Hope Street cathedrals

The two cathedrals at either end of Hope Street in Liverpool, England, make one of Britain's most striking architectural contrasts and a popular photography subject. At the southern end, Liverpool Cathedral on St James Mount rises as a vast Gothic Revival building of red sandstone designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, with a massive tower and long, soaring lines. About a kilometre north, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King on Mount Pleasant presents a circular modernist form by Frederick Gibberd, topped by a lantern of coloured glass that gives it the nickname Paddy's Wigwam. Photographers often shoot them from along Hope Street itself, where buildings, trees and the street's gentle slope create framing, and from Falkner Street or Rodney Street for angled views. Morning light is usually best, as the sun falls across the front of the Anglican cathedral and brightens the concrete and glass of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Wide-angle lenses capture the scale of the Anglican building from the steps, while a telephoto from further away compresses the street and cathedral together. Inside, both buildings allow photography without flash, and the lantern light in the Catholic cathedral is especially photogenic. Quiet moments occur on weekday mornings; weekends and service times bring more people. The grounds of St James Gardens beside the Anglican cathedral offer a green foreground and a lower vantage point. A full walk between the two buildings takes about fifteen minutes, and a photographic stroll with stops may take one to two hours. Both cathedrals are free to enter, and the Anglican tower has a ticketed viewing platform for aerial views. Lime Street and Liverpool Central stations are each around fifteen minutes on foot, and buses run along Hope Street.