The Bombed-Out Church

St Luke's, Liverpool

On the edge of Liverpool city centre, on the corner of Leece Street and Berry Street, lies the hollow shell of St Luke's church. Struck by an incendiary bomb towards the end of the Second World War, the building (known affectionately to locals as 'the bombed-out church') remained largely unused until 2003, when arts collective Urban Strawberry Lunch began hosting musical events, photography installations and film nights.

It's a brilliant reinvention for one of the city's lesser-widely-known, but potentially more recognisable landmarks. WHTB spent a long time wondering why they hadn't gone one step further and simply opened it up as an open-air club called The Bombed-Out Church, until finally managing to haul some flabby backside down there for a showing of cold-war-paranoia-sci-fi-classic The Day The Earch Stood Still. As magnificent as the structure is, all attendees to these events have to sign a form declaring their awareness that the whole thing could, like, collapse around us. AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT. Sheesh! Ok, possibly not the best home for a club full of pissed idiots twitching and jerking to floor-shakingly-loud bass and beats. But as long as you bring a jacket (even on these delightful summer evenings, it can get pretty nippy) it's a lovely place to take in a movie.

Forthcoming screenings, should you catch this blog in time, include FW Murnau's Nosferatu (4th July) and Jean Cocteau's La Belle Et La Bête (5th July). There's also a plethora of other stuff coming up, which you're advised to check out. Hooray!