MYLIVERPOOLS

Liverpool ambassador visits Liverpool, Illinois (from England, that is)
By LARRY ESKRIDGE/of the Daily Ledger
Published: Saturday, October 14, 2006 1:29 PM CDT

LIVERPOOL — Five weeks ago, Liverpool resident Phil Bimpson was attending the Beatles Week Festival when he mentioned to his friend Mike that he was thinking about visiting every inhabited Liverpool in the world, Mike thought that it was a "brilliant idea."

Oh, by the way, we are talking Liverpool, England. And the Beatles Week Festival attracts an average of 50,000 people daily from all over the world -- places like Russia, Japan, and Brazil -- to see the free concerts and shuts down the town completely for about three days.

And Mike just happens to be the brother of one Sir Paul McCartney.

And before he came, Bimpson also emailed another friend in California about his plans. He is still waiting for Ringo's response.

Calling himself the Liverpool ambassador, Bimpson got the idea of visiting the various Liverpools when one of his "mates" asked him what he would do if he ever won the lottery. His answer: "Go to Liverpool," by which he meant Liverpool in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Liverpool in New South Wales, Australia. But while doing his research, he found that there were also five Liverpools in the United States as well, including the one in Fulton County.

As business was slow in the car body shop where he works, Bimpson decided to take a year off and follow his dream of meeting other "Liverpuddlians." His goal was to promote cultural and economic ties between the various Liverpools and to view the lives of ordinary citizens around the world.

A fountain of knowledge about Liverpool history, Bimpson noted Liverpool in England was the first Viking settlement on the British Islands. The Vikings discovered a quiet pool in the river where the water was reddish brown, reminding them of liver, hence the name.

The town was recognized as a borough by King John in 1207, which, said Bimpson, basically meant the town had to pay taxes and provide men in times of war. The fact that 2007 will be the 800th anniversary of the town was another factor prompting Bimpson to "visit all our sister cities and extend the hand of friendship." He is also extending an invitation to the various Liverpool dignitaries, including Liverpool, Ill., mayor Becky Humphrey, to join in the 2007 celebration as representatives of their respective cities.

Liverpool, England, also has the distinction of having the oldest Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere, the first public library and the first public park, and more museums than any English town outside of London.

Bimpson said Liverpool allows anyone to come and live there and to retain their own culture. "We are a cosmopolitan city," he remarked. "We have black Liverpuddlians, yellow Liverpuddlians, all different religions. When we have the Lord Mayor's Parade, everyone takes part, and we shut down the entire city, just like the Beatles Festival. We are very proud of our heritage and our roots."

Bimpson also noted that most Americans can count Liverpool, England, as part of their history. "When your forefathers from Europe were coming as immigrants to America, they had to pass through our Liverpool," he said.

Bimpson noted many similarities between the various Liverpools. All of them are located on the water and all had or have their own industries.

Bimpson has already visited Liverpool in Nova Scotia, which has a Privateer Day celebration in the summer. During the Revolutionary War, the residents of the Canadian Liverpool were staunchly pro-British, attacking Yankee insurgents and taking their ships. An American captain sailed down the Mersey River and was about to take the city, when a few community members persuaded him to come ashore, where he was captured.

Bimpson said he was attracted by the history of Liverpool, Ill., particularly that notorious gangster Al Capone used to spend weekends here fishing and hunting. He also found that in the 1930s the fishing industry in Liverpool earned about $70,000 per month, holding a record for the amount of frozen fish produced.

Bimpson also learned of the floods which decimated Liverpool in recent years before the new levee system, adding that it was ironic what had made Liverpool prosperous at one time had turned on the people and nearly destroyed the town. The situation reminded him of the words of a Native American chief, who noted the earth will still be here when the people are gone.

"He said we humans are here to look after the earth, but we are only here temporarily," noted Bimpson. "It made sense."

Bimpson has been logging his discoveries onto a website: www.myliverpools.piczo.com, updating as often as he can. He also hopes to produce a film to present to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, England, and the other civic leaders of the various Liverpools to show their counterparts how each lives.

There have also been a couple of personal surprises for Bimpson along the way.

While visiting Liverpool, New York, Bimpson was looking through the yearbook of the local college and found the name "Bimpson" under one of the student's pictures. He tracked down the man's address and went to the house.

"I looked at the man and asked, 'Mr. Bimpson?'" Bimpson laughed. "When he said 'Yes,' I said, 'My name is Bimpson. Nice to meet you.' And we are related somewhere back."

Maybe the world is a small place after all.

10.16.06
Hi, My name is Jeff Baysingar from Elmwood Illinois. I had the great pleasure of meeting Phil saturday, october 12th of 2006. My friends Larry,Gary
and myself took Phil out for a day of motorcyle riding and and of course some beer drinking that lasted way too late into the night. A good time was had by all and we made a very good friend in Phil. Best of luck with your journey to all of the Liverpools around the world and we look forward to seeing you again.

Jeff Baysingar
Phil Says; Doooods, This was one of the high lights of the trip, and i owe ya all one.
Hope to have some footage up here real soon.

Dear Phil:

I read a news article about your trip in yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and saw that you were on your way to Liverpool, Illinois. I grew up on a grain farm 1.5 miles North of Liverpool, Illinois at the Intersection of U.S. Rte. 24 and County Highway 8 (Locally known as the Liverpool Blacktop). While that farm is no longer owned my family, some of the family lived there for over 45 years, so I am quite familiar with Liverpool, Illinois.

The town was founded on August 13, 1836 by R.E. Little, William Elliot, Joseph Sharp, Theo Tarleton, E.D. Rice, and Roger Veits. It is a low lying town of less than 350 inhabitants and only in the last ten years, has it been protected from frequent flooding from the Illinois River. The name was given to the village because it was hoped that it would become a great port facility as Liverpool England was at that time.

Quoted from the History of Fulton County, "In the early days it was the scene of much activity. Hides, lumber, farm products, and other commodities were brought here or shipped out. There were hotels to accommodate travelers, and stores which dealt in wares. Negro stevedores on deck and dock toiled at their jobs of soul-destroying drudgery. Liverpool had no defense against the floods and storms which beset this broad expanse of valley, and was therefore sometimes inaccessible to its hinterland. There were no passenger trains; only steamboats made regular stops.
In 1849 the little community was the victim of a dreadful epidemic, and the people were frozen in terror. Asiatic cholera had been brought in on a passenger boat. Within a period of one week, there were thirteen deaths."

My recollection of the town goes back to 1948. The lakes and swamps in the low lying areas had been cleared, levied, and drained during the depression years, to form very rich farm land. This land still grows some of the best corn and soybean crops in the State of Illinois. The only businesses I can remember at that time were a Fish Market, a Boat House and a General Store. For a while, there was a camp ground with small cabins, catering to the fishermen and hunters that frequented the area. There were two large coal loading facilities, one just North and one just South, of the village. Coal was brought in from local strip mines by railroad and loaded on barges for a journey up the river to the steel mills and power plants in Chicago or down the river, sometimes as far as New Orleans to be loaded on ships for overseas. They were shut down in the Mid 1980's when the local strip mining industry folded and have since been removed. A couple of other barge loading and unloading ventures took place in the 1960's and 70's when sand was loaded from a local pit and sludge from the Chicago Sanitary District was unloaded and piped to reclaim strip mine land near the town of St. David, Il. (about 10 miles North of Liverpool). Starting in the late 1950's, a popular Restaurant/Tavern ran for about 25 years. A family owned alignment shop was also started and, I believe, is still in business.

Most of the population of Liverpool- during my years there- were blue collar workers, usually working at the Strip Mines, the now defunct International Harvester Plant in Canton, Illinois, or at one of the factories in Peoria, usually Caterpillar Tractor Company. Because of the sport fishing and hunting, and the low cost of housing, it has been popular with retirees.

I hope you enjoy your trip to this small village and I am sure you will be treated well. I currently live in New Castle, PA (40 miles North of Pittsburgh). I have fond memories of the village and spent many of my early years helping my father till the farm land in that section of the Illinois River Valley you will visit.

Sincerely,

Alan Hummel
PHIL SAYS: Many Thanks for letting me read such an interesting artical, and i'll keep ya posted on the trip.

By Jessica Wheeler
Posted: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 5:47 PM

LIVERPOOL -- One man from England is on a mission. He's planning on visiting all the towns that bare the same name as his birthplace.

It's a journey that's taken him across the Atlantic, and all the way to a tiny town in the Heart of Illinois.

"We get snowed in, it might take the county three days to come and dig us out," said Liverpool Mayor Becky Humphrey.

Liverpool, Illinois isn't exactly a typical vacation destination. That is, unless your Phil Bimpson.

Bimpson, who is from Liverpool, England, has crossed the pond in search of more Liverpools, and ended up in Illinois along the Illinois River.

"All the Liverpools are based on water," said Bimpson. "Be it a lake and bayou or a river, so we have a nautical connection."

But this isn't his only destination, Bimpson is on a mission to visit every town with the name.

"I thought it be real neat to have a photograph taken while I was standing underneath these two signs, well with the advent of technology and the internet I discovered there was five more Liverpools in the United State," said Bimpson.

There are eight Liverpools across the world.

This is the forth stop on a journey that's taken him from England to Nova Scotia to Ohio, and now the Heart of Illinois.

"The people are so friendly, they share their food, it's just like being back home apart from the accent," said Bimpson.

One of those friendly faces is Humphrey, or 'Lord Mayor' as Bimpson calls her.

"I never dreamed that we'd have someone from Liverpool here, in my living room," said Humphrey.

But she's enjoyed sharing and comparing the history of her tiny town.

"It's interesting to find out the similarities, that we're all in water and that there is a link to Liverpool, England," Humphrey said.

Bimpson said he'll take a piece of every Liverpool back to his for its 800th birthday celebration next year.

"I'm searching for the holy grail- and do you know what- I've already found it," Bimpson said. "It's in the people of all the different Liverpools, that is the holy grail."

Piczo