I visited Liverpool in January 2015 with friends as part of a group celebrating a birthday. We travelled up on the train from London Euston. The WHS inscription shows a very precise border that resembles a gerrymandered political district. I had traced it out onto a map so I could be sure we were going to the correct areas.

But first we went to see some sites that are not part of the WHS, yet are worth visiting in their own right. The two cathedrals of Liverpool, both in the Hope area of the city, are both 20th century creations and both cavernous.

After the cathedrals we walked to the redeveloped Albert Dock area, where you will find various museums and coffee shops and the famous Liver Building.

The reason the city of Liverpool is inscribed as a World Heritage Site is to bear witness to the major world trading centres of the 18th and 19th centuries. Along with the likes of Bristol and Lisbon, Liverpool grew rich on the Triangular Trade, shipping manufactured goods, slaves and tobacco between Europe, Africa and America.

Also included within the WHS boundary is the start of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal – a freight superhighway of the 19th century. Although she was impeccably accommodating to my enthusiasm, I detected that my girlfriend Natalie was not too thrilled with being dragged round an industrial estate with no food and a hangover!