A particular fetish ( no, not that sort of fetish!) is looking at the topography and seeing how we built around it. The pic is from the mouth of the Mersey tunnel, and you can see the slight downhill slope towards the river. This was the original course of 'the pool', the river that led down to the Mersey and which made Liverpool possible as a harbour. The river of course, had one of its sources in ( you guessed it) Abercromby Square.
Technically the Moss Lake or Smithdown Fen at the time, control of the stream, to power water mills, caused a 'turf war' between the landowning lords, and the temporary blocking by dam of this during the arguments had a direct effect on the flow of 'the Pool', influencing the silting up which arguably prompted the building of the first docks.
If you believe the histories of the time, and they are fairly convincing, it was arguments over control of what was to be become Abercromby Square which kickstarted the birth of Liverpool as a port of influence.
Food for thought!