The Beatles at Mossway Jiving Club, Croxteth

Here I am in Croxteth about six miles north west of central Liverpool. In the sixties the community building at the end of a row of shops was the buzzing bouncing Mossway Jiving Club. On Friday 17th March 1961 The Beatles played here - there one and only performance. I had a stroll around but there’s not much to see. It was a Sunday morning and a man in a house was watching me do the usual salutes. He looked to be drinking a bottle of sherry without the use of a glass. He nodded in a friendly way.

When the Beatles played here they were only known inside Liverpool (George was still 18.) They were invited to play by promoters Mr McIver and Mr Martin - two businessmen owned three northern Liverpool venues. They had barely heard of The Beatles and didn’t pay them in money. The lads played on St Patrick’s day and they were paid in Guinness - as much as they could drink for free. Sadly no photographs were taken of them performing.

I couldn’t find out what time the concert started or how long it lasted. I doubt they got drunk on the Guinness as they had another gig that night. They probably covered popular songs of the day for - at a guess - 30 to 40 minutes (they never did long gigs.) Perhaps they left quite early as they had to travel twenty minutes back to central Liverpool to play at the Liverpool Jazz Society. They had no manager or catchy songs of their own. Did they drive there? Perhaps they got a bus? They had no money.

I had a stroll along the full length of the shops and had a coffee in the car. People nodded or said hello. This area was well-known by Paul McCartney’s parents. They'd lived nearby and married at St Swithin’s Roman Catholic Church. These days the building where they played is a community centre but you can tell from its size shape that it had been a play for music. After a eating a wafer I had a walk around the area. Croxteth seemed to be evenly spread out and quiet. Cars were parked on drives rather than on the roads, the houses had gardens, there was a decent sports centre, the river Alt, plenty of greenery and some beautiful churches. It's probably the kind of place where everyone knows one another. I drive over again on a sunnier day as the mammoth Georgian mansion Croxteth Hall is nearby.

Returning to the car I stood in the doorway leading into the former jive club. I wondered if perhaps the sole of my show eclipsed the spot where a Beatle shoe had been placed for a half-second. Nerds think like this. I did a salute and left.