Hello and a very warm welcome to the Best of the Echo newsletter. This past week has been all about new trains, the return of Brookside and the sacking of Frank Lampard and the appointment of a new manager at Everton.
We marked Holocaust Memorial Day with a number of articles - this one by our reporter Dan Haygarth - was especially moving. We tried and tested the new Hollywood Bowl in Speke Retail Park and met up with The Jockey Club to plan our Grand National coverage.
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What it was really like on board first new Merseyrail train
An eight-week old baby, a Labrador called Bella and a host of passionate train enthusiasts were among those enjoying the first journey of a new Merseyrail train on Monday.
After years of delays and disruption, passengers were finally invited onto one of the state-of-the-art Class 777 trains that have been promised for so long. A deal for the new fleet was first signed all the way back in 2016 and the wait for this moment has been a frustrating one for all concerned. Read more.
Liam Thorp, political editor
The bride and groom moved to Liverpool. Everyone else was murdered
"Seeing the photograph is absolutely heartbreaking, but we have to do this", says Jeremy Wolfson. Taken in 1931 in Poland, the photo shows the wedding of Jeremy's grandparents Sara and Myer Wolfson. Myer was a Jewish minister in Liverpool and had travelled to Poland to study.
He met Sara there, they fell in love and later got married. In their wedding photo, they are surrounded by around 50 friends and relatives. Everyone in that photograph except Sara and Myer were murdered by the Nazis. Read more here.
Dan Haygarth, reporter
Photo of the week
Hundreds paid tribute to Elle Edwards in a touching funeral service this week. Family and close friends gathered at St Nicholas' Church in Wallasey to celebrate her life on Tuesday. Crowds who lined the streets fell silent as mourners arrived at the church ahead of a horse-drawn carriage bearing Elle's coffin. Family members went inside the church for the funeral service, led by Reverend Jeff Staples, who has been in regular contact with Elle’s family. He told mourners there was "much in Elle's life that needs to be celebrated".
Following the service the family returned to their vehicles as people in the street hugged each other tightly. Elle was then driven to a private service at Landican Cemetery and Crematorium. Read more
Abigail Nicholson, night reporter
Man played iconic Brookside character and nobody even knows it
A musician and TV extra shared how he ended up playing the body buried under the patio in iconic Brookside scenes.
Number 10 Brookside Close was home to the Corkhills, but it was also the scene of what soap viewers voted one of the most dramatic storylines ever. The body of murdered wife beater and child abuser Trevor Jordache, played by Bryan Murray, lay undetected under the patio for two years before it was discovered.
Mandy Jordache and her daughter Beth buried him, with help from fellow Brookside close resident Sinbad. Mike Woolley, now 70, played the body when it was discovered.
Amid the Scouse soap's return to the screen, he spoke to the ECHO about the surreal experience, and how it came about. Read more.
Kate Lally, trends writer
The 'Otterspool Tower' planned to be taller than the Eiffel Tower
Plans to build a 1,000ft tower dubbed the 'Scousescraper' on Liverpool's world-famous waterfront would have seen the city become home to the tallest building in Europe .
Over the years, Liverpool has seen its fair share of fantastical schemes that didn't come to fruition. From the controversial "cloud" building dubbed the fourth grace to bringing Disneyland to the city, many plans have turned out to be little more than pipe-dreams.
But perhaps one of the most whimsical ideas was for a supertall skyscraper that would have completely dominated the waterfront. Taller than the Eiffel Tower and Canary Wharf, plans were drawn up for an Otterspool Tower to be built on the former Festival Gardens site. Read more.
Lee Grimsditch, nostalgia reporter
This letter was originally sent to our newsletter subscribers. To read it ahead of the crowd, subscribe to the Echo's daily newsletter and receive the editor's weekly letter in your inbox.
