Notes on Lowry and War: A Walk in Liverpool July 2014 Part 1

Last Sunday, I led a walk organised by The Bluecoat, Liverpool around Liverpool's Business Quarter and Riverfront stopping at sites linked to Lowry and his writings and experiences of war.

Part 2
Part 3

Below are notes based on the walk with links to further material plus references to Lowry texts.

Stop 1 Cook Street/Castle Street Liverpool

Cook Street Arcades Liverpool 1941

Read poem 'Imprisoned in a Liverpool of self' Collected Poems 233.2

One of several poems referencing Liverpool during the war written in Lowry's "exile" in Vancouver

Did Lowry see photographs of "gutted arcades" in Liverpool following 1941 German bombing blitz?

These poems appear to be a nostalgic contemplation of a lost past which is threatened by war.

Refer to short story 'June 30th 1934' (originally entitled 'Metal' and begun in 1934 but still being worked on in 1939 - see Bowker Pg. 292) - influenced by Lowry's reading of Ernst Henri's Hitler Over Europe which predicts WW2 and possibly H.J. Massingham's "metallic age" in People and things, an attempt to connect art and humanity 1919 (Note also Lowry's references to Crete may stem from Lowry's reading of Massingham's Through The Wilderness 1935.

Lowry's alter-ego Bill Goodyear seems to reflect guilt of not fighting/volunteering when Goodyear lies to Firmin, a WW1 veteran, who has met on a train while crossing the battlefields of the Somme. This theme underlies Lowry's own experiences of not volunteering for the Spanish Civil war unlike his friend John Sommerfield. (See Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Chapter X)

John Cornford

See Spanish Civil War references in Chapter 6 of Under The Volcano - a chapter on Hugh - the consul's half-brother e.g. John Cornford - There is a strong element of Cornford in the characterisation of Hugh: the Communist leanings; the romanticism of Rupert Brooke (Cornford's name-sake); and the desire to rush off to Spain in defence of a dubious freedom. Chris Ackerley 

 'June 30th 1934' WW1 details may be based on Lowry's brother Stuart who fought in WW1.

Stuart's service career 11th (Service) Battalion  Cheshire Regiment. 17.09.1914 Formed at Chester as part of the Third New Army (K3). Stuart enlists 22/9/1914. And then moved to Codford St. Mary in the 75th Brigade of the 25th Division and then moved to Bournemouth. May 1915 Moved to Aldershot. 26.09.1915 Mobilised for war and landed in France and engaged in various actions on the Western Front including; 1916: German attack on Vimy Ridge May 1916. German attack on Vimy Ridge, The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Bazentin, The Battle of Pozieres, The Battle of the Ancre Heights. 1917 The Battle of Messines, The Battle of Pilkem.

Joins as Lieutenant 26th Service Battalion of Royal Welch Fusiliers - 16.07.1918 in France from the 4th Garrison Guard of the 176th Brigade of the 59th Division. 11.11.1918 Ended the war in Delpre N.E. of Tournai, Belgium.

Did Lowry feel guilty about being cut off from his family who were threatened by war? (See Bowker Pgs 270-298) for details of early WW2 "exile" in Canada and relations with his family and possible enlistment in British and Canadian armies)

Lowry claims to have argued with his father Arthur Lowry in 1934 over possibility of war (Bowker Pg 274)

Lowry - "I continued warning my family but they took no damn notice. Result: they'll probably not only lose all their money, but be killed, when they might have been living in Jerusalem" (Letter to Margerie Bonner Sept. 1939)

Stop 2 Nelson's Monument, Exchange Flags 

Exchange Flags circa 1900

Arthur Lowry worked as cotton broker at Buston's & Co. in Exchange Flags before moving to new purpose built Cotton Exchange in 1906.

The Nelson Monument is a monument to Admiral Horatio Nelson, in Exchange Flags, Liverpool, England. It was designed by Matthew Cotes Wyatt and sculpted by Richard Westmacott. It stands to the north of the Town Hall and was unveiled in 1813.

The Battle of Copenhagen, as painted by Nicholas Pocock

Nelson was a hero of Arthur Lowry's (See Bowker Pg. 14 Arthur raises his hat to the memory of Nelson while sailing to Russia in 1914 when passes the site of the Battle of Copenhagan) - the statue in Exchange Flags references that victory - Arthur would have been reminded of his hero on a daily basis.

Lowry refers to his father as a "Tory of Tory capitalists on a grand scale" - Bowker suggests that Arthur Lowry would have been caught up in jingoism of WW1( See Bowker Pg. 14)

Lowry's rebellion against father's politics - apparent in British Empire references in Chapter 6 of Under The Volcano - see Chris Ackerley - Cambridge left wing influences shown in anti-fascist stance in Under The Volcano ( See also references to Spanish Civil War in Bowker)

The monument also features as a key place in political discussions between Sigbjorn and his father in forthcoming unpublished novel In Ballast to the White (October 2014) - these discussions may possibly reflect ones Lowry had with his father.

1916 - Arthur Lowry sails to USA on board USMS St Louis for cotton business (Bowker Pg 15) - impact of dangers on family and Lowry himself

Boulogne to Folkestone Ferry 1930's

During the late 20's and early 30's, the above three ships - Maid Of Orleans, Biarritz and Isle Of Thanet were operating the ferry service for the Southern Railway company on the Boulogne to Folkestone route. Passengers would board a train in Paris travel to Boulogne cross the Channel before disembarking at Folkestone Harbour and transferring directly onto a train at the harbour before continuing to London.

Lowry details a Channel crossing from Boulogne to Folkestone in his short story 30th June 1934 based on a similar journey he made the same year. Most of the story is set aboard a ship in the Channel in which the protagonists Bill Goodyear and Firmin share drinks in the bar and talk about the First World War and what the future holds for mankind. Lowry would have travelled on one of the three ships above.

Folkestone 3 West

Red and green lights flickered past as the train gathered speed, metal acres stretched and contracted, dilated, narrowed. Folkestone 3 West. 30th June 1934

I managed in a previous post to squeeze in my love of soul music into my Lowry research. I have now used my love of railways to run amok in this post!

Lowry is always associated with sea journeys which pervade his life and work but he also detailed the many railway journeys that he made in his early life. One of his earliest stories A Rainy Night is set on a train. You can imagine the young Malc dreaming up stories as he travelled backwards and forwards to his schools in Hitchin and Cambridge from home in Caldy. Lowry later used these journeys as a source of material for his story Enter One In Sumptuous Armour which includes a detailed description of one of theses journeys from home back to school.

Yet another rail journey which Lowry himself made in 1934 from Paris to London forms the basis for the short story which began life as Metal and is know known as 30th June 1934.

In 30th June 1934, Lowry details the journey made by his alter-ego Bill Goodyear from Paris to London. As often with Lowry, we get a slew of references to what he has seen from the carriage window. One such set of references relate to the railway workings themselves which fascinated me as a rail enthusiast. The above quote relates to one of the Folkestone signal boxes.

While researching this post, I found a series of scenes to delight an old rail enthusiast like myself, shot at Folkestone and Dover in the late 1920s. If you go directly to the Youtube you get more details on the video.

Pabst's Don Quixote 1933

Built on an incline above them a cinema was showing Chaliapin and George Robey in Pabst's Don Quixote.... Malcolm Lowry 30th June 1934.

Lowry mentions Pabst's film in his story, as the protagonist Bill Goodyear returns to England from France arriving in Folkestone. Goodyear sees the film playing in a cinema near to Folkestone Harbour railway station.

Adventures of Don Quixote (1933) is the English title of a film adaptation of the classic Miguel de Cervantes novel, directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, starring the famous operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin. Although the film stars Chaliapin, it is not an opera; however, he does sing three songs in it. It is the first sound film version of the Spanish classic. The supporting cast in the English version includes George Robey, René Donnio, Miles Mander, Lydia Sherwood, Renée Valliers, and Emily Fitzroy. The film was made in three versions -- French, English, and German -- with Chaliapin starring in all three versions.

Read more at Dennis Grunes

Bass Ale Blues

Original Memphis Five Bass Ale Blues
I recently included the above track Bass Ale Blues by the Original Memphis Five in a post on the band. This set me off thinking about Bass Ale which I have enjoyed drinking over the years.

Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton like many large companies in the early 20th Century organised annual trips out for their workers. In 1904, Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton organised a trip to Liverpool and New Brighton. The company produced a booklet to help their workers navigate their way around Liverpool and New Brighton. The booklet was reproduced a number of years ago and provides a fascinating insight into what the trips offered but also contained some interesting details such as where to find Bass Ale.

Lowry must have liked a glass of this strong beer as he has the Reverend Bill Goodyear (one of Lowry's many semi-autobiographical figure in his work) drink a glass with Firmin aboard the ferry whilst crossing the Channel in the short story 30th June 1934.

Here are some the pubs in the New Brighton area which served Bass Ale and which must have been familiar to Lowry in his visits back to his birthplace to have fun in the mid-20's to late 20's:

Many of those pubs are still with us today:

The Magazines, one of the pubs listed above, was a primary reason why I located to where I currently live because I fell in love with the area while frequenting the pub in the 70's and 80's. I now call The Telegraph my local mainly because I prefer the ambiance and the beer! Though you do do lose the river views. Probably my favourite memories of drinking Bass go back to my early years of working in Liverpool and drinking in the lunch time at the White Star pub which is one of Liverpool's most famous pubs because of its Beatle's connections.

Whilst writing this post, I discovered that Edward Manet in his famous painting Bar at the Folies-Bergère included bottles of Bass on the bar which I had never noticed before! If you visit the Wikipedia site on Bass Ale you will see that the drink has featured a lot in art.