Lunch at St Luke's - USL's programme of exhibitions, events and performances at the Bombed Out Church welcomed our 1000th visitor (pictured left) since re-opening the doors to St Luke's. We're very proud that we've reached that many people in such a short space of time.
And during the Finest Hour exhibition currently showing on the railings and inside the church we're meeting lots of people with even more stories of the Liverpool Blitz that need to be recorded. We're particularly looking forward to interviewing the ex war time postman, and the ex wartime nurse.
Keep your stories coming - we still need more!
Liverpool artist Rebecca Houghton signs her original pictures in preparation for the first exhibition where people can get up close and personal with the art inside St Luke's. The exhibition opened on May 4th, and will run throughout the month. The railings exibition will be on view 24 hours a day, with access to the church Monday to Friday from 12 to 2.00
On May 3rd the annual Finest Hour Exhibition on the railings of St Luke's Church got underway. As ever it's creating a lot of interest and comment
The annual Finest Hour exhibition will take place during the first week in May 2007.
But this year it will be bigger and better, featuring not only the images of blitz stricken Liverpool on the railings, but new interpretations of those images inside St Luke's.
This will be the first exhibition that viewers can see whilst actually inside the body of St Luke's Church.
Contact info@finest-hour.net for more information, or visit http://www.myspace.com/lunchatstlukes
Following the success of Living With History, Urban Strawberry Lunch are all set to become Artists in Residence at St Luke's Church.
So from May 2007 and the launch of the annual Finest Hour Exhibition you will be able to visit the Church at lunch times from Monday to Friday.
There will be lots happeneing - unplugged performances by some of Liverpool's most respected musicians, as well as those who are still making a name for themselves; poetry events, workshops, theatre and exhibitions.
Visit http://www.myspace.com/lunchatstlukes for more information
Many stories told in the Finest Hour archive relate what it was like negotiating the streets during a black out. The bombers flying over head, the sound of anti aircraft fire, and the constant streaming of the search lights.
One of the stories told during the show was of a woman who was helped by friends and neighbours to lower a parachute bomb to the ground so she could use the silk for a wedding dress. Needless to say they didn't call the ARP wardens until after the silk had been safely secreted away.
Wirral Youth Theatre wrote and performed their own music for the show, calling the band Lambstein
Over May Day Bank Holiday Weekend 2006 Urban Strawberry Lunch and Wirral Youth Theatre performed Living With History with resounding success.
This was the first time in over 60 years that a congregation had gathered inside St Luke's Church, which had been transformed into a theatre space for the weekend.
The performances attracted a capacity audience, with standing room only by the final show. The audience queued along Leece Street in quiet anticipation, before entering the grounds of the Church to watch the introduction to the show.
Once inside St Luke's the audience saw depictions of real life stories gathered as part of the Finest Hour Sound Archive. Not a dry eye in the house for most of the show, which combined live music, dance and drama to trace the War Years and the Liverpool Blitz in particular.
Hailed as a resounding success, it was these performances that led St Luke's to being a major venue for the Liverpool Biennial.
In May 1941 Liverpool and Birkenhead experienced seven days and nights of continuous bombing as German Forces tried to demoralise and destroy British resistance during the Second World War. Thousands lost their lives, homes and livelihoods, but the campaign failed to destroy the spirit of the people.
St Luke’s Church in Liverpool was just one of the casualties of the “May Blitz”, and still stands today as testimony to the resilience of the people and the place where they lived, loved and worked.
In this special performance WIRRAL YOUTH THEATRE will use excerpts from the Finest Hour Sound Archive (collected by Urban Strawberry Lunch since 2003) as their source of inspiration. Stories from the Archive will be retold through dance, drama and music; bringing together two generations of people whose love of their home and their heritage is a strong and common bond.
PERFORMANCES: Sunday 30th April and Monday 1st May 2006
Times: 19.41 hours (aimed at older and very young audiences)
21.00 hours (aimed at 18 – 50 years age group)
Entrance is free, but by ticket only obtained by calling the Pacific Road Box Office on 0151 647 3160, or by sending an SAE to the Living with History, Wirral Youth Theatre, Pacific Road Arts and Exhibition Centre, Pacific Road, Birkenhead, C41 1LJ. Please state which performance you would like to attend.
FINEST HOUR: LIVING WITH HISTORY is a partnership project between Wirral Youth Theatre and Urban Strawberry Lunch, and is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Urban Strawberry Lunch and Wirral Youth Theatre have been awarded £24,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s “Young Roots” scheme for the next phase of Finest Hour: “Living With History".
The funding will assist USL and WYT to develop new performances to take place in the grounds and within the body of St Luke’s Church itself on April 30th and May 1st 2006.
Even the rain didn't dampen the spirit at Finest Hour's VE Day Party at St Luke's Church on 2nd May 2005.
Over 200 people came to the event to listen to the music, play games, partake in some WW2 fare and enjoy a good old chin wag. One or two were even seen to cut a rug to the live bands.
Just before 2.30 the heavens opened, but the party spirit wasn't dampened - everyone moved to Hannah's Bar on Leece Street for more entertainment and an old fashioned sing song.
By 4 o'clock the sun had come out, and everyone danced back down the hill to the Church to the strains of the Parade Jazz Band.
Finest Hour are holding a week long exhibition on the railings of St Luke's Church, Liverpool from Sunday 1st to Sunday 8th May 2005. The exhibition is part of Finest Hour's activities to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of VE Day, and will show photographs of St Luke's throughout it's history as well as images of war time Liverpool. Pictures have been contributed by the Liverpool Records Office, the Museum of Liverpool Life, Liverpool Daily Post and Echo and also members of the public who have contributed to the Finest Hour Archive. The exhibition is supported by the Big Lottery Fund.
On Monday May 2nd 2005 the Finest Hour team will be holding a VE party in the grounds of St Luke's Church in Liverpool. The party will recreate the atmosphere of 1945, with music, singing, games and stalls. All those who have already contributed to the Finest Hour Sound Archive will be invited to attend (and will all enjoy some wartime fare including Spam sandwiches and Scouse!), and members of the public who are interested in the event will also have the opportunity to join in the fun. Contact the Finest Hour Team on 0151 709 7562 for more information, or use the contact page and email us directly!
Funded by the Home Front Recall element of the Big Lottery Fund, the schedule for the party is:
12.00 - Gates Open
12.15 - Newsham Drive Music Workshop
13.15 - The PC Jazz Trio
14.30 - The Park Road Jazz Workshop
15.30 - Singalong with Claire Jones
16.00 - The Parade Jazz Band
17.00 - Mr Tin and his Amazing Ukulele
17.15 - Urban Strawberry Lunch
18.00 - Gates Close
There will also be a Tombola, Pin The Mustache on Hitler (we aren't aloud to use a donkey in the church grounds!), The Axis of Evil Shy (no coconuts available - remember, this is supposed to be like 1945!), plus newspapers of the time, table games, and walk about theatre with Wirral Youth Theatre. We will also be creating a Rag Rug with our contributors, and asking everyone who attends the party to make a Peace Crane with Barbara Jones to commemorate lost ones and loved ones.
FINEST HOUR has been awarded £9345 under the Home Front Recall scheme to stage a week long exhibition on the railings of the church, and a VE Party at St Luke's Church, Liverpool on Monday May 2nd. This event will form part of the annual programme of events to be held at St Luke's until 2008, when the Finest Hour Sound Archive will be officially closed and formally handed over to The City of Liverpool.