Day One -Saturday the 16th of May 2026
Today is the day I finally get to see Liverpool! Been wanting to go for so many years and do the Beatles tour. Best I do it before I run out of time, so after a 4 hour ish drive we arrive at the Dolby Hotel on Chaloner Street where we are staying for the weekend. Lucky enough the room is ready and we check in.
We walk up Chaloner Street and pass the entrance to Wapping Dock. Here pictured above on the left is the Hydraulic tower of the Hydraulic Power Centre built in 1856 to supply power to the nearby dock warehouses and on the left the stone conical tower is a Policeman's lodge acting as a entrance to the dock.
As we enter Albert Docks, we see the Magical Mystery Tour bus run by The Cavern Club parked up. We have a tour on this booked for tomorrow!
The Royal Albert Dock is Liverpool's premier historic waterfront destination, featuring the UK's largest collection of Grade I listed buildings. It serves as a bustling, free-to-enter cultural hub packed with world-class museums, galleries, independent restaurants, and retail spaces.
The following attractions can be found here in Albert Dock;
The Beatles Story: The world's largest permanent exhibition dedicated entirely to the lives and music of the Fab Four.
Maritime Museum: Explores Liverpool’s rich seafaring history, including its crucial role in global trading networks.
International Slavery Museum: An impactful museum highlighting the history of the transatlantic slave trade and its contemporary legacies.
Tate Liverpool: A renowned gallery of modern and contemporary art located right on the dockside.
Liverpool’s docks dominated global trade by the early 19th century. When it opened in 1846, Albert Dock changed the way the docks worked here forever. Its warehouses were fireproof and secure; traders could do deals before their import taxes were due; hydraulic cranes hauled heavy cargoes across the flagstones. The speed with which ships unloaded and turned around was cut in half.
Its serene waters stretched the size of three football pitches, and construction cost the equivalent of £41 million today. From maritime to the arts, the Mersey has always played a central role in the city’s cultural life, and the Dock’s vast size stamped its imprint on the waterfront we know and love.
Further up in the Albert Dock is the Statue of Billy Fury.
This statue, made by Liverpool sculptor Tom Murphy in 2003, was commissioned by ‘The Sound of Fury’ fan club following six years of fundraising and donations from fans, both members and non members, from home and abroad. It was very kindly donated to National Museums Liverpool by ‘The Sound of Fury’ as a lasting tribute to Billy, one of Liverpool’s greatest stars. It was originally displayed in the courtyard of the former Museum of Liverpool Life, before moving to its current location in March 2007.
Billy Fury was born Ronald Wycherley in Haliburton Street in The Dingle, Liverpool on 17 April 1940. He first found fame in the early 1960s and is remembered as one of the most famous stars in the history of British rock and roll.
Music was always his life. He taught himself to play the guitar and write songs from an early age. Whilst working on the tugs, Ronnie Wycherley as he was known then, formed a skiffle group with workmates just for fun, with the tongue in cheek name, 'The Formby Sniffle Groop'.
Sadly he had to give up the job on the tugs due to a recurrence of rheumatic fever which he had also suffered in childhood and which damaged his heart. He was discovered by Larry Parnes, the famous London impresario shortly after this and made his first public appearance at the Essoldo in Birkenhead to an audience of screaming girls. 'Billy Fury' was born.
His total record sales were on a par with acts such as Elvis, The Beatles and Cliff Richard. Billy wrote 10 songs for his first album The Sound of Fury. He was one of the few artists before the Beatles era to do this.
After suffering a range of health problems, career decline and subsequent revival, Billy suffered a fatal heart attack in January 1983 and died at the age of only 42. Today Billy’s life is celebrated through his many fans.
Opposite the Billy Fury Statue is the Statue of The Crossing.
This statue of a young family commemorates migration from Liverpool to the new world.
It was given to the people of Liverpool by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a tribute to the many families from all over Europe who embarked on a brave and pioneering voyage from Liverpool to start a new life in America.
It is estimated that in total approximately nine million people emigrated through the port.
The sculpture by Mark DeGraffenried is cast in bronze. The child stepping forward at the front symbolises migration to the unknown world whilst the child playing with a crab at the back indicates a deep association with the sea.
Leaving the dock by the Pierhead, we see the Famous Liver Building.
The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's Three Graces, which line the city's waterfront. It was also part of Liverpool's formerly UNESCO-designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City.
Opened in 1911, the building was the purpose-built home of Royal Liver Assurance. The Royal Liver Building is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the city of Liverpool with its two fabled Liver birds, which watch over the city and the sea.
Bella, the female bird, faces out towards the sea (the River Mersey) to watch over and welcome incoming sailors. Bertie faces inland, watching over the citizens of Liverpool.
According to local myth, the birds are chained down because if they were to fly away, the River Mersey would burst its banks and flood the city.
Playful Scouse folklore jokes that Bertie is actually looking inland to see if the nearest pubs are open, while Bella looks out toward the horizon waiting for a dashing sailor to arrive.
While many locals affectionately use the names Bertie and Bella, historians debate where they originated. Some believe "Bella" is named after Queen Isabella (wife of King John, who granted Liverpool its Royal Charter), and "Bertie" is a nod to King Edward VII, who was commonly called Bertie by the royal family.
In 1907, Royal Liver Assurance was in need for larger premises and approved the construction of a new head office. The foundation stone was laid on 11 May 1908. The building was designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas in the Edwardian Baroque style and built by Edmund Nuttall Limited. The building is an early example of a building constructed using reinforced concrete, and given the building's radical design was considered by some to "be impossible to build". The structural engineering advisor was L. G. Mouchel & Partners. The building was officially opened by Lord Sheffield on 19 July 1911.
In 1953, electronic chimes were installed to serve as a memorial to the members of Royal Liver Assurance who died during the two World Wars.
The building remained the head office for Royal Liver Assurance until its merger with Royal London Group in 2011.
We headed into the Fab Four café to escape the drizzle for a while and have a hot drink and a snack.
We leave the Fab Four Café and walk over to the Beatles Statues.
The Beatles Statue is a monument in Liverpool, England, placed at the Pier Head, near the intersection of Brunswick Street and Canada Boulevard. It was designed by sculptor Andy Edwards, and unveiled on 4 December 2015. It consists of four bronze statues depicting the members of the Beatles: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon.
The monument was designed by sculptor Andy Edwards. It was donated to the city of Liverpool by The Cavern Club, a local music venue associated with the Beatles, and unveiled on 4 December 2015, by Ann O'Byrne, the city deputy mayor, and Julia Baird, John Lennon's sister. The ceremony coincided with the 50th anniversary of the last concert the band played in Liverpool on 5 December 1965.
The figures are larger than their real counterparts, and are depicted walking together through the street. They were based on a photograph of the group, taken at the location in 1963.
McCartney holds a camera near his chest in his left hand, as a tribute to his wife, Linda McCartney, who was a photographer.
Harrison is wearing a belt with a Sanskrit inscription on it, which translates to "The Infinite Beyond Conception, we meditate upon that Light of Wisdom, which is the Supreme Wealth of the Gods. May it grant us to increase in our meditation".
To the sole of Ringo’s right shoe, is attached a card with a postal code "L8", referencing the area of Welsh Streets in which he grew up. He is also set back from the others, representing the order they were typically positioned on stage, with Ringo being behind the others on the drum kit.
In Lennon's right hand are two acorns, which were cast from acorns collected from near The Dakota apartment building in New York City, where he lived and was murdered in 1980. They are a reference to him mailing acorns to world leaders as a message of peace in the 1960s.
Walking on down Brunswick Street we make our way over to The Pig and Whistle pub on the corner of Covent Garden and Chapel Street.
According to local lore, Jim McCartney frequented the pub while working at the nearby Cotton Exchange in the 1950s. Legend (often shared by Paul's brother, Mike McCartney) claims that Paul and Mike used to perch on these steps waiting for their dad to finish his pint inside. These same steps actually lead right into the pub itself.
We walk back up the way we came and walk on to find the Eleanor Rigby Statue on Stanley Street.
It was made by the entertainer Tommy Steele. It is based on the subject of the Beatles' 1966 song "Eleanor Rigby", which is credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.
When Tommy Steele was performing in a show in Liverpool in 1981, he made an offer to Liverpool City Council to create a sculpture as a tribute to the Beatles. His fee for the commission would be three pence (half a sixpence). The offer was accepted by the council, as the statue would be expected to increase the tourist trade of the city, and they made a donation of £4,000 towards its cost. The project was otherwise funded by the Liverpool Echo.
The statue took nine months to make. Steele unveiled it in Liverpool on 3 December 1982.
The Statue depicts a seated woman with a handbag on her lap, a shopping bag on her right, and a copy of the Liverpool Echo on her left. Poking from the shopping bag is a milk bottle, and on the newspaper is a sparrow and a piece of bread. The woman is looking down at the sparrow.
Steele included what he described as "magical properties" in his design, all hidden inside the bronze figure and representing a different facet of life. These were: a four-leaf clover (for good luck), a page from the Bible (for spiritual guidance), football boots (representing sport and fun), a comic book (for comedy and adventure), and a sonnet (for love).
On the wall behind the figure is an inscribed plaque which originally read:
ELEANOR RIGBY
DEDICATED TO
"ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE ..."
This statue was sculpted and donated to the City of Liverpool
by Tommy Steele as a tribute to the Beatles.
The casting was sponsored by the Liverpool Echo.
DECEMBER 1982
Walking on we reach the Statue of Brian Epstein on Whitechapel sculpted by Andy Edwards.
The late legendary Liverpool music manager, who died 55 years ago, is depicted striding along Whitechapel towards Mathew Street to see the Beatles with a management contract in his right hand, and stands just across the road from the site of the Epstein family’s famous NEMS store.
It was from NEMS on November 9, 1961 that the 27-year-old Epstein set out to watch a band play a lunchtime session at the Cavern Club. The band was called The Beatles and in January 1962 they would go on to sign a management contract with the young entrepreneur.
Along with The Beatles, Epstein’s stable of stars included Cilla Black, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, The Moody Blues and The Scaffold.
We follow Pauls directions to the famous Mathew Street in the Cavern Quarter.
We pass the Wall of Fame Bar on Button Street and walk on up.
We walk into Mathew Street and stop to browse in a Beatles Shop.
We walk pass the Beatles Museum, at £20 a head we thought was a bit steep, that is better spent on beer!
We poke out heads into the Beatles themed 'Rubber Soul' bar on Mathew Street.
Inside between the Rubber Soul bar and the pub next door is an alley of Beatles statues and fun to take photos with!
It was still too early to start drinking for us so we head back outside.
Almost opposite Rubber Soul is the Statue of Cilla Black.
A life-size bronze statue of Cilla Black stands in Mathew Street.
Unveiled in 2017, the statue is a tribute to the local star who once worked as a cloak room girl at the Cavern before having a successful music career herself.
Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World" both reached number one in the UK in 1964. She had eleven top-ten hits on the UK Singles Chart between then and 1971 and an additional eight hits that made the top 40. In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 showed that her version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was the UK's biggest-selling single by a female artist in the 1960s. "You're My World" reached No. 14 in Canada and was also a modest hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own BBC variety show, Cilla (1968–1976). After a brief time as a comedy actress, she became a prominent television presenter in the 1980s and 1990s, hosting hit entertainment shows such as Blind Date (1985–2003), Surprise Surprise (1984–2001) and The Moment of Truth (1998–2001). In 2013, Black celebrated 50 years in show business. ITV honoured this milestone with a one-off entertainment special which aired on 16 October 2013, The One and Only Cilla Black, featuring Black herself and hosted by Paul O'Grady. In 2006, the British public ranked Black number 36 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars.
Black died on 1 August 2015 aged 72, after a fall in her holiday villa in Estepona, in Spain. The day after her funeral, the compilation album The Very Best of Cilla Black (2013) went to number one on the UK Albums Chart and the New Zealand Albums Chart; it was her first number one album. In 2017, a statue of Black commissioned by her sons was unveiled outside the Cavern Club's original entrance.
Next we pass Erics Club.
It opened on 1 October 1976 in the basement of The Fruit Exchange Building in Victoria Street, with performances by The Runaways and The Sex Pistols (their only Liverpool gig) before soon moving around the block to its long-term site on Mathew Street opposite The Cavern Club where The Beatles and other bands of the 1960s played, and became notable for hosting early performances by many punk and post-punk bands.
The club was started by Roger Eagle, who had promoted gigs at the Liverpool Stadium between 1970 and 1976 for acts such as T. Rex, Led Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, Captain Beefheart, David Bowie, The Kinks, and Lou Reed, and Ken Testi, manager of the Liverpool band Deaf School. Pete Fulwell, owner of the small record label "Inevitable" and later manager of Liverpool bands It's Immaterial and The Christians, joined them later. The club was given the name 'Eric's' by Ken Testi as an antidote to disco clubs with names such as 'Tiffany's' and 'Samantha's'.
The club played host to many local, national and international bands primarily within the music sub-cultures of the time, such as Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, The Clash, Joy Division, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cardiacs, The Slits, Talking Heads, The Stranglers, Ultravox, Wire, XTC, X-Ray Spex and early gigs by New Order and Mick Hucknall (pre Simply Red).
The club acted as a catalyst for local musicians (often also from the Runcorn, Southport, Skelmersdale, Wirral areas) and saw many local artists later become successful acts, including Dead or Alive, Echo & the Bunnymen, Julian Cope, The Teardrop Explodes, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Ellery Bop and Wah! Heat.
Next we reach the world Famous Cavern Club, we aren't going in today as we will visit after tomorrows Beatles tour.
The Cavern Club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The club became closely associated with Merseybeat and regularly played host to the Beatles in their early years.
The Cavern Club closed in 1973 and was filled in during construction work on the Merseyrail underground rail loop. It reopened in 1984. It was temporarily closed again from 1989 to 1991, and has been open ever since.
Also on Mathew Street is another Beatles themed bar called SGT Peppers.
The plaque above marks the first Mississippi Blues Trail marker placed outside of the US. It commemorates the profound influence American Blues artists from Mississippi had on British rock music in the 1960s.
We pop into the Cavern Pub opposite the Cavern Club and have a pint of Cavern Club Lager made by Love Lane Brewery.
The walls are adorned with music memorabilia.
The Wall of Fame Bar had a live singer playing Oasis as we passed and was full of one of the many hen Parties we saw in the city today.
Outside on the Wall of Fame is well, a wall of fame!
Each brick (1,801 of them) represents an artist or band who has have played at the original Cavern Club between 1957 and 1973. It was commissioned for the 40th anniversary of the Cavern Club in January 1997. Many many big names, so many to read them all!
Next to the Wall of Fame is a statue of John Lennon.
The John Lennon Statue leaning against the Cavern Wall of Fame is a beloved landmark on Mathew Street in Liverpool. Unveiled in 1997, the bronze sculpture by David Webster shows a casual Lennon and sits directly opposite the iconic Cavern Club.
The 30ft mural above on Mathew Street is the work of Shannon MacDonald from New York, widely recognised as the worlds Greatest Beatles Artist. The mural serves to bridge and visually celebrate the deep musical connection between Memphis, Tennessee and Liverpool.
More bricks from the Wall of Fame!
The Splash Tours Liverpool amphibious vehicle riding the streets of Liverpool.
We browse in the music Memorabilia shop on the corner of Mathew Street.
We walk on exploring the city.
Located on Berry Street is the St Luke's Church known as the bombed out church.
St Luke's Church, more commonly known by locals as the bombed-out church, is a former Anglican parish church in Liverpool, England. It stands on the corner of Berry Street and Leece Street, at the top of Bold Street.
The church was built between 1811 and 1832, and was designed by John Foster, Sr. and John Foster, Jr., father and son who were successive surveyors for the municipal Corporation of Liverpool. In addition to being a parish church, it was also intended to be used as a venue for ceremonial worship by the corporation and as a concert hall.
The church was badly damaged by bombs during the Liverpool Blitz in 1941 and has been a roofless shell ever since, giving rise to its nickname. It now stands as a memorial to those who died in the war, and has also been hired as a venue for exhibitions and events. The church and its surrounding walls, gates, and railings are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade II* listed buildings.
There is also a Christmas truce sculpture (2014), known as "All Together Now" by Andy Edwards in the garden of the church, depicting a British and German soldier commencing a football game at Christmas 1914.
We start to make our way back to the hotel and pass the Chinatown part of the city.
The area is also notable for its Chinese-style architecture; with the paifang on Nelson Street being the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside China.
After out late afternoon nap we head back out into the city for dinner.
We pass Jacaranda Records.
Jacaranda Records is a Liverpool-based independent record store and live music venue operator founded in 2015 by Graham Stanley.
Headquartered at the historic Jacaranda Club on Slater Street, the 1958 venue associated with launching The Beatles on their early careers, the company currently operates across two locations including The Jacaranda in the Liverpool city centre and Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle.
Originally established during the 2010s vinyl revival, the company is known for its hybrid operation of live music and music retail across both its venues, as well as its former enterprises in spatial audio technology as part of a record label of the same name. Jacaranda Records has also been involved in several grassroots initiatives with local Liverpool businesses and educational institutions, seeking to forge a link between Liverpool's music heritage and the city's emerging talent.
We stop at the Wetherspoons called The Lime Kiln for dinner. Very busy in here as Spoons usually are but extra loud due to all the Hen Parties!
We head back down Mathew Street as shown above, all the bars are heaving with youngsters. It looked far too busy for us old ones!
So we decide to head to the Beatles themed bar near the hotel.
We pass through the Liverpool ONE Shopping Centre.
Here is the 'Turn that frown upside down' house.
The attraction—where visitors walk on the ceiling and interact with quirky, gravity-defying optical illusions.
We walk on pass the Bus terminal and down Jamaica Street passing the mural of The Beatles by local artist Paul Curtis.
We reach the Yellow Sub Bar, but sadly its been hired out for a private event!
A unique bar like no other, The Yellow Sub was originally used as a prop in the Sean Connery film Hunt For Red October, before the bar owners bought it from Paramount Studios. The sub has had many homes and was also used as a floating hotel in The Albert Dock for many years!
This infamous watercraft has since been pulled out of the water and turned it into a magical 60’s retro bar. With a unique decor, including a graffiti wall, Beatles memorabilia, a disco ball, MINI car features on the bar and a Cavern inspired stage. All you social media kings and queen will surely find that perfect picture for the “gram” in this boudoir of swinging sixties paraphernalia.
From the creators of Black Pearl Bar and Hippie Chic, The Yellow Sub is a refreshing add to Stanhope Street, Cain’s Brewery. Located right in front of the three-tier tipi tent, there is also a magical mystery tunnel leading you between The Yellow Sub and Hippie Chic to transport you through the different eras of music.
So we walked back and tried to enter a brewery for a drink, was told as we had a bag of food we had just bought from Asda, we had to leave it outside! No F off was our attitude and we retired back to the hotel for the night!
Day Two- Sunday the 17th of May 26
We woke up Sunday morning and after having our reduced Almond Croissants( two for 10p bargain 😁) we bought last night for breakfast we headed back to Albert Dock.
Here on Albert Docks are fast food vendor using vintage vehicles. Above is a Thornycroft Steam powered double decker omnibus dating back to 1902.
The above is iconic red Nostaljik Tram from Istanbul, Turkey.
We are having another quick look about Albert Dock as we are too early for out 1030am Beatles Tour.
A contrast of old and new. The old of the Liver Building and the new of the Museum of Liverpool.
Billy Fury pointing the way to the Pierhead.
We walk back and start to queue early for the Magical Mystery Tour.
We get chatting to a couple from Norway here for the tour.
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| Museum of Liverpool and the Liver Building |
Finally its time for our Magical mystery Tour!
We pass Powis Street pictured above that doubled as Watery Lane in the Peaky Blinders, acting as the iconic Shelby family home and headquarters.
Above is a mural of Ringo Starr painted on the side of the former Empress Pub on High Park Street, near Admiral Grove, childhood home of Ringo.
Above is Ringo Starr's birthplace at 9 Madryn Street.
The artwork covers the entire wall of the former Empress pub in Toxteth, which Starr paid tribute to on the cover of his first solo album in 1970.
Beatles fans regularly visit the pub despite it closing down many years ago.
The piece was painted by Liverpool artist John Culshaw, who is known for football-themed murals across the city.
Above is Ringo Starr's childhood home in 10 Admiral Grove (Purple house). He lived in this modest, Victorian terraced house for 20 years before finding global fame with the band.
Driving on we reach Penny Lane, how cool is it to see in person!
Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say, "Hello"
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar
And little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a Mac in the pouring rain
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Wet beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit and meanwhile back in
Penny Lane, there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen
He likes to keep his fire engine clean
It's a clean machine
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
A four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
And then the fireman rushes in from the pouring rain
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
Penny Lane
Located in the Mossley Hill suburb of south Liverpool, Penny Lane is a famous street immortalized by The Beatles' 1967 hit song. Today, it functions as a vibrant, primarily residential area featuring independent businesses, cafes, and historic landmarks that draw visitors from around the world.
As we drove down Penny Lane with the music playing, I became quite emotional and could feel my eyes welling up. This isn't usually like me, but music means so much to me and I've wanted to come for so long!
After the city's expansion, it was the location for a significant tram and bus terminus for several routes, and buses with "Penny Lane" displayed were common throughout Liverpool. The name is also used for the area that surrounds its junction with Smithdown Road, Smithdown Place (where the terminus was located), and Allerton Road, the last of which includes a busy shopping area. It was the terminus for the number 46 and 99 bus routes to Walton, Old Swan and the city centre. At the other end from its junction on Smithdown Road, the street leads down to the University of Liverpool's student halls of residence near Sefton Park.
The street and bus depot became a place of international interest as a result of the Beatles' song "Penny Lane", which was released in February 1967 and was a No. 1 hit around the world. The fireman and fire engine mentioned in the lyrics are the fire station at Mather Avenue, which is close to Penny Lane. The terminus at Penny Lane included a purpose-built bus shelter, with a waiting room and toilets.
The Dovedale Towers pub on Penny Lane, Liverpool, UK, above which singer Freddie Mercury has lived at some point in the year 1969.
Formerly a church hall and now a popular local pub (affectionately known as "The Dovey"), this building on Penny Lane is where John Lennon and Paul McCartney performed several times with their early skiffle band, The Quarrymen, in 1957.
Above is St Barnabas Church where Paul McCartney sang in the choir as a small boy.
Towards the end of the 1970s, businesses in Penny Lane included Penny Lane Records and a wine bar known as Harper's Bizarre, now called Penny Lane Wine Bar. The latter was formerly a doctors' surgery operated by doctors Walton, Endbinder, and Partners, which moved to Smithdown Place in the 1980s. Following the privatisation of UK buses, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive bus depot was demolished and replaced with a shopping precinct, supermarket, and pub. In the 1980s, the bus shelter was bought privately and converted to Sgt. Pepper's Bistro. It subsequently closed and remained out of commission until 2015, when it underwent refurbishment with the aim of reopening as a restaurant, although it remains unopened as of March 2023.
Statue of John Lennon outside the St Barnabas Church.
The famous barber shop mentioned in the song on Penny Lane.
Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say, "Hello"
Above is no 9 Newcastle Road .
The first home of John Lennon, The Beatles' singer, songwriter and guitarist, and one of the 20th century most respected musical figures, is found in the eastern suburb of Wavertree. 9 Newcastle Road, a red brick terraced house, is located just a fifteen minute walk from George Harrison’s childhood home on Arnold Grove. Lennon was not born at the house, but at the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, in October 1940. He lived here only as a very young child; his parents, Alfred and Julia Lennon, moved to another home in the city in 1942.
John Lennon, the first and only child of his parents, suffered a difficult upbringing from his very first days at 9 Newcastle Road. His father was a merchant seaman, frequently away from home, and his mother Julia struggled to cope when he was absent, cutting the supply of pay cheques to the family home. Lennon’s aunt, Mimi Smith, ultimately raised concerns with the local Social Services department and, eventually, Lennon went to live with her and his uncle at the Mendips, a semi-detached suburban house he saw as his permanent childhood home. Lennon praised the role of his aunt and mother in his upbringing, and many consider his troubled mother to be one of the greatest influences
The next stop is Arnold Grove.
12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool, is the birthplace and childhood home of The Beatles' lead guitarist, George Harrison. He was born there on February 25, 1943, and lived in the small, two-up, two-down Victorian terrace house until he was about seven years old.
Next stop is the famous Strawberry Field.
Strawberry Fields Forever" is a nostalgic and psychedelic masterpiece written by John Lennon while filming How I Won the War in Spain in 1966. It is a dreamy, autobiographical reflection on his childhood, contrasting his innocent youth with the complexities and alienation of his adult fame.
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone
But it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
No one I think is in my tree
I mean, it must be high or low
That is, you can't, you know, tune in
But it's alright
That is, I think it's not too bad
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Always, no sometimes, think it's me
But you know I know when it's a dream
I think I know I mean a yes
But it's all wrong
That is I think I disagree
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
The lyrics were directly inspired by John Lennon's aunt and legal guardian, Mimi Smith. Whenever young John would slip away to trespass and play in the overgrown gardens of the Strawberry Field children's home in Liverpool, his aunt would scold him by warning, "They'll hang you for it!"
Defiant and imaginative, a young John would shoot back: "They can't hang you for it!" Decades later, he immortalized this rebellious childhood retort in the song's famous chorus.
The song takes its name from Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army children’s home located just around the corner from Lennon’s childhood home in Woolton, Liverpool.
Located in the Woolton suburb of Liverpool, it was named Mendips after the Mendip Hills. The Grade II listed building is preserved by the National Trust.
The 1933-built semi-detached property, which belonged to John Lennon's aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith, is in Woolton, south Liverpool. Lennon moved there in July 1946 at the age of five from 9 Newcastle Road in the nearby suburb of Wavertree. He lived at Mendips after his mother, who was living with her boyfriend, was persuaded that it would be better for his Aunt Mimi and George to take care of him. He remained at Mendips until mid-1963, when he was 22 years old. It was approximately 30 metres north west of this house that Lennon's mother Julia was hit by a car and killed on the evening of 15 July 1958.
In 1965 Mimi sold the property, taking away some of the furnishings and giving away others.
Despite having purchased 20 Forthlin Road, the childhood residence of Paul McCartney, the National Trust showed no interest in acquiring Mendips, claiming that, unlike McCartney's home, no Beatles songs had been composed there. However, McCartney recalls at least one song, "I'll Get You", being written there. "Please Please Me" was also written there.
During the filming of the American TV film In His Life: The John Lennon Story in 2000, the then-owner of the house allowed the film crew inside, and also allowed them to knock down a downstairs wall to make room for the cameras. This resulted in 150 bricks being removed, which were later sold to Beatles fans.
On 7 December 2000, the day before the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death, 251 Menlove Avenue was adorned with an English Heritage blue plaque, carrying the text "JOHN LENNON 1940–1980 Musician and Songwriter lived here 1945–1963".
Lennon's widow Yoko Ono bought the house in March 2002, and donated it to the National Trust in order to save it from further demolition and property speculators. The house was then restored to its 1950s appearance. At a joint press conference with the National Trust in March 2003, when it was announced that the restoration work was finished and the house would be opened to the public, Yoko Ono said: "When John's house came up for sale I wanted to preserve it for the people of Liverpool and John Lennon and Beatles fans all over the world."
Every year on the anniversary of his death, the National Trust leave the bedroom light on in John Lennon's childhood home, all night.
The next stop was Paul McCartneys childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road.
It is the house in which Paul McCartney lived for several years before he rose to fame with the Beatles, and it is labelled by the National Trust as "the birthplace of the Beatles". It was also the home of his brother Mike and the birthplace of the comedy, poetry and music trio the Scaffold, of which Mike was a member.
The house was built in 1949 and owned by the local authority, and the McCartney family moved into it in 1955, when Paul was at secondary school.
In 1965, Paul bought his father Jim a house in Heswall, a wealthy part of the Wirral.
The house has been owned by the National Trust since 1995. The Trust markets the house as "the birthplace of the Beatles", since this is the place where the Beatles composed and rehearsed their earliest songs.
Unlike Mendips, the childhood home of John Lennon, which was commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque on 7 December 2000, the day before the 20th anniversary of his death, 20 Forthlin Road has not received a blue plaque. Under English Heritage criteria, individuals must have been deceased for at least 20 years or have reached the centenary of their birth before a plaque is awarded.
The home was featured in an edition of Carpool Karaoke, which aired on 22 June 2018, episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden. Corden visited there with Paul McCartney, who said it was his first visit to the home since he moved away in his late teens.
Back on the coach we heading back into the city and pass Liverpool Cathedral enroute.
The Beatles and Liverpool Cathedral share a few interesting connections. Famously, Paul McCartney auditioned for the Cathedral choir at age 11 but was rejected. Later, in 1991, McCartney returned to the iconic Anglican landmark to compose and premiere his classical piece, The Liverpool Oratorio and invited the priest back that rejected him to show no hard feelings.
We pass St Georges Hall.
The Grade I listed St George’s Hall sits within the heart of Liverpool in more ways than one; it is a place of congregation and celebration, offering a central location and a true sense of the city amidst incomparable surroundings.
Situated opposite Lime Street Station as part of St George’s Quarter, you’ll find one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in the world.
This magnificent structure stands at 169ft long and 74ft wide with a tunnel vaulted ceiling – the largest of its kind in the whole of Europe. Established in 1854 as a grand hub for music festivals and the Civil and Crown courts, St George’s Hall has been at the very epicentre of Liverpool life ever since.
After a £23m refurbishment, HRH Prince Charles befittingly reopened its doors on St George’s Day in 2007. In the years since, St George’s Hall has returned to its former glory as an unrivalled spot for world-class events, having hosted breath-taking spectacles from a live rooftop gig by Ringo Starr to the sleeping giants of Royal de Luxe and so much more.
In fact, the Hall hosts a great variety of free and paid public events and exhibitions all year round; from a range of fascinating, in-depth guided tours to mainstream music and comedy gigs. You may even be greeted by the cheers of wedding guests or the sight of corporate delegates on your visit, such is the multi-faceted magnitude of events that St George’s Hall entertains.
St George’s Hall is even a popular location for filming, having appeared in world class productions such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Peaky Blinders.
The Beatles and St George's Hall are closely tied in Liverpool history, most notably during the tragic death of John Lennon in 1980, when a spontaneous vigil brought over 30,000 mourners to the hall's steps. Additionally, drummer Ringo Starr performed on the roof of St George's Hall in 2008 for the European Capital of Culture celebrations.
We get off the coach at the end of a fantastic tour and superb guides and pass the Hard Days Night Hotel.
The World’s Only Beatles-Themed Hotel in Liverpool City Centre
Step into the story of the Beatles at Hard Days Night Hotel Liverpool — a luxury 4-star stay in the heart of the city. Located in Liverpool’s famous Beatles Quarter, this iconic hotel sits just steps from the legendary Cavern Club, where the band’s journey began.
We head back into Mathew Street to visit the Cavern Club, entrance included in the tour costs.
We stop to look at the Liverpool's Hall of Fame, so much talent has come from Liverpool!
The Liverpool Wall of Fame, located on Mathew Street outside the Cavern Club, features dozens of circular bronze discs commemorating every Liverpool musical act that has reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Modelled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the monument was unveiled in 2001 and is heavily dominated by The Beatles.
There are over 50 individual discs celebrating chart-topping singles from local legends such as The Beatles, Cilla Black, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
After many years of waiting I'm finally getting to visit the Cavern Club and listen to live music there!
Alan Sytner, having been inspired by the jazz district in Paris where there were a number of clubs in cellars, returned to Liverpool and strove to open a club similar to the Le Caveau de la Huchette jazz club. He eventually found a fruit warehouse where people were leasing the cellar, which had been used as an air raid shelter in World War II. Tropical fruit used to be stored there and during warm months the scent from the ripening fruit was absorbed into the sandstone brickwork. When the club was packed with dancing and smoking teenagers, the heat produced resulted in the bricks sweating and the sweet fruit odour was absorbed into their clothing. After leaving, fans at bus stops could be identified as having visited the club by the pleasant 'Cavern Perfume' on their clothes.
The club opened on 16 January 1957 and the first act to perform there was the Merseysippi Jazz Band. Local commercial artist Tony Booth created the poster artwork for the opening night. He later became the original poster artist for the Beatles.
Picture of Cilla Black who worked here before later performing here.
What started as a jazz club eventually became a hangout for skiffle groups. Whilst playing golf with Sytner's father, Dr. Joseph Sytner, Nigel Walley – who had left school at 15 to become an apprentice golf professional at the Lee Park Golf Club – asked Dr. Sytner if his son could book the Quarrymen at The Cavern, which was one of three jazz clubs he managed. Dr. Sytner suggested that the band should play at the golf club first, so as to assess their talent. Sytner phoned Walley a week later and offered the band an interlude spot playing skiffle between the performances of two jazz bands on Wednesday, 7 August 1957.
Before the performance, the Quarrymen argued amongst themselves about the set list, as rock 'n roll songs were definitely not allowed at the club but skiffle was tolerated. After opening with a skiffle song, John Lennon called for the others to start playing an Elvis Presley song, "Don't Be Cruel". Rod Davis warned Lennon that the audience would "eat you alive", but Lennon ignored this and started playing the song himself, forcing the others to join in. Halfway through, Sytner pushed his way through the audience and handed Lennon a note which read, "Cut out the bloody rock 'n roll". Paul McCartney's first appearance at The Cavern was with the Quarrymen on 24 January 1958. George Harrison first played at the Cavern during a lunchtime session on 9 February 1961.
Sytner sold the Cavern Club to Ray McFall in 1959 and moved to London. Blues bands and beat groups began to appear at the club on a regular basis in the early 1960s. The first Beat Night was held on 25 May 1960 and featured a performance by Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (which included Ringo Starr as drummer). By early 1961, Bob Wooler had become the full-time compère and organiser of the lunchtime sessions.
The club hosted its first performance by the Beatles on Thursday, 9 February 1961. Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager who secured the group's first recording contract, first saw the group perform at the club on 9 November 1961. Inspired by the group, Epstein made moves to take over their management.
The Beatles made their first appearance at the club on 9 February 1961 after returning to Liverpool from Hamburg, Germany, where they had been playing at the Indra and the Kaiserkeller clubs. Their stage show had been through a lot of changes, with some in the audience thinking they were watching a German band, as they were billed from Hamburg. From 1961 to 1963, the Beatles made 292 appearances at the club, with their last occurring on 3 August 1963, a month after the band recorded "She Loves You" and just six months before the Beatles' first trip to the U.S. By this time "Beatlemania" was sprouting across England, and with girls demanding to see the Beatles and screaming just to get a glimpse of them, the group had to hide or sneak into concerts, and the small club could no longer satisfy audience demand. After the Beatles' farewell gig on 3 August 1963, Bob Wooler gave their future dates to the Mastersounds, a local R&B band, led by Mal Jefferson. The Beatles had graduated from the club and had been signed to EMI's Parlophone label by producer George Martin. The amount of musical activity in Liverpool and Manchester caused record producers who had previously never ventured very far from London to start looking to the north.
In 1963, young local band the Hideaways were signed up to the newly founded Cavern Club agency and became the resident group, often stepping in for last-minute artist cancellations; they also became the first pop group to appear on a nationwide television commercial for Timex Watch Company filmed by the Rank Organisation at the Cavern Club. The band also performed at the Cavern the night prior to the club's closure, making them the last group to perform on stage along with disc jockey Billy Butler and doorman Paddy Delaney, who—with fans—barricaded themselves into the club prior to the authorities' arrival the next morning to gain access. The Hideaways were also proactive along with local MP Bessie Braddock to reopen the Cavern; as a result they were the first group back on stage when the club re-opened on 23 July 1966 with local MP Bessie Braddock and then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The Hideaways also hold the official record of over 400 Cavern Club appearances at both old and new venues and are now recognised and named on the wall of fame.
In the decade that followed, a wide variety of popular acts appeared at the club, including the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Hollies, the Kinks, Elton John, Black Sabbath, Queen, the Who and John Lee Hooker.
The song "I Know a Place", a hit for Petula Clark in 1965, twice refers to the club as "a cellar full of noise".
Brian Epstein's 1964 autobiography was entitled A Cellarful of Noise.
Future singing star Cilla Black worked as the hat-check girl there.
One of the last groups to play at the club was Focus, with Jan Akkerman, Thijs van Leer, Pierre van der Linden and Bert Ruiter. The club closed on 28 May 1973 after British Rail made a compulsory purchase of the warehouses, the basement of which housed the Cavern Club, in order to build a ventilation shaft for the new Merseyrail underground railway. That was never built, however, and the area was turned into a car park.
Soon after the Cavern club closed in 1973, a new Cavern club opened at 7 Mathew Street, later renamed the Revolution Club. This club would later shut down and be reopened as Eric's, which itself became a notable local music venue in the late 1970s.
On 7 December 1981 plans were revealed to excavate the buried remains of the Cavern Club cellar. It would form part of a £7 million redevelopment project of the former warehouse site of 8–12 Mathew Street which had housed the Cavern Club up until its closure in 1973. However, on 23 June 1982, it was announced by the project architect, David Backhouse, that the plans to excavate and re-open the Cavern Club in its original form would be impossible for structural reasons. Tests had revealed that the arches of the old cellar had been too badly damaged during the demolition of the ground floor of the Cavern Club and the warehouses above.
5,000 bricks from the damaged archways of the original cellar area of the Cavern Club went on sale at £5 each, complete with an authentication plate signed by former Cavern Club owner Ray McFall. Proceeds from the sale of the 5,000 bricks went to Strawberry Field Children's home.
Before the Cavern Club's opening ceremony, over 100 musicians from the 1960s Mersey Beat era were invited to sign the wall at the back of the Cavern's stage, a tradition which began in the early days of the Jazz bands in the 1950s and continued through the 1960s and 1970s. A further 15,000 bricks from the Cavern site were used on the authentic reconstruction of the Cavern Club within the redevelopment.
The Cavern Club now sits at a 90-degree angle to the original and covers 70% of the original Cavern footprint, the stage is not far from the original location, and the 'Live Lounge' is an exact replica of the original, using as many of the old bricks as possible.
The fire exit, next to the Cilla Black statue, is the location of the original entrance.
The club was taken over by former Liverpool Football Club player Tommy Smith. The new design was to resemble the original as closely as possible. This coincided with a period of massive economic and political change in and around Liverpool and the club survived only until December 1989, when, following a serious assault on a customer which led to jail sentences for the owners, the Cavern Club lost its licence and was closed by the Licensing Authority. In 1991, two friends—schoolteacher Bill Heckle and taxi driver Dave Jones—reopened it, along with George Guinness on 11 July 1991. They still run the club today and are now the longest-running owners in its history. The club continues to function primarily as a live music venue. The music policy varies from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s classic pop music to indie, rock and modern chart music.
On 14 December 1999, former Beatle Paul McCartney played the New Cavern Club, publicising his new album, Run Devil Run. It has about 40 live bands performing every week; both tribute and original bands, although most perform their own material. The back room of the Cavern is the most frequently used location for touring acts and ticketed events, in more recent times playing host to the Wanted, Adele and Jessie J. The Cavern is also used as a tour warm-up venue with semi-secret gigs announced at the last moment. The Arctic Monkeys did this in October 2005, Jake Bugg in November 2013, as well as Travis and Oasis.
The front room is the main tourist attraction, where people come to have their photograph taken on the stage, with the names of the bands who played there written on the back wall. This room hosts live music from noon to midnight Monday to Thursday, and noon to close on Fridays and weekend. Between November 2005 and September 2007, the front room played host to the Cavern Showcase, an organisation and event started by 1960s star Kingsize Taylor, his wife Marga, and best friend Wes Paul. The night took place every Sunday and featured original 1960s bands such as the Mojos and the Undertakers.
In November 2008, a campaign to have Gary Glitter's brick removed from the wall of fame was successful. A brass plaque near where it was located notes that the bricks of two former Cavern Club performers—Glitter and Jonathan King—have been removed.
In June 2018, McCartney returned to the Cavern Club. During a Facebook Live Q&A session in the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), he hinted that he would perform a secret gig the following day. McCartney was expected to play only a 45-minute set, but performed for two hours. He opened the show saying "Liverpool! Cavern! These are words that go together well!" and then played a mixed set featuring songs from his upcoming album, Egypt Station.
We leave the Cavern after a few hours watching and drinking in an emotional experience.
We have a drink in Rubber Soul to watch the West Ham game, its not a sports bar and the live music continued to play so we headed off to a sports bar to watch the game.
We Pass SGT Peppers bar.
We then passed The Grapes that has a Beatles act on.
We watched the West Ham game in the Legends Sports Bar, at 3 nil down we left early and went to get food at KFC after much drinking. We then headed back to the hotel for the night.
Well that's it, we're driving home tomorrow , such a great and emotional weekend. I'd be happy to return one day!
