There are places I remember...

I like Liverpool - the city and the people - despite my being associated with a town in "greater" (heavy irony when spoken in a Scouse accent) Manchester. This time, as ever, Liverpool did not disappoint - even though my intended trip to Dr Duncans to sample the fine ales of Cains Brewery was superceded by politicking in the conference hotel bar.

There's always football, of course. I can tell you that the current Lord Mayor, Steve Rotheram, supports Liverpool FC and found it very hard indeed to maintain an outward show of civic neutrality when attending the derby game with Everton a couple of weeks ago. The Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, Andy Burnham (born in Liverpool) is an Evertonian and, after giving his conference speech, he scurried off to Liverpool Central Library to look at the Everton archive. My taxi driver, on learning of my association with Bury, told me tales of visiting Gigg Lane - and also told me a story about Bobby Charlton which puts the Great Man in a rather disappointing light; but then my taxi driver was a Red and they don't really get on with the Trafford lot, do they?

And yes, over the years, I have visited both Anfield and Goodison to watch the Mighty Shakers who acquitted themselves with honour on both occasions -   going down by the only goal to Everton and two very late goals to Liverpool. In the Cup of course - although I do remember Bury and Liverpool squaring up to each other in the League; actually, it was Bob Stokoe and Bill Shankly squaring up to each other on the touchline, but that's another story for another day...

And there's always art, which, this trip, took the form of sculpture. I enjoyed the statue of Billy Fury on Albert Dock - younger readers go to www.billyfury.com to learn about the singer who paved the way for Merseybeat. I liked the way that Tate Liverpool has put Rodin's The Kiss right there in the foyer so it's the first thing you see when you step through the door - www.tate.org.uk/liverpool .

Indeed I had a rather surreal discussion with Steve Rotheram about sculpture. We had the idea of taking Super Lamb Banana (the iconic street symbol of Liverpool as Capital of Culture - www.superlambbanana.com ) out to Crosby beach to join Antony Gormley's iron men - see Antony Gormley's Another Place at www.sefton.gov.uk . We could photograph one of Gormley's figures taking Super Lamb Banana for a walk along the beach... Indeed, I suppose any of you out there who are more digitally wizard than me (and that's most of you) could do this  with cunning manipulation of electronic images. Go on, give it a go - and send it to me!

And then, there's the place itself. This time I stayed on the waterfront and it was very calming (necessary with all the politicking) to escape the conference and sit by the river watching the sun go down behind the Cammell Laird Dock at Birkenhead. It was even better to - yes - take the ferry 'cross the Mersey - www.merseyferries.co.uk - from Pier Head to Seacombe and Birkenhead and back again. Seacombe's on the Wirral and my mother tells me how she used to push my pram along the prom before getting the ferry to go to the shops in Liverpool. Oh yes, Bury will always be my home town because that's where I was brought up, but - in terms of the place of my birth - I'm really a wetback from Wallasey...

But enough about the place. What about the conference? That comes next...