L to R: Ken Dodd, Kens Sculpture, Cllr Chris Blakeley, Cllr Denis Knowles
Ok, I can hear the comments, like, ‘Which ones the comedian?’, ‘One of us is a funny man, the rest are serious politicians’ etc etc… But seriously this morning along with my colleague Cllr Denis Knowles I attended the unveiling of the Tom Murphy sculpture, entitled ‘A Chance Meeting’ at Lime Street Station.
The public art, commissioned by Merseytravel depicts two Liverpool legends, Battling Bessie Braddock, elected as Labour MP for Liverpool Exchange back in 1945, and the master of mirth, Squire of Knotty Ash, Ken Dodd, meeting at Lime Street Station on their many travels between Liverpool and London, Bessie to the Houses of Commons and Ken Dodd to the London Palladium.
A gathering of about 60 invited guests along with many surprised travellers and loads of media were there to hear speeches from Neil Scales, Chief Executive of Merseytravel, Tom Murphy the Sculptor, and of course Ken Dodd himself. Also in attendance was local comedienne Pauline Daniels, who has commission a play to be written about Bessie Braddock, she hopes that the play will open next February.
After the ceremony we all retired to the Empire Theatre for a buffet lunch and the presentation of small Sculptures, known as maquettes to Ken Dodd and to a relative of Bessie Braddock. The sculptures, sited on Lime Street concourse will be lasting tributes to two people who are synonymous with Liverpool.
Considering the event was honouring a stalwort Labour Member of Parliament who put Liverpool on the map in Parliament, I was both surprised and disappointed that not a single Labour Councillor from Merseytravel attended.
