Time to be a day tripper

8:30am Monday 4th January 2010 in

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When two lads met for the first time at Woolton church fete, on July 6, 1957, who knew they would go on to change popular culture forever? The story of the Beatles, from schooldays to solo careers, unfolds in a fascinating visitor attraction in the city which gave the world the Fab Four.

The Beatles Story has been based at Liverpool’s Albert Dock for 20 years. When I first visited it, about a decade ago, I was pretty underwhelmed and thought there was more that could be done with it.

Now, thanks to an extension at nearby Pier Head, the Beatles Story has doubled in size, with improved visitor facilities. The new site houses temporary exhibitions – the most recent being White Feather: The Spirit Of Lennon – and a family-friendly Discovery Zone, comprising a wacky 4D computer-generated animation bringing the Beatles music to life. Over at the original site, there’s a themed coffee shop, with Cavern-style arches, and a Fab4Store comprising everything from Ringo fridge magnets to Sgt Pepper mouse mats.

This site is where the story begins, unfolding through an audio guide narrated by John Lennon’s sister, Julia. The journey begins in wartime Liverpool; hanging on the wall are the birth certificates and school photographs of war babies John, Paul, George and Ringo. A sweater worn by Elvis and an old washboard reflect the impact of rock ‘n’ roll and skiffle on the boys.

Black and white photos of John Lennon with his band, The Quarrymen, are particularly poignant, viewed five decades after the skinny boy with the quiff met Paul McCartney that fateful day at Woolton fete.

You can also see George Harrison’s first guitar, on display for the first time in the UK. It looks so basic it could almost be homemade. The audio guide includes excerpts of interviews with each band member, recalling their early days.

Further on, we entered a replica of The Casbah – the basement coffee house where the Beatles hung out, and from where word spread around Liverpool about the new band on the scene – then we were on a cobbled street in Hamburg, beneath a sign for the Kaiserkeller Club, and on to the Mersey Beat office, with untidy desk and newspaper cuttings hanging from paper clips.

As well as taking you on a journey through the Beatles story, the replicas of real places create a feel of the Sixties. Past the window of Frank Hessy’s music shop, where the Beatles bought their first instruments, we found ourselves on ‘Mathew Street’ where a door led off to a full-size replica of the Cavern Club.

Then it was off to Nems record shop, run by Brian Epstein, where My Bonnie – the record that introduced him to the Beatles – was playing. Through the audio guide, Brian talked about transforming the Beatles’ image, getting them out of leather jackets and into suits.

On to the Abbey Road studios, amid footage of screaming fans at the height of Beatlemania. Memorabilia on display included Lennon’s mohair suit and orange-tinted specs, Beatles badges, tie pins, and an original blue vinyl copy of the White Album. Wandering through the psychedelic years, you walk past a lifesize Sgt Pepper album cover and through the Yellow Submarine – with live fish in the port-holes.

The journey ends with the Solo Years section looking at life after the Beatles split, which includes a recreation of John and Yoko’s ‘bed-in’, and the White Room, dominated by the grand piano Lennon played in the Imagine video.

With the voices of John, Paul, George and Ringo, Brian Epstein, George Martin and Allan Williams – ‘the man who gave the Beatles away’ – guiding us along, this was an evocative journey through the Fab Four’s meteoric rise to fame.

Over at Pier Head, a short walk away (there’s a shuttle bus connecting the two sites), family-friendly attractions include Fab4D, an animated film taking visitors on a groovy trip through the Beatles’ music, with water sprays, blasts of air, bubbles, aromas and leg-ticklers enhancing the 4D experience.

Virtual characters including Sgt Pepper and Eleanor Rigby appear to walk into the audience. In the Discovery Zone children can dress up in Sixties-style clothing and create home-made skiffle instruments from bottle tops, paper cups and elastic bands, or climb aboard a giant Yellow Submarine.

A magical mystery tour like no other!