Dockers Umbrella Project
The Inclusion Network CIC is looking “to bring to life the former Liverpool Overhead Railway” – see information below.
“We are seeking funding through a crowdfunding appeal and are supported by The Heritage Lottery. Our project will bring to life the former Liverpool Overhead Railway, locally known as the ‘Dockers Umbrella’
http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/digital-dockers-umbrella
What will the project do?
“Digital Dockers’ Umbrella” will archive the oral histories of the Liverpool Overhead Railway into a Virtual Reality train ride through the past, working with young people from Liverpool to capture the memories of those who remember it’s existence first hand and embedding this history into a state of the art digital experience anyone can enjoy.
What was the Docker’s Umbrella?
The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the Dockers’ Umbrella) was an overhead railway in Liverpool which operated along the Liverpool Docks and opened in 1893. The railway was a number world firsts; it was the first electric elevated railway, the first to use automatic signaling & electric colour light signals, electrical multiple units, and was home to one of the first passenger escalators at a railway station. It was also the second oldest electric metro in the world
This railway connected the whole of the docks together; from North to the South of the city, if you visited the docks you had the Dockers’ Umbrella in common. There is a wealth of first-hand knowledge in the memories of our local residents of this historic Railway, operating as a central means of transport for dock workers and even operating as a tourist attraction in it’s own right.
However, with the historic docks no longer what they were, there is a danger that the next generation who live in Merseyside will never know what it was like to ride the Liverpool Overhead Railway and thus will never fully understand what it meant to both the docks and to the whole of Merseyside.
Why remember the Railway?
The history of Liverpool Overhead Railway is crucial to an understanding of what made our community great. Many generations have toiled on the dock and remember the importance of this historic railway that exists no more. We are now faced with the challenging question: How do we get our local kids, some of the most economically deprived kids in the country, to take pride in their history and engage with the past they share with previous generations?”