Liverpool's business district is known for its high rise office blocks and hotels.
But sitting among the modern buildings on Old Hall Street are two grade II-listed cottages that date back over 200 years. Originally built as offices at the entrance to Clarke's Basin, the western terminal of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the cottages serve as a fascinating reminder of the city's transport history.
There were originally three cottages which had an unusual shape to help the movement of horse-drawn wagons. They were occupied by Wigan Coal and Iron Company for many years.
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The basin closed in 1886 when the Liverpool Exchange railway station was enlarged, at which time the original wharves were severed from the canal and new terminal facilities were built further north.
For most of the 20th century, the building formed part of St Paul's Eye Hospital but when the hospital was demolished in the 1990s the cottages were left empty. In 2001, they were earmarked for demolition as part of plans for the 30-storey Beetham Tower, which included apartments, offices and the Radisson Blu Hotel.
However, after local campaigners protested against the plans, the scheme was redesigned to save two of the three terraced cottages from demolition. The ECHO reported in 2002 how the two remaining cottages were undergoing a major restoration using reclaimed bricks from the third which was demolished.
It was also hoped at the time that the development of the Beetham Tower would help minimise strong winds on Old Hall Street, which was dubbed as "Liverpool's windiest street."
An ECHO report from the time said the tower would help to redesign one end of Old Hall Street by creating an obstacle to the wind and deflecting it across instead of down the street.
Today, the historic canal cottages are known as the White Bar and still form part of the Radisson's Blu hotel. A metal archway outside the hotel that reads "gateway to the east coast" serves as a reminder of the canal that the cottages were once connected to.
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