The Smiley Smile Message Board

I have a question for anyone with 'Beatles in Liverpool' knowledge.  I've been a fan of the Beatles since Oct. 63  (pre- Ed Sullivan) when I saw them on a segment of the Huntley Brinkley Report and I was wondering about the proximity of their childhood homes.  About how closely did they live to each other at the time they formed  (the Fab Four, Sutcliffe, and Best)?   

A good question. I am at work now, but I should have that kind of info somewhere.

Something for Google Earth, perhaps?

I've vistited a few of the Beatle homes.
John and Paul lived closest to each other I reckon.  Walking distance if you're not a lazy type.

There are a couple of large roads leading into upto the Penny Lane roundabout bus shelter ( now a diner)  Menlove avenue is where John lived, its a dual carriage way.  The next avenue along is called Mather Avenue. There is ( or was when i went) a large golf course between the two. Pauls road is off Mather Avenue ( Forthlin Rd)  It's a cul de sac street If I recall correctly.  
Not sure where George's first home but when he was a little older they moved out to Speke. Speke Is quite a way out of town, near liverpool airport (now John Lennon airport) Not close to John and Paul.   Ringo's area , the dingle, now toxteth is cloer to town than john and paul.  John and paul were in the suburbs.  Pete Best was in West Derby which is not even on the same side of town.  

This site may be handy to you .
http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp
simple put the address in the start destination and put another beatle address in the final destination. When asked to verify, click the box that says you need a map and it will show you the route from one house to the other
;-)

the dingle isnt the same as toxteth.
are they?
they're still distinct places today.

i had a friend who was convinced he lived in the street where George use to live. though he couldnt explain why there were never any tourists.
he lived in Albert Grove.
he was a big fat liar!

Toxeth is the town next to Dingle. Dingle and Toxeth are both rough from my experiences.

To say John Lennon called himself working class, he lived in the best area and nicest house out of the fab four! Ringo had a far worse standard of living than John.

Here's a page with a very detailed view of all the Beatle homes, including ones they lived in after childhood, in a zoomable map format:

http://www.beatlemania.ca/liverpool/mapliverpool.htm

Thanks for the info and links  Richardsnow and Forgetmarie!  Is it maybe 3/4 of a mile between the McCartney family Forthlin Rd home and John's Aunt's Menlove Ave. home?
I will have to get over there in the future for a tour.  I'll probably go play the Allerton Golf Course between their homes while I'm at it.  It appears from descriptions to be just the kind of old, and a little quirky, course that I greatly enjoy. 

heh, one thing about liverpool and the beatles is that there are about 100 small business all listing themselves as "....of Penny Lane", and none of them are on Penny Lane!

The Davies bio, or one of the other books, mentions that John and Paul used the golf course as a shortcut to walk to each other's houses.  So, it might be less distance "as the crow flies."  If you get to play the course, Mikee, you might trod upon their very path!  I think Paul caddied there, too.

I have heard Paul say that he indeed walked through the course to get to John's but I did not know what GC he was talking about until you and RichardSnow posted your responses here.   John was an avid golfer so I would assume he played some here.  He did play at Hoylake (Royal Liverpool) which is a pretty tough course - the 2006 British Open venue.

I hadn't heard about Paul caddying.  It could be that being left handed kept him from getting involved as a player.  Back then it was very difficult for left handers to get equipment.  (Ben Hogan was a lefty but switched to r.h. because he couldn't get l.h. clubs as a kid).  I think musicians tend to make good golfers.  Tempo and feel go a long way in golf.  Legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans had a beautiful swing.  Neil Young is quite proficient (good short game) and his brother has been a career PGA teaching professional!   

The National Trust owns these properties.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-20forthlinroadallerton/
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-mendips/