently still earmarked for demolition in the City Council plans for Anfield, but will be replaced as part of a community-led exercise called ‘Design Your Own High Street’.
During our visit the bakery was always busy, with construction workers drinking coffee, blokes eating pies, families buying bread, and even some of the Homebaked volunteers who’d gathered that morning to work on clearing up ‘the Rec’ on the empty land out the back. We left with a real appreciation of why Ronnie describes this place as being: “beloved by so many of us in Liverpool”.
We then headed south to Toxteth to see the award winning ‘art’ in Cairns Street at the heart of the Granby Four Streets triangle that’s home to 200 houses, 150 of which have lain empty since the early 90s. What started life as a community-run market and guerrilla gardening group, has evolved into a CLT with a strong vision: to reinstate their streets as a thriving, vibrant multi-racial, multi-cultural area. They have been given the freehold of 10 properties by Liverpool City Council, and have so far refurbished five of these as permanently affordable housing. “Assemble are the only ones who have ever sat and listened to the residents, and then translated their vision into drawings and models, and now into reality,” Erika Rushton told The Guardian last year; she’s chair of the CLT that has been working with the designers during the last few years to bring these neglected houses back to life. The project is also seeking to re-open much needed local shops, and has recently been awarded £250k by Arts Council England to convert two derelict terraced properties into an indoor garden, an artist residency-space and a community gathering place.
The somewhat paradoxical nature of the Granby Four Streets project was summed up when, as we stood in the pouring rain listening to Ronnie describe how Assemble have converted one property into a working social enterprise called Granby Workshop, we were joined by two girls from London who pointed at the house next to us and asked “Is this the Turner Prize winning art?”!
After a warming cup of tea and tasty lunch at nearby Onion Deli, we said thanks and cheerio to Ronnie before cycling along the Otterspool Promenade back into the city centre and Pier Head to get the ferry ‘cross the Mersey. I chose the location of our overnight stay as a deliberate contrast to the modern CLTs, at a place that I visited a few times during my corporate career whilst working for Unilever.
Port Sunlight Village was created by William Hesketh Lever for his Sunlight soap factory workers in 1888. By 1914, 800 houses had been built to house a population of 3,500. The garden village had allotments and public buildings including the Lady Lever Art Gallery, a cottage hospital, schools, a concert hall, open air swimming pool, church, and a temperance hotel. Lever introduced welfare schemes, and provided for the education and entertainment of his workforce, encouraging recreation and organisations which promoted art, literature, science or music. Lever’s aims were “to socialise and Christianise business relations and get back to that close family brotherhood that existed in the good old days of hand labour.” He claimed that Port Sunlight was an exercise in profit sharing, but rather than share profits directly, he invested them in the village. Today, it remains beautifully preserved and is worth a visit if you’re in Merseyside, plus the Unilever factory is still there and churning out soap, but these days it’s Persil and Surf laundry detergents.
Sunday 21st Feb
Day two of the trip was all about the cycling, and thankfully we were treated to more sunshine and less rain than the previous day. We followed the Wirral Circular Trail; first northwards through the port area of Birkenhead, then turned west at New Brighton into 40mph headwinds across the north coast to Hoylake, where we headed south and from West Kirby enjoyed riding along the beautiful Wirral Way (an ex-railway bed that now forms part of National Cycle Network route 56) with superb views over the Dee Estuary to Wales.
After a slow but very enjoyable first 25 miles, we demolished a pub lunch in typical hungry cyclist style, before we zoomed along the last 15 miles from Parkgate to Chester station and got the train back to London via Crewe.
Do Actions
It was an excellent two days that fully brought to life the #BikeSocial concept for me and Annie. This trip showed us how good it is to get out and visit social enterprises, especially to gain a deeper understanding of their unique stories and impact via fascinating conversation with a local participant such as Ronnie (you can read more on his A Sense of Place blog). And it’s always a joy to explore new places by bicycle, since you feel so much more of a connection with the streets and sights that you pass through via pedal versus petrol power, plus of course it’s better for the environment and your own health too. So why not give it a go yourself?
We can’t wait for our upcoming Tour des Stades adventure in France — please support our cycling efforts by pledging to make small behaviour changes that add up to a better world via the Do Nation website (a current On Purpose placement host): https://www.wearedonation.com/campaigns/andy-and-annie-cycle-france/ Thanks!
