Letter: In pursuit of the 'real' Liverpool

Sir: We are always glad in Liverpool to get some publicity that shows the more acceptable face of the city which we, as residents, are daily aware of.

So I am grateful to Simon Calder for his travel piece 'Be sure you look in the right direction' (22 October).

However, I have to take issue on a couple of points. To describe the Casablanca club as 'the natural successor to the Cavern as the city's smokiest and best club' is a travesty. Homely, relaxed it might be, but anything more it is not. It is a 'late drink' establishment, a natural successor to the 'shebeens'. It is not, nor has it ever been, the cradle of any form of Merseybeat.

And calling the Metropolitan cathedral 'Paddy's Wigwam' is aesthetically unforgivable. The Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, like the modern 'liberation theology' cathedrals in South America, is much more interesting inside than outside. This is how it should be. It is a church, a forum for communal worship, not a monument. Inside, the cathedral is a symphony of light.

Anytime you, Sir, want to come to Liverpool, give me a call. I'll show you the real town, whose heart may have been broken, but never, ever, ripped out.

Yours sincerely, GERALD MURPHY Northern Song Project Liverpool 23 October