The Beatles Museum - Liverpool, UK
Blackbird 1968
The Beatles Story
Walking into the Beatles Museum, visitors are transported back to the 1960s with the music of the Beatles.
The old dock building has been used to create a series of displays each re-creating a part of the story of Liverpool's most famous export.
The childhoods of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were all struck by tragedy and the boys who each found expression in music stumbled upon each other to create a musical collaboration which flowered into a world-wide phenomena.
Many of their songs became life theme songs for teenagers of the 1960s, 70 and 80s. Visitors to the museum are emotionally impacted by seeing the displays and by hearing the songs - and many shed a few tears along the way.
A large souvenir shop stocks records and a wide range of band memorabilia.
Opening times and admission prices
The Museum is open every day, Monday to Sunday, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Opening times are 9am-7pm in summer (25 March - 31 October) and 10am-6pm in winter (1 November to 24 March).
Tickets for the whole museum are £15.95 for adults and £12 concession and £7 for children (aged 5 to 16).
Tickets can be bought online direct from the museum.
The Beatles Story
Travel and accommodation
Trains leave London's Euston Station every hour, stopping at Liverpool's Lime Street Station. From there, taxis and buses are available into the city.
There are many hotels along the esplanade across the road from the museum. There are also apartments within easy walking distance.
See my article on Travelling well AND cheaply in Europe for travel tips.
The CBD of Liverpool has been made into a mall Liverpool 1 and is a very busy and pleasant shopping precinct.
Paul McCartney
Name: James Paul McCartney
DoB: 18 June 1942
Parents: James and Mary McCartney
James was a munitions worker but also had his own bank and composed songs.
Mary was a nursing sister and midwife. She died in 1956, leaving her husband to bring up Paul and his brother.
Schooling
Paul graduated from Liverpool Institute HIgh School and excelled in Art and English. His father hoped he would become a teacher.
Paul worked in Lewis's Department store and Mathews' Coggin's factory until the band became full-time.
Paul McCartney live in concert with shorts of 18 Beatles songs
Geroge Harrison
George Harrison
Date of Birth: 25 February 1943
Parents: Harry and Louise Harrison. Harry was a bus conductor and Louise worked as an assistant in a green grocer shop.
The couple had four children, Louise, Harrold, Peter and Geroge (the youngest).
George attended Liverpool Institute High School for Boys.
He disliked school and was rebellious, refusing to wear a school uniform.
George Harrison and Paul McCartney travelled together on the same bus to school. They both played guitar and music was a common interest. They became firm friends.
Geroge left school at 16 and became an apprentice electriciain at a department store.
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Ringo Starr
Name: Richard Starkey
Date of Birth: 7 July, 1940, (Born at home)
Mother: Elsie
Ringo's parents separated when he was aged 3. Elsie began working as a barmaid.
At high school, Ringo contracted pleurisy and spent two years in a children's hospital.
Elsie married again in 1953, when Ringo was aged 13.
Ringo left school in 1955 and worked as a railway messenger, barman on the Mersey Ferry and as an apprectice joiner. He was nicknamed Ringo because he wore several rings.
LIVE in concert With a little help from my friends - Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon
Date of Birth: 9 October 1940. (at Liverpool Maternity Hospital)
Parents: Alfred "Freddy" and Julia Lennon. Freddy worked as a ship steward on a Liverpool-NewYork route. Julia worked as a cinema usherette.
Freddy lost his job and left his wife. Julia moved to live with John Dykins and the couple had three daughters. John moved to live with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle Geroge.
John won scholarships to attend Quarrybank HIgh School and graduated from high school.
In 1955 John's Uncle Geroge died. John's mother began to visit him more often but in 1957 she was killed by a speeding car when crossing the road after visiting John.
Imagine - John Lennon
Formation of the band
John Lennon, who attended Quarry Bank High School formed a band when he was 15, in 1956, calling it the Quarrymen, after the school.
John and the band gave their second performance the following summer at St Peter's Church garden fete in Woolton. Paul McCartney heard them and asked to join but his aunt Mimi was not happy for Paul to be mixing with 'lower class' boys.
Geore Harrison was only 14 when he joined the band as lead guitarist although John Lennon thought Geroge was too young to join the band. A friend of John's from Art School, Stuart Sutcliffe joined as bass guitarist. Thus John, Paul, Geroge and Stuart became "The Beatles" in early 1960.
The band was planning to go to Hamburg to audition - but they had no drummer and invited Pete Best to join.
John Lennon's aunt tried desperately to prevent John, then 19, from abandonning his study at Art School to go to Hamburg.
During their time in Hamburg the band played several nights a week, learning a huge number of songs and becoming proficient musicians.
They returned to Hamburg in April 1961 and again in April 1962. Back in Liverpool they were allowed to use the basement of a woman's house which they transformed into "The Cavern Club", attracting local teenagers.
In 1962, the band appointed Brian Epstein as their manager. He had no experience as a band manager but persuaded them to improve their image by wearing suits.
Stuart Sutcliffe decided to remain in Hamburg, so the band replaced him with drummer Ringo Starr.
The band - John, Paul, George and Ringo - released its first album "Love me do" in 1962 - and remained together until 1970, performing worldwide, transforming popular music and becoming one of the most influential and successful music groups of the twentieth century.
Beatles songs 1961-64 with early photos
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See more of my travel stories here including England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Australia
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Taking in the splendour of Bath Abbey
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Home of the Beatles Museum - Liverpool, UK
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Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily
Sicily's most popular destination - Taormina
Treasures of the Greek and Roman city of Syracuse, Sicily
For stories on Italy see:
Italy
A huge peace offering - the Colosseum
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Step into St Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy
Mount Etna - visit an active volcano
If you're plannind a trip, check out my articles on how to plan your trip and save money without skimping on the quality of your travel expereince.
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How to stay connected online while travelling
And then you may feel persuaded to wend your way around Europe:
France
The Palace of Versailles, Paris
And to Australia:
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© 2013 Amanda Gearing
