Laird and Lowry take centre stage at the Williamson

An exhibition of photographs chronicling two famous Wirral names is on show at the Williamson Art Gallery until October.

Tom Wood’s Cammell Laird Shipyard 1993-96 chronicles the closure of the famous Birkenhead yard after 170 years, and the subsequent reopening as a repair yard in the mid-1990s.

Meanwhile Cian Quayle’s Detours and Dislocations follows the footsteps of poet and writer Malcolm Lowry, from Liverpool to the Isle of Man and Vancouver.

Wood was commissioned by the Documentary Photography Archive to follow the fortunes of Cammell Laird, and this is the first time the photographs have been shown in their home town, accompanied by archive material relating to the history of the shipyard and drawn from Wirral Archives and the Williamson’s own collection.

The photographer has had a prolific presence on the other side of the River Mersey over the past few months, with his recent exhibition The Pier Head at the Open Eye Gallery. He has also showed work in The Art of Football at the Royal Albert Dock, coinciding with the World Cup.

Quayle’s new photographic works meanwhile investigate places significant for Under the Volcano author Lowry’s writing in Liverpool, the Isle of Man and Canada.

Tom Woods’ photographs are on show at the Williamson Art Gallery in Slatey Road, Birkenhead, until September 2 and then again from September 8 to October 14.

Quayle’s images will be on display until August 26.