I would certainly be up for an early spring 2012 tour to Liverpool.In recent times I have only been to The Ship and Mitre but I once visited The Philharmonic around 1990 .So very happy to go with the flow,there do seem to be some excellent choices in the city.A brief look at the train times indicate that arriving around midday from London is straightforward,while for me the last practical departure from Lime Street would be 19.48 ,so plenty of time to look around and imbibe.Any info on train fare deals would be very useful ,current advanced return fare £75 on Virgin but I seem to recall a London Midland option ,which would probably mean an earlier exit.

This would also be a good recce,as one of the few bits of the canal system that remains unticked by me is from Burscough to the Albert Dock which I was planning to do in mid June,as part of a weeks voyage from Leeds to Liverpool.

In terms of actual dates I can normally shuffle work and boating commitments around but would need at least a month's lead time .