Liverpool, at one time, was England’s second city and busiest port. Many people have lived and worked in this city, but it would not be a stretch to say that the four most impactful Liverpudlians on the world stage were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, better known for the band they created, The Beatles. For a band that was together for ten years, they redefined modern music, and many of their works have held up with the passage of time.
This street first appears like any other until you realize that this is the ‘Penny Lane’ that is found “beneath the blue suburban skies.”
John, Paul, George, and Ringo never forgot their hometown, and today they are still beloved all over the world. One of the highlights of our 2024-2025 trip to the United Kingdom was following in their footsteps and seeing many of the places that have been idolized in song.
From the bus, we were able to see St. Peter’s Church Hall in Woolton, Liverpool. On July 6, 1957 at a small community concert, John Lennon and his Quarrymen were performing on stage. During that event, he first met Paul McCartney. Music history was forever changed. This graveyard is beside St Peter’s Church in Woolton. It does not seem all that memorable until…You realize that their is a tombstone that features a certain ‘Eleanor Rigby.‘
If you are in Liverpool, book the Magical Mystery Tour. The tour on the yellow bus drives throughout Liverpool, connecting many of the sites, as it is not easy to visit all the places on your own. The tour is narrated by a fantastic guide and interspersed with Beatles music, songs that relate directly to the areas the bus stops at along the way.
In many ways, George is my favorite of the Beatles. Outside his childhood home on a rare sunny winter day in England, it was easy to be reminded of one of his most famous compositions, ‘Here Comes the Sun.’
At some stops, passengers stayed on the bus, but we were allowed to exit at multiple stops, including George and Paul’s childhood homes, Penny Lane, and Strawberry Field. Overall, the tour lasts two hours and ends at the reconstructed Cavern Club in downtown Liverpool. A ticket on the Magical Mystery Tour also includes an admission ticket to the Cavern Club. If you take the tour, be sure to use the restroom and to eat before you go. Feel free to ask questions, as the guide is very knowledgeable about the Beatles and Liverpool in general. Overall, it was great to witness all of these places and songs coming to life.
Strawberry Field was a place that John Lennon played often as a child and John’s wrote about the universal desire to go back to a simpler times in ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’John and Paul bonded early on not just because of their love of music but also tragically losing their mothers early in life. John’s mother was struck and killed by an automobile very close to here, which was her sister Mimi’s house. John had moved in with Mimi from a young age and this was his home growing up. Two Beatles Songs, ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘I’ll Get You,’ were composed at Mendips.The next to last stop of the Magical Mystery Tour was at Paul McCartney’s childhood home, 20 Forthlin Road. Besides being Paul’s home, the Beatles composed many of their earliest songs their including ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Love Me Do’. The house also served as a direct inspiration for the song ‘A Day in the Life.’
“Woke up, fell out of bed, Dragged a comb across my head, Found my way downstairs and drank a cup…” “And looking up, I noticed I was late, Found my coat and grabbed my hat…” “Made the bus in seconds flat…”“Found my way upstairs and had a smoke, And somebody spoke and I went into a dream…”
1 thought on “Magical Mystery Tour”