1, Blomfield Road, Springwood, Allerton, Liverpool

After visiting the grave of John Lennon’s mum Julia I drove about a mile to her house in Allerton, Liverpool. Here I am outside it. It was a quiet street, not one car passed while I had a coffee in the car then took some photos.

Julia lived here with her partner John “Bobby” Dykins and their two daughters Julia and Jackie (John’s half-sisters). Though John lived with his Aunt Mimi he often came round here to see his mum. She was more liberal and laid-back than Aunt Mimi and encouraged John’s guitar playing (Mimi thought it was passing fad.)

One day she left this house never to return. On 15^th July 1958 she spent most of the day with her sister Mimi on Menlove Avenue. They usually made tea and cakes and consumed them in the front room or, if it was warm, out in the garden. They were close and this was a daily thing. At about 9:40pm she was crossing Menlove Avenue to the central reservation and was struck by a car driven by an off-duty policeman (who was a learner driver). She died instantly (later at an inquest Aunt Mimi shouted "Murderer!" at the acquitted policeman.)

The 17-year-old John was at this house on with Julia’s boyfriend, waiting his mum to return. However it was a policeman who walked up the path. He said later, “It was just like it’s supposed to be, the way it is in the films. Asking if I was her son and all that. Then he told us, and we both went white. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me. We’d caught up so much, me and Julia, in just a few years. We could communicate. We got on. She was great.”

John was taken to see his mum’s corpse at Sefton General Hospital but could not bring himself to look at her. When struck by the car her body was thrown about 10 metres and sustained terrible damage.

John last visited the house in 1970 in a white Rolls Royce when he was showing Yoko Ono his old haunts. The owner showed them around. Yoko bought this house in 1969. It was sold in April 2015 for £115,000 at auction.

The garden could do with a tidy up…

Julie had left Aunt Mimi’s house and was killed on this avenue…

And now lies here…