The Beatles at the Little Theatre, Southport

In July 1963 The Beatles were performing for six nights at the Odeon Cinema in Southport. While there they took part in a documentary called The Mersey Sound made by BBC producer Don Haworth. Part of it was filmed at the Little Theatre and here I am outside - and inside it, too. Arriving there a woman was just locking up and kindly allowed a look inside.

The documentary was shot between Tuesday 27 and Friday 30 August. On this first day the lads were filmed playing on the small stage. There was no audience though. Haworth knew the hysterical screaming from ardent fans would render the footage unusable. Filming began at 9.30am. The Beatles performed versions of Twist And Shout, She Loves You and Love Me Do (with a curtain behind them on the last one to suggest a different location.) The changed clothes to make it look like there were two shoots.

Haworth made the songs appear to be live. He blended in footage of concert film the previous night at the Odeon (now demolished and a Sainsbury's store.)

Inside the building I saw the place was much smaller than I expected. The woman kindly let me stand on the stage and take a shot of the few rows of seats. I stood where John had stood and wondered how much those boards could get financially. Some stages the lads played on have been ripped up and sold to geeks like me.

I went round the back where the lads probably smoked (they all smoked then.) It must have been an exciting time for them. In 1963 they had been playing for around three years and were gaining some success above the scores of other Merseyside bands having written some catchy tunes. Their first studio album (of thirteen) was out and interest in them had burst out of the north west of England. The youngest was George Harrison (20) and the oldest was Ringo (23.) I did a salute and left.

The view from the stage (sorry its blurred)

The back of the theatre...