Albert Dock, Liverpool

An acclaimed branch of the Tate Gallery in London has been established in the Albert Dock. As chance would have it the London Tate Gallery, which was founded at the end of the 19th C with a legacy from the sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate, found new accommodation in the warehouses where Tate stored the raw sugar before it was refined. The last connection with the inventor of the sugar cube ended in 1981 with the closure of the Tate & Lyle sugar refineries in Liverpool, a fate, which is only too familiar to this once thriving port.Restoration was the work of Liverpool architect James Stirling who also extended the Tate Gallery on the bank of the Thames for the Turner Museum. The ground floor of the "Tate of the North" has three exhibition halls (total of 4,000sq.m. floor space), the first floor has three galleries dedicated to contemporary art. On the second floor are works on loan from the London Tate, on the upper floors are offices, lecture halls and artists' studios.

The Maritime Museum in Liverpool opened its first permanent exhibition in 1986, "The Emigrants to the New World". It depicts the passage of the seven million emigrants who left the Mersey between 1830 and 1930 for the New World. During the 1840s many Irish were forced to leave their homes because of the famine, in the 1850s countless people rushed to Australia in the search for gold and around the turn of the century there were innumerable emigrants to the USA. Other exhibitions document the history of seafaring in Liverpool, beginning with the 13th C fishing village, through the heyday of the Mersey docks to the modern port development of the 20th C illustrated by model ships, authentic workshops and historic frigates outside the building.

The basement of the Britannia Pavilion in Albert Dock houses "The Beatles Story" museum with memorabilia, photographs and films of the four Liverpool lads.

The International Slavery Museum opened its galleries on August 23rd, 2007 - Slavery Remembrance Day. 2007 is the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade and 23 August commemorates the date of the outbreak of the slave rebellion, which created the first independent Black republic of Haiti.The International Slavery Museum is located at Liverpool's Albert Dock, at the centre of a World Heritage site. The location is only yards away from the dry docks where 18th century slave trading ships were repaired and fitted out.

The Museum tells the story of smuggling and contraband from the 1700s to the present day. Displays include tools of the job, prints, paintings and photographs relating to the work of the Department of Customs and Excise.

From here, majestic cruise ships depart for distant ports of call. While docked, these mighty ships are a spectacle for all to see.