Liverpool: John and Paul
St. Peter's, Penny Lane and Strawberry Field
John Lennon met Paul McCartney on July 6, 1957, when Paul went to hear John's band, The Quarrymen, play at a village festival at St. Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, a Liverpool "suburb" that is really a small, peaceful village. St. Peter's was John's Parish Church, within walking distance of his home on Menlove Avenue. (The church cemetery is also the resting place of one Eleanor Rigby--listed about halfway down the "Rigby" family marker pictured above.)
The Quarrymen played often in the St. Peter's church hall (right), which is still used for youth clubs and actvities. On the July 6, 1957, the band played first in the field behind the church (left), where Paul first heard John, then later in the church hall, where Paul introduced himself, played some guitar and made enough of an impression to be asked to join the band a short time later.
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John spent the first fours years of his life at 9 Newcastle Road, near the Penny Lane roundabout--a busy intersection where five roads meet in a traffic circle. There is still a "shelter in the middle of a roundabout" and a barber shop and a bank. Paul was once a choirboy at St. Barnabas Church, which faces the roundabout, and the Quarrymen played several times at the St. Barnabas Church Hall. The bustling shopping area and bus terminus was relatively near to John and Paul's adolescent homes as well, and it clearly held many happy memories for them both. The original lyrics to John's "In My Life" refer to Penny Lane, though it was Paul's song that immortalized the area. Cynthia (Powell) Lennon had an apartment near Penny Lane and worked at the Woolworth's store a block from the roundabout, where she was often visited by John (and where she went into labor with Julian).
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Strawberry Field was and remains a Salvation Army Children's Home. Located on Beaconsfield Road about a block from its intersection with Menlove Avenue, Strawberry Field was a short walk from John's home and offered a magical, thickly-wooded world of escape that obviously remained a special place in his heart. "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were released together as a single in 1967, presenting a touching tribute to the Beatles' Liverpool roots.
Liverpool: Beatle Clubs, Pubs and
Concert Venues
The Beatles made the Cavern Club famous, playing nearly 300 shows between February 1961 and August 1963 in the cellar club on tiny Mathew Street in downtown Liverpool. The Cavern closed in 1973 and was demolished in a particularly brilliant feat of civic planning. A reconstructed Cavern Club opened a decade later, built to the specifications of the original and occupying part of the orignal site (the remainder is lost forever beneath the neighboring parking lot). It is now a major tourist attraction and still a venue for local bands.
The Grapes was a favorite Beatle hangout, located a few doors down Mathew Street from the Cavern (which was not allowed to sell alchohol). The Beatles would often retreat to The Grapes before or after Cavern sets. Mona Best's home was at 8 Haymen's Green in West Derby, a village on the distant outskirts of Liverpool. Despite the long trek, the basement of the home was turned into the successful Casbah Club, a teenage coffee house and venue for bands. The Beatles played there often and, in the summer of 1960, added Mona's son Pete Best to their line-up on drums.
The Jacaranda Club (at 23 Slater Street) was owned by Allan Williams, who became the Beatles' first manager. The Beatles often played, rehearsed and hung out at the Jac, where Stu Sutcliffe's murals can still be seen on the basement walls. The Blue Angel (108 Seel Street) was another club run by Allan Williams and was the scene of the Beatles' 1960 audition for impresario Larry Parnes which landed them their first tour outside of Liverpool, backing singer Johnny Gentle on a tour of Scotland.
The Litherland Town Hall and the Aintree Institute were two of several venues that made up the network of widely-scattered ballrooms that were the next step up from playing bars and cellar clubs. Both are located in the extreme Northern section of Liverpool. The Litherland Town Hall was the site of the "Birth of Beatlemania," the December 1960 concert that demonstrated the group's remarkable improvement after several months in Hamburg and sparked the first stirrings of fan hysteria in their hometown. The Beatles performed 31 times at the Aintree Institute, which still features live music and community events.
Ye Cracke is located on Rice Street near the Art College and was a favorite meeting spot for John, Stu and other art students. The Philharmonic Pub was another favorite spot near the Art College. The ornate building is located on Hope Street between the Anglican and the Catholic cathedral (pictured in the background here). The Empress Pub is located at the end of Admiral's Grove a few houses away from Ringo's home. It was pictured on the cover of Ringo's 1970 "Sentimental Journey" album.
Liverpool: Beatle Birthplaces
Oxford Street Maternity Hospital |
Walton Hospital |
John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in the now-closed Maternity Hospital on Oxford Street, adjacent to the University of Liverpool campus. Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 in Walton Hospital, where his mother had worked as a nurse. Walton Hospital is in the northern part of Liverpool not far from Paul's first home at 10 Sunbury Road.
12 Arnold Grove |
9 Madryn Street |
George Harrison was born on February 25, 1943 in a tiny "two up, two down" on the Arnold Grove cul-de-sac not far from Penny Lane. Ringo Starr [Richard Starkey] was born on July 7, 1940 on Madryn Street in the "Dingle" area of Liverpool. Both George and Ringo were born at home.
London: "A Hard Day's Night"
and "Help!" locations
Marylebone Station exterior |
...and interior |
The rear fire escape of the Hammersmith Odeon (now the Apollo) was the start of the Beatle-frolic sequence accompanied by "Can't Buy Me Love" in "A Hard Day's Night." The Odeon itself was the site of the 38 performances that made up the Beatles' series of Christmas Shows in 1964. The actual frolicking took place at the Thornbury Playing Grounds of Stanborough Road in Hounslow (and also at a helicopter launchpad at Gatwick Airport). The Marylebone Train Station was the setting for the memorable opening scenes of "A Hard Day's Night." The opening scene of John, George & Ringo running toward the camera was shot on Boston Place, the small street that runs along the right side of Marylebone Station. (Paul, disguised, is waiting in the station with his grandfather...)
Three sites from Ringo's "deserter" sequence in "A Hard Day's Night": the road where he begins his adventure (and is recognized and chased by two fans), the riverside path he wanders along and the pub he briefly terrorizes. Lancaster Road is in Notting Hill; the Thames tow-path is near Kew Bridge, and the Turks Head pub is in Twickenham.
Strand-on-the-Green |
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165 New Bond Street |
Ailsa Avenue 1965 |
Ailsa Avenue 1997 |
The storefronts of the City Barge pub, by the Thames in Chiswick, and Asprey's (then and now a famous jewelry store) were both featured in "Help." Alisa Avenue, in Twickenham, was the setting for the opening scenes of "Help," as the Beatles enter adjacent rowhouses that turn out to be one big Beatle home inside (though the interior was actually a set in the Twickenham film studio).
Twickenham Studios viewing theatre |
Studio One at Twickenham |
Twickenham Studios are a group of buildings located near the St. Margarets train station, west of Richmond and a long distance from London's city center. (The presence of the studios accounts for the Twickenham locales of many of the outdoor scenes.) The first half of the "Let It Be" film was also shot in the cavernous Studio One at Twickenham.
Liverpool: Beatle Homes
9 Newcastle Road |
"Mendips" 251 Menlove Avenue |
John spent his first five years at 9 Newcastle Road (two blocks from Penny Lane), the family home of his mother, Julia Stanley. He then moved into "Mendips," where he was raised by his Aunt Mimi and where he lived until he was twenty. John's mother was run over by a car and killed in front of Mendips when John was 17.
72 Western Avenue |
12 Ardwick Road |
From 1946 until 1955, the McCartney family lived in the sprawling Speke industrial development south of Liverpool, first at 72 Western Avenue and then at 12 Ardwick Road.
20 Forthlin Road |
A tour group visits the National Trust home... |
Paul McCartney's family moved to Forthlin Road in the Allerton suburb in 1955. (Paul's mother, Mary, died of breast cancer less than a year after the move to Forthlin Road.) The McCartney's old "council flat" has now been purchased and made a historic site by the National Trust.
25 Upton Green |
174 Macket's Lane |
George Harrison's family moved from his Arnold Grove birthplace to Upton Green in the Speke industrial development in 1950. George met Paul at a bus stop in Speke when both families lived there, and the Harrison home in this distant locale was the setting for many Quarrymen rehearsals, thanks to the relative tolerance of George's parents... The Harrisons moved up to Macket's Lane in 1962 and lived there until 1965, continually besieged by Beatle fans.
At the age of six, Ringo Starr moved to this small "two up, two down" on Admiral Grove, just around the corner from his birthplace on Madryn Street and in the heart of a working class area called The Dingle. Serious health problems made the Children's Hospital on Myrtle Street (now closed) his second home for nearly a year.
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Abbey Road
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