Welcome to Beatlepool
In effect, The Beatles are the benchmark for pop music. They are a veritable icon, essential to any understanding of 20th-century culture. But, we won’t labour the point, as all the details can be found in Wikipedia and music history books. What we are going to reveal in this post, however, is a list of the places associated with the history of the group’s members during their Liverpool years or where they drew inspiration for some of their songs. The quartet made up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are still a magnet for the new generations and in Liverpool the story repeats itself ad infinitum.
The 10 “Beatles Points”
1. The Beatles Story
A good way of immersing yourself in the Beatlesque universe is to visit The Beatles Story Museum, in the Albert Docks industrial buildings. We went there and were stunned by all the memorabilia we came across relating to the Fab Four. The museum even hosts workshops for children. It is also the starting point for The Magical Mystery Tour, a two-hour bus tour around places associated with the group.
2. The Cavern
Rebuilt brick by brick after its demolition in 1973 is the famous basement on Mathew Street known as The Cavern. It was here that they played for the first time and where they were discovered by the music manager, Brian Epstein. This venue is a must-visit, whether you’re a fan of The Beatles or not. We urge you to go on a Thursday when countless Beatles imitation bands play. Mathew Street is currently abuzz with pubs and clubs where you can listen to live music, notably The Grapes, the pub where they used to meet before their performances.
3. Penny Lane
Lennon and McCartney lived very near this alley in the suburbs and they would walk down Penny Lane daily on their way to school. The barber shop, fish & chips shop and bank that feature in the song are still there. Some years ago, there was a move to change the name of the street, as Penny Lane was a character who had made his money from slavery. However, in the end, the power of Beatlesque support led the proponents to abandon their initiative.
4. Strawberry Fields
Strawberry Fields was one of the most groundbreaking singles in the Beatles’ career. The song is dedicated to the Strawberry Field orphanage which the Salvation Army ran in Beaconsfield Road, near Lennon’s home in Menlove Avenue. Only the metal gate and the gardens they used to play in still survive. The brick walls surrounding the gardens are painted with graffiti in memory of John.
5. St. Peter’s Parish Church
The Quarrymen was John Lennon’s first band and they used to rehearse in St. Peter’s Parish Church, in the Woolton district. It was there that in 1957 Lennon and McCartney first met. The church graveyard has a headstone with an inscription mentioning Eleanor Rigby, the protagonist of one of the Beatles’ songs. John lived very near there, in an avenue lined with semi-detached houses.
6. Oxford Street Maternity Hospital
Still standing here is the building which once housed the maternity hospital where John Lennon was born on 9 October 1940. He is said to have been born in the middle of an air raid during the Second World War. His mother was attended by his aunt, Mimi, who was appointed John’s guardian.
7. Liverpool College of Art
In 1957, Lennon took up studies at the Liverpool College of Art on Hope Street where he met Stu Sutcliffe, who became one of the Beatles soon afterwards. Some years later in Hamburg he left the group to pursue his career as a painter and lived with the German photographer, Astrid Kirchherr. Stuart died in 1962. Paul and George studied at the neighbouring Liverpool Institute.
8. Jacaranda
The walls of this pub on Slater Street are decorated with paintings by Lennon and Sutcliffe. Its owner at the time, Allan Williams, offered them the opportunity to travel to Hamburg and play on a daily basis in the Kaiserkeller Club. This was the period of the Beat Brothers, with Pete Best, who became The Beatles’ original drummer, to be subsequently replaced by Ringo Starr.
9. The Casbah Club
This venue is where it all started. Before their success at The Cavern with The Beatles, John Lennon had performed live at the Casbah with his first group, The Quarrymen, in 1959. This club, located some 6 kilometres from downtown Liverpool, was originally a cellar owned by Mona Best, the mother of Pete Best. This was also where Ringo Starr’s first band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, played. The Beatles were the last group to set foot on its stage, in 1962.
10. Quarry Bank Grammar School
John Lennon first entered this school on Harthill Road at the age of seven. Here, together with his childhood friend, Pete Shotton, he founded The Quarrymen, a group grounded in the teddy boy look which played rock’n’roll, the music that had stirred up a revolution among youths across the globe.
No one questions the fact that The Beatles were one of the greatest bands in the history of rock, and their association with Liverpool is irrefutable. Don’t wait to give yourself over to Beatlemania – check out our flights to Liverpool here.
Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS
Images by The Beatles Story, The Cavern, Wikipedia Commons
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A Thousand and One Asturias
The allure of Asturias ranges from high mountains to beaches on the best preserved coastline in all Spain, and cutting-edge artwork alongside traditional craft and Palaeolithic art listed as World Heritage. All crammed into a territory accounting for just 2% of Spain’s land area. But, we have to give you some specific pointers, so here goes…
For those planning for family holidays, make sure you head for the Dinosaur Coast, especially now that they are in limelight on the silver screen. In Asturias you can see and touch actual footprints of fossilised dinosaurs in the rock at La Griega beach, under the Tereñes cliffs, on a really incredible stretch of Asturian coastline by any account. To crown your dinosaur tour, you should visit the Jurassic Museum of Asturias, a building sited in a privileged spot featuring exhibits as meticulously presented as they are playful. The museum offers a host of activities and children’s workshops.
For couples looking to get away from it all, Asturias boasts places where time stands still, including Taramundi and Oscos-Eo, where traditional craftworkers are still highly active and you can even try your hand at some trade. Care to be a ferreiro (blacksmith) for a day? Here you will find villages that take you back to bygone eras, such as Os Teixois and Mazonovo, which boast hydraulic devices that convert water power into energy using a system of mills, forges and fulling mills. Moreover, you can’t fail to switch off in any of our six UNESCO-listed Biosphere Reserves, or on the tranquil beaches, with small, secluded coves far removed from overcrowding.
For die-hard urbanites seeking to articulate a city of 800,000 inhabitants through various towns, each with its own culture and outlook on life, situated less than a 20-minute drive from one another, you have cosmopolitan Gijón, monumental Oviedo, dynamic Avilés, mining Langreo and Mieres. This is the centre of Asturias which features a string of varied urban proposals set in a nature paradise, within minutes of listed biosphere reserves.
For the more adventurous, whether in groups, couples or families, Asturias offers a thousand and one options for active tourism, from canyoning down its rivers to paragliding, mountain biking, trekking, surfing, sailing, caving and gold-panning. All accompanied by the top professional guides to guarantee you get the most out of your experience.
For those hankering after authenticity, in summer Asturias bursts into hundreds of fiestas in praise of nature, local heritage and the joy of living of a people who on these occasions open up and become more gregarious than ever, inviting one to participate in ebullient festivities. Some festivals are devoted to local produce, such as the Natural Cider Festival in Navas; other events, to sport and nature, such as the International Descent of the River Sella, or the patron saint celebrations in the towns – San Agustín, in Avilés, Begoña in Gijón and San Mateo in Oviedo.
For treasure-hunters, Asturias boasts a peerless heritage, including Europe’s most homogeneous early-medieval architectural complex, embodied in its pre-Romanesque art, and cave paintings from the Upper Palaeolithic, both UNESCO-listed as World Heritage. But, treasure-hunters in the strict sense of the word should head to Navelgas (Tineo), where they can pan for (and find) gold nuggets in the river. In early August, the World Gold Panning Championship is due to be held here, attracting gold panners from all over the world.
For those looking for good food, Asturias is a veritable banquet, both in terms of quality and quantity. What’s more, you can delve into the secrets behind our local produce, such as the cheese maturation caves in the Picos de Europa, while admiring the incredibly sheer slopes dotted with vineyards that yield Cangas wine, and follow our cider-making process in traditional cider presses. In Asturias, you can enjoy our gastronomy with all five senses.
In addition, accommodation is in plentiful supply here, from hotels to rural tourism homes, campsites and apartments, while summer is not overbearing, with mild temperatures to ensure a salutary rest in the company of the inherently hospitable Asturian people. What more could you ask for?
How to go about discovering this all? Visit the turismoasturias website where all the resources Asturias has to offer are one click away. And, to get there, what better than a direct flight? Check out our flights here.
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