We had an early morning and had arranged with our hostess to be able to get into the breakfast room cabinets to take a couple to go items for the road. We then drove west to the port city of Liverpool for a day full of Beatles fun!
There is obviously much more to Liverpool than its Beatles connection (and I look forward to returning and exploring the city), but we planned our day around the Fab Four. The National Trust owns the childhood homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon and the only way to see the inside of these homes is to take the tour offered by the NT. So, Mom & I planned to be on the first tour of the day. About half of our fellow tourists were Americans, which made for fun conversations, but others were Brits who just wanted to see this bit of history in their backyard.
We were picked up at the Jurys Inn on the docks and shuttled over to 251 Menlove Avenue, known as “Mendips.” On our way to Mendips, the driver drove by and pointed out parts of the city that were important to Lennon & McCartney and their songs, including Penny Lane and St. Peter’s Church (where they first met). We were greeted at Mendips by our delightful host (he and his wife run the houses for the National Trust). We were given the opportunity to take pictures of the front of the house, but were told that the cameras had to be put away once we entered the home.
Our host gave us some background on how John had come to live with his aunt and uncle at Mendips and what life was like with Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. The home was immaculately kept and Aunt Mimi was not a fan of John’s love for this new music or his new friends “off the estate.” We even got to walk into John’s room, where he and Paul worked a bit on music (though most of their early stuff is believed to have been written at Paul’s house)!
We were then shuffled off into the van again, just as another group of tourists arrived, and were taken to 20 Forthlin Road, the McCartney family home. Our hostess, again, gave us the opportunity for photos before we stowed our cameras to visit inside. We were invited to have a seat in the front room and listen to a welcome message from Sir Paul before taking a tour of the home and back garden. It was such a lovely experience!
We were shuttled back to the Albert Dock and Mom & I walked over to our next Beatles stop: The Beatles Story. The story provided a walk through Beatles history, with narration from John’s sister, Julia, on the audioguide. There was a replica of the Cavern Club, and of the Abbey Road Studios, in addition to all sorts of other Beatles memorabilia and replicas. It was a great exhibition and well worth the time.
We stopped at Pizza Express for late lunch (and a delicious Eton Mess Cheesecake for dessert!) before heading up the Mersey to Manchester for the night. We could have gotten out and about in Manchester, but it had begun raining when we arrived at our hotel and we were both so tired, so we snacked on treats we’d collected along the way and got cozy for an early night in.
As I mentioned before, we couldn’t take pictures inside the homes, so our album is a bit thin for today. But there are some photos from the Beatles Story!
La Voce Vivace 