The Beatles at the Liverpool Docks.
Liverpool was not on my original itinerary for this UK trip but I spent 3 days in the city and when Isabel, my host, offered me a personal tour of some of the Beatles locations I was glad to accept. Realizing how much my late husband Terry, a devoted Beatles fan from a young age, would have appreciated being here, I checked out a few more Beatles sites on my own. This post is for Terry.
John Lennon's first childhood home is marked only by a message on the front steps.
The National Trust owns and shows by appointment the home of Paul McCartney, his brother and parents as well as the attractive, two-storey home where John Lennon lived with his aunt. John's first home, one of the many terraced dwellings that dominate sections of Liverpool, is much more modest and marked only by the words "Imagine Peace" on the risers of the front steps.
On the front steps of John Lennon's first home.
Ringo's childhood home is in Toxteth, an area of the city perhaps best known for 9 days of rioting in 1981. The terrace where young Richard Starkey lived is among those scheduled for demolition although a reprieve is still possible. George Harrison also grew up in a terrace.
Ringo's original home is an area scheduled for demolition which may still be renovated instead.
Not surprisingly, Beatles tourism is big in Liverpool. We just made it in time to the Strawberrry Fields gate ahead of a tour bus. Two taxi tours were at Ringo's home when we arrived.
Strawberry Fields gate.
Small group taxi tours focus on Beatles tourism.
In St Peter's Church Woolton are monuments for the Rigby and McKenzie families, names that occur in the Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby. Across the street at St Peter's Church Hall is a plaque commemorating the 1957 meeting of Paul McCartney and George Lennon at the church fete.
Rigby family monument in St Peter's churchyard.
Fateful meeting of John and Paul.
The area where I stayed is near Penny Lane and there are various local businesses and organizations drawing on the Beatles' legacy. The Penny Lane Community Centre includes a Beatles mural, a John Lennon Studio where a yoga class was in session, a Beatles visitor centre, and the Octopus's Garden.
Penny Lane, inspiration for the song of that name.
Penny Lane Community Centre mural.
In the city centre I stopped to get photos of the Cavern Club, an early venue for the Beatles, with its wall of fame, plus the sculpture of the Fab Four at the waterfront. My last Beatles stop was at the Museum of Liverpool where an exhibit on the creativity of Liverpool musicians and other artists includes much Beatles material. In 2001 Guiness World Records named Liverpool the world 'City of Pop' and in 2008 Liverpool was a European Capital of Culture. At the museum I enjoyed the 8 minute Beatles film ‘In The Town Where I was Born'.
The Cavern Club where the Beatles performed nearly 300 times.
Wall of Fame at the The Cavern Club.
For those in a certain age group, the Beatles are part of our history whether our interest was fanatical, peripheral or somewhere in between. I'll give the last word to the Museum of Liverpool.
Sign at the Museum of Liverpool.