[Back from my Vermont Excursion, I have just about enough time to finish up the Iceland/Ireland/England Cruise over the next couple weeks. I made some fun images in Vermont and hope to make many more in the Great Smoky Mountain NP in just a couple weeks. They will be forthcoming – stay tuned]
Port of Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]GET BACK. Get back. Get back to where you once . . . umm, visited? 🙂 If, like me, you know little to nothing about Liverpool, England, you could be forgiven for thinking it is primarily and really only about TheBeatles. But that would be wrong. In early 2019, we stopped at Liverpool on our “British Isles” cruise. I blogged about the“other” features of Liverpool, here. It really is – as the British would say – a lovely city. There is not only some pretty impressive architecture (particularly some of the public and governmental buildings), but a vibrant downtown. And as the above-linked blog post notes, there is some pretty remarkable history there.
the only thing that is consistent in life is change
BUT AS I also noted in another, contemporaneous post, Liverpool – at least for tourists – is alsovery much about the Beatles. In 2019, we hired a “Fab Four Taxi Tour” and spent the entire morning seeing spots made famous by the band members and learning a little bit about their lives. Our 2019 guide/driver, Eddie, was the best. He really knew his Beatles’ history, and – of course – the city of Liverpool. So, we pretty much had to do a re-do, with our friends, Bruce and Joyce. Both of them are music fans, and even if it is not necessarily your favorite genre, how can anyone who has any affinity for popular music not want to immerse themselves in the place where modern popular music may well have been born.
The Fab Four website blurb says that “Eddie was born in Sefton General Hospital, where Julian Lennon was born. He’s one of our longest established guides and, since retirement from driving, now looks after driver guide training, custom tours and has also taken an active role in management. His favourite Beatles song is ‘Get Back’!”
AS WE came off the ship and into the cruise terminal building there in Liverpool, there was a bit of a surprise in store for us. Standing at the doorway, waiting to greet us was none other than our own Eddie! And (he said 🙂 ) he recognized me. Sadly, Eddie has had some health/vision issues which have made it so he cannot drive these days. But he remains in the company, an “office” staff person who coordinates and provides training to drivers, among other things. He was there to greet us at the port. Pretty cool. This time our driver was Gary. He was equally good, if different. That is probably a good thing, at least for us repeaters. I want to assure you that I did not appropriate my chosen title here from Eddie. In fact, I only found and learned about his blurb on the Fab Four Taxi site after I began writing this blog.
The Fab Four site has this to say about Gary: “Gary is a huge Beatles fan and passionate about all things music and Liverpool! He’s been working as a taxi driver for over 23 years! Gary is a keen amateur photographer . . . .” We had that in common and had some discussion about our photography during our day in Liverpool
ONE OF my oft-repeated phrases (or at least my own spin on it) is that the only thing that is consistent in life is change. Sometimes that change is for the better. Other times, we lament it. There was a little of both on this tour. But without a doubt, there was change. The Fab Four Black Taxi tour is one that we heartily recommend. We have done it twice now, with just the 4 of us in a relatively comfortable vehicle (for four). One of my favorite memories related to my personal favorite Beatle: Ringo Star. On both occasions, we saw Ringo’s boyhood home on Admiral Grove, which is quite iconic, with its pink trim. The other notable site there, was the family’s bar, The Empress. It was a traditional, red brick building, nicely trimmed in black. Sadly, it fell on difficult times during covid and was closed. Recently acquired and re-opened, it now serves as a bed and breakfast/small museum featuring things related to Ringo.
Ringo’s Family Pub – The Empress [Copyright Andy Richards 2019 All Rights Reserved]
Ringo’s Family Pub – The Empress [Copyright Andy Richards 2023]A VERY different look. Also, the side of the Empress now sports a rather huge mural of Ringo. I liked the classic look. And I always thought it would be great to have a beer in the pub (it was not open the day we were there in 2019).
Ringo Starr Mural Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]IN ALL probability, we will never look back from these changes. These tours all make the “circle” of the boyhood homes of the Beatles. On this trip, Gary suggested we skip George Harrison’s. We had seen it in 2019, and I was inclined to agree with his thinking. It was overgrown with foliage, not very identifiable, and not really memorable.
Ringo Starr Boyhood Home Admiral Grove; Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]WE DID make stops at the McCartney home (for those who are inclined, featured in James Corden’s famous carpool karaoke episode with Sir Paul, which I highly recommend watching – especially if you plan to go on this tour at some point). I made several photographs in 2019, so didn’t really see anything new on this visit. You can see my shots by clicking on the link above to the Beatles blog post in 2019. The 20 Forthlin Road McCartney residence is today owned and operated by The National Trust (a U.K. nonprofit organization devoted to preserving history and natural things in the U.K.)
John Lennon boyhood home Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]IN 2002, Yoko Ono purchased the residence (owned by John’s “Aunt Mimi”) that Lenon grew up in and donated it to The National Trust. So today, they maintain and operate both properties. The primary import of this for us is that if you want to see the insides of these places, you much make those arrangements through the Trust. The many commercial “tours” offered in Liverpool – including the Fab Four Taxi Tours – will not get you inside of either of them.
John Lennon boyhood home Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]LOCATED AT 251 Menlove Avenue, in the Woolton subdivision of Liverpool, when we visited in 2019, there was some kind of major media event going on and I wasn’t able to make any good shots of the Lenon home. I got a couple this trip.
Penny Lane Sign Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]THERE ARE several other spots that are pretty central to a Beatles tour. Many of their most famous songs – especially ones written by McCartney – are related to places and events that happened in their young lives. The famous song, Penny Lane, is a great example. What is kind of ironic is that the things he writes (and they sing) about in the song are not really on Penny Lane at all. Penny Lane is a very quiet residential street nearby. These days, it is maybe a little less quiet, only because of the famous street sign at the beginning of the road, which has been signed hundreds of times and contains a fair bit of graffiti. For perhaps obvious reasons, tourists today are not supposed to sign or write on it. But everyone stops to see it and make an obligatory selfie or group photo. We did too. One of the “fun” things about the sign is that in the karaoke episode linked above, Paul McCartney does “autograph” the sign. If you look closely, you can see his signature, from that day, not very long ago.
“The Meeting” Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]BUT THE other symbolistic items from the song are actually a few blocks away, on a rather busy intersection in Liverpool, with – of course – a roundabout. On the way to that intersection is the old fire station (the fireman with his hourglass), which is not photographically, notable and is now closed. At the roundabout itself though, is the spot where the old Tony Slavin’s Penny Lane Barbershop sits. More change. In 2019, it was still a working shop. Today, it is closed, though the sign and just a few of the interior items are still there. The shelter is now a Bistro in the middle of the roundabout. Fittingly, it is called Sgt. Pepper’s. Because I had done all of it before, I didn’t make any new photos of this spot. But you can see my earlier shots either at the linked post above – or perhaps better – I have aBeatles Galleryon my website.
Meeting Hall where Lennon and McCartney first met Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]WE VISITED the church where Eleanor Rigby’s gravestone is on both occasions. We spent a bit more time in the graveyard and church grounds in 2019. This time, though, we got to go inside the meeting hall where legend has it that Lennon and McCartney were introduced and met for the first time. That was kind of cool. In 2019 we only saw it from the outside.
Plaque commemorating Lennon and McCartney’s first meeting
Liverpool, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2023
All Rights Reserved]
ONE OF the “good” changes was at Strawberry Fields. Historians may recall that Strawberry Fields was a home for orphaned children – particularly disabled children. It has historically been owned and operated by The Salvation Army. In 1973 the old home was demolished, and 3 new children’s homes were built. The main entrance was moved from the old Strawberry Fields gate.
Strawberry Fields Gate Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]THE OLD gate became a Beatles Fan “mecca,” and the wrought iron gates (today they are replicas), were maintained with their traditional red paint. In 2005, the home was closed. Our visit in 2019 was in the Spring. At that time, we could only stand outside the gate and look in. But in September of that year, they opened the grounds to the public with a modern new welcome center, and a unique (only the Beatles) Band Shelter. Since then, it has been used as a public exhibit and as a training facility for young people with special needs. On this trip, we got a chance to spend some time walking around the grounds.
Strawberry Fields Bandstand Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]THE WEATHER was warm and pleasant, and it was a nice, quiet spot to walk around. I am not sure what the old children’s homes are used for today, but they made a nice backdrops for the well-tended flower beds.
Strawberry Fields Children’s Homes Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]OUR PLAN for the rest of the day had originally been to head into the downtown area close to the cruise port and do some “bar” hopping. On our 2019 trip we found a gin distillery and The Alchemist and checked them both out. But a really fun, cool think intercepted us. In the fall of 2019, we took a kind of unplanned Mediterranean Cruise on “The Italian Riveria.” Because of the quick timing, it was just the two of us, and we probably met more “new friends” than usual on this one. One of the couples who we spent some time on shore with, and more than a few onboard dinners, were a couple from Manchester, England: Rob and Carol. I didn’t really realize how close Manchester is to Liverpool (maybe about 1/2 drive). We have been friends on Facebook since. During this cruise, when I posted a comment about “cold-weather cruising,” Carol looked up our cruise and noted that we would be in Liverpool. She reached out to me to ask when, and they said “maybe they would meet us there for drinks.” While I didn’t really expect that to come to fruition, we kept in communication, and at the end of the Beatles tour, Gary was going to drop us off at this very old, medieval pub that he recommended. I left her a message that we would be there in about 30 minutes, and when we walked in, there they were: Rob and Carol. In person! It was really great to see them. We ended up at a restaurant, having fish & chips and catching up. And then maybe the coolest part. As we left the restaurant to grab an uber back to the ship, Carol mentioned that they might come down to the port to see the ship off. Again, I was skeptical. I figured once they got back to their car, they would decide to just head home. But as we were awaiting the sail-away on the back of the ship, I saw them walking down toward the pier. Had we not already known it was them, we could not have possibly recognized them from the distance. As it was, we saw each other, and waved goodbye. We have been cruising for 20 years now and have a lot of them under our belt. But we have never had anyone come to the port and see us off! I think we will be seeing them again in the not-too-distant future, as we have both committed to reach out if we are again in England!
Drilling Rig and Wind Turbine Farm – Atlantic Ocean – Liverpool, England [Copyright Andy Richards 2023 All Rights Reserved]AS WE sailed out of Liverpool, and turned again south, headed for our final port of call: Dover, we passed what I believe is the largest sea windfarm in the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t think I have ever seen so many wind turbines in one spot before. I that the shot of what appears to be an “old school” drilling rig right in the middle of it was photographically interesting.
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