Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr’s childhood home, located in Admiral Cove, Liverpool, UK. The tiny property sold for 70,000 pounds at auction in March 2016.
Penny Lane, not only a street in Liverpool, but also a song written by the Beatles and released in February 1967, along with another single, Strawberry Fields Forever.
Tony Slavin barbershop, the famous Penny Lane barbershop featured in the Beatles hit single, “Penny Lane.” The barbershop now serves both men and women in the Liverpool area.
At 93 High Street, Wavertree, Liverpool, sits the town’s smallest house. The house was built in the 1850s in what was a very narrow passageway before construction took place.
The plaque on the home in Wavertree, just around the street from where George Harrison’s childhood home stands, states that the house was part of the Cock & Bottle public house. The Wavertree Society states that “No. 95 High Street was once known as the Smallest House in England.”
Located in Wavertree, a suburb of Liverpool, is former Beatle George Harrison’s birthplace and childhood home. The house is in a cul-de-sac, just around the corner from the smallest house in Liverpool.
Arnold Grove street is where Geogre Harrison’s childhood house is located. The cul-de-sac runs off of a small alleyway and is a private street in Wavertree.
Standing in the cemetery of St. Peter’s Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, where a lot of inspiration was drawn for many Beatles hit songs. McCartney would sit on the stone wall in the graveyard and look at all of the stones, ultimately using names off of them in his songs.
This is one of the famous stones at the St. Peter’s Parish Church cemetary. This stone is for the Rigby family, Ann, Alfred, John, and Isabella. This stone is one of multiple tombstones in this cemetary in memory of the Rigby family, with Eleanor Rigby’s name being the most noteable from the Beatles song, “Eleanor Rigby.”
This is another well-known tombstone in the St. Peter’s Parish Church cemetery where McCartney would often visit. It is rumored that along with using Eleanor Rigby’s name in the hit Beatles song, he also found inspiration from this tombstone just meters away from Rigby’s. Father McKenzie is featured in the song, “Eleanor Rigby.”
Standing tall above the St. Peter’s Parish Church cemetery is the church’s bell tower, reaching the highest point in the city of Woolton, Liverpool. The church was opened in 1887 and is one of the largest parish churches in Liverpool.
This is a plaque on the outside of St. Peter’s Parish Church Hall where John Lennon first met Paul McCartney. It was on July 6th, 1957 that the two met.
The St. Peter’s Parish Church Hall sits across the road from the church and cemetery that all have links to The Beatles. Lennon and McCartney met at the hall when Lennon was playing with his group, The Quarrymen.
Standing at the entrance to Strawberry Field, you will see the gate entrance covered with grafitti, both names of past visitors and song lyrics from the famous Beatles song, Strawbery Fields Forever. Although the site is currently under construction, you can still take a look through the strawberry red gates.
Fun fact about John Lennon’s childhood home, it can be found on the cover of Oasis’ single “Live Forever.” John Lennon’s home at 251 Menlove Avenue, named Mendips, was built in the 1930s. Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, purchased the house in March 2002 and donated it to the National Trust to preserve.
Paul McCartney’s childhood home is another property owned and preserved by the National Trust. 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton, Liverpool, is also known by the Trust as “the birthplace of the Beatles.”
The original Cavern Club opened on January 16, 1957, as a jazz club. The venue was known for frequently hosting the Beatles during their early days as a group. The Cavern Club closed and reopened at a new site, 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool, in 1984.
On May 12th, 2019 our group had the opportunity to go on a Beatles Tour throughout Liverpool and the surrounding suburbs, such as Allerton, Wavertree, and Woolton. Our tour guide started off our tour by having us first stop at former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr’s childhood home. We learned that through Ringo Starr’s life in his incredibly tiny home, he was sick for many years, even being in a coma. After getting a group photo in front of the house and peaking through the windows to see the empty living room, we hopped back onto our coach bus and continued driving through Liverpool. We drove down the famous Penny Lane, stopped at the famous barbershop, Tony Slavin’s, saw Liverpool’s smallest home, and many more famous Beatles landmarks in Liverpool.
One of my favorite places that we stopped at was St. Peter’s Parish Church, where it is said that McCartney got a lot of inspiration for some of the most famous Beatles songs. Hits such as “Eleanor Rigby,” featured names such as Father Mackenzie and Eleanor Rigby, whose names can be both found in the cemetery at St. Peter’s Parish Church. Our guide showed us exactly where Paul McCartney used to sit on the retaining wall and how he could see both Rigby’s stone and Mackenzie’s stone in perfect site. Although it has never been confirmed that McCartney used the names from when he was younger and saw the tombstones frequently, I can only believe that it is true.
When we stopped for a picture outside of the Penny Lane sign, I could only think of when the Carpool Karaoke video came out with James Corden and Paul McCartney. I had to rewatch the video the night before we came on this Beatles tour because I knew that we we would be seeing and exploring some of the same sites as where James Corden took Paul McCartney back when they filmed the video. It was so cool to watch Paul McCartney at the various landmarks that we were at ourselves, just a little chunk of time in between the two though. I remember from the Carpool Karaoke video that James Corden had Paul McCartney finally sign the “Penny Lane” road sign that thousands of people had signed before him, all because of the famous hit by the Beatles, “Penny Lane.”
We got to see the childhood homes of all of the Beatles members, as well as learn so much history about the houses and the surrounding areas. Our tour guide was very nice and knew so much information about the Beatles and Liverpool in general. Although we all were not able to spend Mother’s Day with our own families back in the United States, I think spending the day in Liverpool learning all about the Beatles and seeing where they grew up, where they got so much inspiration for songs, and where they spent a lot of their free time was the perfect way to spend our day in Liverpool, England.
