Strawberry Field to open up to the public as tourist attraction

The home was made famous by John Lennon

Author: William MarriottPublished 13th Sep 2019
Last updated 13th Sep 2019

The home that was first made famous by The Beatles song 'Strawberry Fields Forever' is officially being opened to the public this Saturday (14th September).

Visitors will have the chance to walk through the gardens of the Strawberry Field home in Woolton, Liverpool, where John Lennon would play as a boy.

Lennon revealed he used to climb over the wall to gain entry to the home, which he later sung about in the 1967 smash hit. However, the Salvation Army will now open the site as a tourist attraction, as well as a youth training centre.

Speaking about its opening, Julia Baird, Lennon's sister, said the grounds of the home were extremely important to Lennon, adding they were a "sanctuary" for him during his younger years.

She said, "I supposed as children we all have somewhere that's a bit ours, a bit special. It might be a little hidey-hole under the stairs or it might be up an oak tree but it's somewhere we take ourselves off and that's a special place."

Famous for it's red gates, which are so popular around 60,000 tourists pose for photos with them every year, the home's newly built centre will include a café and an exhibition on Lennon's early life.

The centre will also be providing training for 18 to 25-year-olds with mild to moderate learning disabilities.

Baird, the honorary president of the Strawberry Field project, commented that the Steps To Work programme will teach life skills and social inclusion and reinforce to those on the programme "that one of the greatest rock icons, music icons, on the planet was not mainstream".

She added, Lennon "would have loved it, because he himself was not mainstream and was very aware of it."

There is no charge to go to the home, except for the exhibition.

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