It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of John Adams Bartlett on Friday 30^th September 2024.

John joined the firm in 1966 based at the Head Office at Marldon Chambers office in Liverpool City Centre. John started as a trainee, working primarily at that time on divorce, paternity suits, and general litigation. Through the 1970s and early 1980s conveyancing was a strong area for Bartletts with a move into accident claims as another dimension for the business in the mid-1980s.

John was Managing Director of Bartletts Solicitors and has worked across diverse areas of law; always delivering excellent service for clients of Bartletts. Throughout his time at Bartletts John has always looked at changes in law and identifying new opportunities.

He will be greatly missed by us all here at Bartletts; his legacy will not be forgotten.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to his wife Evelyne, son Christopher and his wider family and friends as this sad time.

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest arrives in Liverpool next week, with the host city expecting around 100,000 visitors and a television audience of 160 million for what has been described as Europe’s biggest party. NatWest bank estimates that visitors will spend £40 million during Eurovision week, while Liverpool City Council expects Eurovision to generate £25 million for the city this year and a possible £250 million over the next three years, as visitor numbers continue to rise on the back of the city’s global exposure during this year’s event.

These figures highlight just how important the competition is for Liverpool’s economy and international profile both now and in the coming years. The city’s tourism was booming prior to the Covid pandemic, particularly after Liverpool was European Capital of Culture in 2008, with international tourist numbers rising dramatically (by more than double the national average) in the decade before Covid. As in other parts of the UK, the city’s tourism was badly affected by the pandemic, and Eurovision 2023 is seen as the perfect opportunity for the sector to recover its previous momentum.

The city seems ready to do both the event and its own musical legacy justice, and the mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, has promised ‘the best party ever’. With Liverpool hosting the competition on behalf of Ukraine this year following the Russian invasion, the mayor went on to say, ‘Ukraine – you have my promise we will do you proud’. With excitement building in Liverpool and across Merseyside, Eurovision 2023 will undoubtedly see the city rise to the occasion with vibrancy, confidence and solidarity before the eyes of the world.

As part of EuroFestival 2023, the cultural festival taking place across the city, Liverpool Cathedral is hosting ‘Izyum to Liverpool’ by the Ukrainian artist Katya Buchatska. Commissioned by Culture Liverpool in partnership with Liverpool Cathedral, Izyum to Liverpool is a multi-channel video installation charting the train journey of escape taken by so many Ukrainians since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Starting in the liberated Ukrainian regions and moving towards calmer cities in the west, the real-time filming offers a unique and poignant window into the experience of those escaping war, and how normal life can change so suddenly and dramatically in just a moment. Izyum to Liverpool also examines the mental impact of the one-way journey, focusing on the loss, uncertainty, and sense of the fragility of their environment experienced by those travelling further and further away from the frontline.

Izyum to Liverpool will be hosted by Liverpool Cathedral from 1-19 May; meanwhile on 11 May, the artist Katya Buchatska will give a detailed talk at the Cathedral about her visual art installation and the themes it explores with Elisa Nocente, Cultural Programme Manager at Liverpool Cathedral. Katya Buchatska was born in 1987 in Kyiv, Ukraine, where she continues to live and work in various forms of media including painting, installations, sculpture, photography and video.

Liverpool is preparing for what is billed as Europe’s biggest party, the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, with the city and the BBC hosting the one-of-a-kind competition on behalf of Ukraine this year. National Museums Liverpool has organised a packed programme of events and live performances at its venues to celebrate this musical extravaganza. Many of these are part of EuroFestival (1-14 May 2023), the two-week long cultural festival taking place across the city, which will allow visitors to see its renowned museums and galleries as they’ve never been seen before.

Eurovision week is made up of three main events: two semi-final nights on Tuesday 9 May and Thursday 11 May, with the Grand Final to follow on Saturday 13 May. The Museum of Liverpool is putting on events on all three nights, with a programme of exclusive performances by a diverse selection of artists for both semi finals and food and drink available throughout the evening. Both the Museum of Liverpool and the World Museum will also host screenings of the Grand Final, giving visitors the opportunity to watch the event in their choice of glorious surroundings.

National Museums Liverpool will also be hosting Museum Sessions Live music events between 14 April and 14 May at various venues including the Walker Art Gallery, the World Museum, the Museum of Liverpool, the Maritime Museum and the Lady Lever Art Gallery. These events are inspired by NML’s YouTube series, and will give individual musicians and groups the unique opportunity to take centre stage and perform in such iconic venues. Various other displays at NML’s galleries and museums will also be open to the public, and a number of family-friendly events will aim to keep the young as thoroughly entertained as the adults.

Liverpool Cathedral’s Grand Organ Appeal aims to raise the £900,000 needed to restore and preserve what is not only the largest organ in the UK, but also one of the greatest musical instruments in the world. Built in 1926, the Grand Organ of Liverpool Cathedral was the largest instrument ever designed at the time, and continuous daily use in worship since then has resulted in the imperative need for major restoration work.

Apart from one-off donations, Liverpool Cathedral has devised a range of activities to get involved with in support of the appeal. One of the most appealing options for those with a passion for organ music is the unique Organ Experience, costing £500, which offers the rare chance to play one of the world’s finest church organs and to learn about the instrument from one of the Cathedral’s resident organists. Another excellent and unusual choice for the organ enthusiast is the chance to adopt one of the organ’s 10,268 magnificent pipes for as little as £2.

Donations to the appeal can be made on Liverpool Cathedral’s website, online or by mobile phone with JustGiving, via a cash back donation using the Easy Fundraising online shopping service, or by buying merchandise including organ music from the Cathedral Shop. Supporters are also welcome to organise their own event to raise money for the appeal such as recitals, plays, coffee mornings, cheese and wine evenings, quiz nights, raffles – the possibilities are endless.

Liverpool Cathedral has so far raised almost two-thirds (£600,000) required to restore the Grand Organ, and participation in any of these various fundraising activities will help reach the target and preserve this special musical instrument for future generations.

Bartletts Solicitors are proud to be long-term supporters of Liverpool Cathedral, with Thomas Bartlett, a direct ancestor of the firm’s owners, leaving a bequest for the construction of the array of 13 bells for the new cathedral which was then being built in 1912.

National Museums Liverpool has recently announced plans for its landmark Waterfront Transformation Project, which is expected to transform part of Liverpool’s iconic waterfront over the course of the next decade. Made possible by the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund, the project aims to create vibrant and welcoming spaces for visitors, while also acting as a catalyst for social and environmental improvements in the area. The project will focus on the area between the Royal Albert Dock and Mann Island, with plans to reshape and renew this part of the waterfront and the local National Museums Liverpool facilities.

The expansion of the International Slavery Museum in Royal Albert Dock is expected to convert what is currently a series of galleries into a world-leading museum covering all aspects of historic and modern slavery, including the waterfront’s history and the Liverpool’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. At the same time, the heritage and maritime history of the adjacent Canning Dock will be revealed, with two drydocks renewed and upgraded to enhance the experience for visitors and the potential for events and performances.

The Waterfront Transformation Project will further include a series of improvements at the Museum of Liverpool, with new spaces, more immersive visitor experiences and improvements to hospitality areas. A number of historic dockside buildings will also be refurbished and opened to the public, including the Cooperage, Mermaid House, the Pilotage, the Piermaster’s House, the Great Western Railway Warehouse and Hartley Hut.

Opening in 13 weeks time, the Return of the Gods: Zeus, Athena, Hercules exhibition at Liverpool’s World Museum will showcase a collection of internationally important classical sculptures that rivals the collections held at the British Museum, the Vatican and the Louvre. Visitors will be able to explore the legends of the gods, goddesses and mortals from ancient Greece and Rome, including how the Greek gods were adopted by the Romans and how they were worshipped in public and private.

Henry Blundell of Sefton was an 18th century antiquarian who put together a collection of classical sculptures to display at his home at Ince Blundell. At its height, the collection consisted of more than 400 artefacts and was one of the largest in the country, considered second only to the British Museum in terms of importance and quality

Marble sculptures, paintings and furniture from Ince Blundell Hall were donated to National Museums Liverpool in the 20th century by Joseph Weld, a cousin of Henry Blundell. The Return of the Gods: Zeus, Athena, Hercules exhibition is a unique opportunity to view the stunning collection of classical sculptures and antiquities, and enter the ancient world of myth and legend through the words of poets, music and drama.

The Return of the Gods: Zeus, Athena, Hercules exhibition runs from 28 April until 25 February next year.

The Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story exhibition opened on 22 October at Liverpool’s Lady Lever Art Gallery and runs until 5 March next year. With the gallery celebrating its centenary year, the exhibition showcases the jewellery and story of this world-renowned brand, which grew over 200 years from a family jewellery business in Liverpool to become one of the world’s leading purveyors of stunning jewels. Boodles is the only high-end jewellery brand to hail from Liverpool, and has remained in the same family for over two centuries.

Boodles’ origins lie in a family jewellery business established by the Kirk family in 1798, which was later acquired by Boodle & Dunthorne. By the late-19th Century, the brand had acquired a reputation for fine jewellery and metalwork in the flourishing Liverpool jewellery industry of the time. Liverpool was then one of the wealthiest cities in the world, with an affluent merchant class desiring and well able to afford good quality jewellery, and Boodle & Dunthorne was at the heart of the industry’s development. In 1921, the brand opened Boodles House on the corner of Lord Street and North John Street (where Bartletts Solicitors is also based) which remains the company’s headquarters today.

Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story features breathtaking pieces of both historic and contemporary jewellery, charting the brand’s development from its early years as a city jeweller in Liverpool, to the peak of luxury jewellery craftsmanship and design. Visitors can explore the level of craft that goes into creating Boodles pieces, including the sourcing of precious stones and metals and the painstaking manufacturing process.

Visitors to Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story are invited to pay what they think the exhibition was worth, with contributions helping National Museums Liverpool to continue to stage exciting and memorable exhibitions and events.

As regular readers of our blog and social media will be aware, we regularly cover exhibitions and events at National Museums Liverpool’s venues, particularly the Walker Art Gallery, World Museum, Museum of Liverpool and Merseyside Maritime Museum.

While National Museums Liverpool’s museums and galleries are free to visit, there is also the option of becoming a National Museums Liverpool member, which apart from offering a range of exclusive benefits also helps with every aspect of maintaining and running the organisation’s seven unique and world-renowned museums and galleries.

Membership benefits include unlimited free access to all exhibitions across the organisation’s venues, as well as to the Planetarium and The Old Dock Tour. Members enjoy priority booking, meaning first access to presale tickets for what are often highly-anticipated blockbuster exhibitions, and are always the first to know about what is happening via regular e-newsletters containing news, exhibitions and free event listings. An Exhibitions and Events guide is also delivered directly to all members.

In addition, special members-only events are held regularly, often focusing on a new exhibition at a particular venue, and sometimes featuring talks and Q&A sessions with invited speakers. Members also have the chance to explore exhibitions outside of normal opening hours while enjoying a complimentary tea or coffee, and are entitled to a 15% discount at the cafes and  restaurants spread across National Museums Liverpool’s museums and galleries, as well as in the gift shops and online shop.

Annual individual adult memberships are currently priced at £40 or £30 for concessions (60+/Student), while joint adult memberships are available for £70 (£50 for concessions). Family memberships (one adult and up to three children) cost £45 or £75 for up to two adults and three children).