A stunning recreation of 1970s Liverpool could soon be going on display to a wider public.
Model maker Gerard Fagan originally made the scale model of his childhood stomping ground in L3 during lockdown. The 59-year-old grew up in his namesake, Gerard Gardens, which was a tenement development located opposite what is now the main John Moores University building.
Over its 50-year lifespan, the city centre estate housed many generations of families and also featured prominently in the Liverpool-set 1958 film Violent Playground. The tenements were finally flattened in the late 1980s.
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Gerard, who now lives in Ormskirk, said of the tenements featured in his display: "They were built in the Art Deco style of the 30s but obviously I wasn't there then. I lived there in the 70s. But they were freezing in the winter, they had no central heating!"
Gerard made a smaller version of his new model in 2003 which was just the tenement he grew up in. It proved such a success it is now on permanent display at the Museum of Liverpool.
Gerard's new model encompasses more tenements and streets from the L3 area, including Hunter Street, Christian Street, and Byrom Street. He was able to recreate the look of the streets from memory and using photographic references from the records office.
Asked why he decided to recreate this part of Liverpool from that era, Gerard said: "I lived there in the 70s, and they stuck with me that much, growing up as a kid. In 1976 they had that massively hot summer. You're 14 and the world's your oyster.
"And people still think fondly about those communities and wish they would have been kept in the same way the bullring has been kept. I'm not sure why they were called gardens because there wasn't a blade of grass, it was just all concrete in the middle of the square. But it did give kids a place to play."
The incredibly detailed buildings are made out of balsa wood and cardboard, and the whole model measures 6ft by 4ft made up of four separate boards. Throughout the lockdown, Gerard spent several hours of an evening and his weekends working on the project.
Explaining his love of model making, he said: "I always had Lego as a kid and Matchbox cars. My older brother had a model railway and stuff, and he tended to be into the trains and the track and I would do the scenery. I've always had an interest in it."
Pictures of the replica on the Liverpool local history Facebook group Inacityliving drew a "fantastic" response, said Gerard.
He added: "People who have seen it have said things like 'I'm nearly crying here' and 'it takes me right back.' That's the reaction I wanted."
A film-maker friend asked Gerard if he could put the model on display for audiences after the showing of his own film Gardens of Stone - a documentary about Liverpool City Centre living in the 20th Century. There are now plans to show both model and film in a community hub that is being opened at the site of the old Pontack pub in Christian Street, one of the locations featured in the model. The date is still to be confirmed.
The latest series of Memory Lane is in major retailers including Asda, Tesco, Home Bargains and selected newsagents now. This series of the bumper picture special looks at fun in the sun - with stunning photographs and treasured memories of family holidays from years gone by. You can also buy Memory Lane online here.
