· Stable Yard development

Armed with the visitor figures from the Open Weekend, the owners/developers of the Lord Mayor's Stables site (an area which represents about a quarter of the tunnels site and which is underpinned by many Williamson tunnels) will be meeting with English Partnerships in late September to learn whether they will receive funding from EP to preserve the two large tunnel entrances there and open them up as a small tourist attraction. Contrary to press reports, at the time of writing this funding has yet to be confirmed and suggestions that 'the tunnels are saved and will all be open soon' are premature to say the least. Also present at the meeting will be representatives of the City Council and, happily, FWT.

· Open Weekend

As part of the 'Heritage Open Days' event organised nationally by English Heritage and coordinated locally by the Liverpool Architecture and Design Trust, the Lord Mayors Stable Yards and two of the tunnels therein were opened to the public over the weekend of 12th/13th September. Some rather misleading publicity saw thousands of visitors arrive expecting to be able to explore the labyrinth, whereas only the corner tunnel in the Stable Yard was open (partially). FWT provided some volunteers to guide the crowds and, as a separately organised attraction, other members of our committee led walks around the rest of the tunnels site, showing visitors Williamson's house and other points of interest, and welcomed many visitors to a temporary exhibition/discussion shop at the nearby Bears Paw pub. Many people joined FWT on the day.

· Blue Plaque Scheme

· Kevin Callister

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the recent death of Kevin Callister from the Kensington Neighbourhood Council. It was Kevin who encouraged FWT to take up our rewarding relationship with the Parks Partnership and among the stirling efforts he made for the community which includes the tunnels site, he was always keen to encourage our work.

· Merseyside Civic Society

In the summer, Friends of Williamson's Tunnels was accepted as a member of the Merseyside Civic Society. Among other aims, MCS exists to help preserve and improve the built environment of Merseyside and at their recent AGM called for support for the aims of FWT as well as providing an endorsement for our fundraising brochure.

· Paddington Gardens

In the light of plans by a private developer to build new flats to replace the derelict Paddington Gardens blocks, just opposite Williamson's house, the local County Achaeologist requested that the developer carry out a survey of the plot to establish whether any Williamson tunnels were underneath (as has long been suspected). This geophysical survey was recently carried out by Bangor University. We have yet to see the results, but we were told that the difficult conditions may lead to inconclusive readings. We took heart, however, in the early discovery of a previously unknown tunnel in the corner nearest to Williamson's house, apparently on a line between the house and the multi-layer cellars (see below) which were unearthed earlier in the year. Alongside the physical survey, a desk-based (research) survey is being carried out which will identify old records, etc., of tunnels under the site.

· Fundraising brochure

Our brochure designed to attract corporate donations to be used to buy Williamson's house was completed in the late summer. Our thanks to the Parks Partnership for their grant for its production and to Tech Litho Ltd. for the printing. The brochure is now being sent out and we are drawing up a plans for investors showing how the house and tunnels would be renovated. We have received signals from the City Council that the importance of the tunnels under the house is now recognised. The City Estates Department accepted in principle our recently submitted method statement for investigative work we would like to carry out in and under the house and is currently arranging for safety measures to be put in place before any research visits can be made.