Tourists dig Capital of Cones souvenirs

May 19 2008 by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

Tourists dig Capital of Cones souvenirs

LIVERPOOL’S Big Dig has been immortalised with a new drinking mug which has become a big hit with citizens and tourists alike.

Instead of celebrating the city’s status as Capital of Culture, its seemingly endless city centre road works have earned it the title Capital of Cones, according to the mug whose design is embellished with the Dig’s infamous trademarks, the amber and white witches hat.

The man behind the cheeky idea is Bernie Raynard, whose shop, Inscript Engraving and Shoe Repair, near the junction between Victoria Street and North John Street, was under siege from the cones and hard-hatted workmen for nearly two months.

“It’s just a little bit of Scouse humour to brighten up the situation,” said Mr Raynard, who runs the shop with John Dyson.

“The idea came about when a couple of Americans came in to ask for directions because there were so many roads that had been coned and closed off.

“We said well you’re in the Capital of Cones now and they said: ‘Say, could you give us a memento that we could take back to the States’. We rustled up the mug in 20 minutes flat and it’s all taken off from there.”

There’s a serious side to the issue, he added, however. Trade had dropped by 15% since the work began – although celebrations were due on Friday when the last of the cones on the axis of North and South John Street and Victoria Street were finally removed.

“We didn't really know what was happening but the lads working on the road didn’t really want to talk about it because I think they got sick to death of people asking the same question: ‘When is it going to end’?

“But that’s not the end of it because it’s not just the doorstep trade that’s been affected. I do a lot of deliveries and the extensive work that’s still going on around Brunswick Street and The Strand means that there’s been a lot of other delays.”

A city council spokesman confirmed that it would still be at least a couple of weeks before the work along The Strand which has caused traffic delays will be completed.

So the cones elsewhere look like remaining for a while longer – ensuring the sale of mugs should continue, too.

“We were going to send cone mugs to Warren Bradley and some of the others on the council, but thought maybe they wouldn’t see the joke!” added Mr Raynard.

mikechapple@dailypost.co.uk