Here I am in
Tuebrook in Merseyside looking for a church hall where the Beatles played a few times in 1961. They
weren't well known, Pete Best was still the drummer and they wore leather. The
hall sits behind St John The Baptist's church - a twenty minute drive from central
Liverpool. These days the hall is called Brockman Hall and it's still in use.
Pete Best’s mum organised night
events through Casbah Promotions and the shows
attracted up to 200 youngsters from the neighbouring areas of Stoneycroft, Old Swan, Norris Green and West Derby. The lads
had little money and they weren't even called The Beatles. On one poster billed
them as “The Fabulous Beatles Rock Combo” In total they did eleven gigs here at
this hall - all in 1961. Thanks to the research
by Beatles historian Gerry Murphy their future manager Brian Epstein first saw
the lads playing here and not at Cavern. Several customers who bought records
at Brian's NEMS music shop account for him being there.
I parked on a side street and walked around
to Brockman Hall. It was endearing to see it was still there, not rotting away
and used by a disability charity. Sadly the stage which the lads played on has
gone. The place was refurbished in 2000 and the original boards were thrown
away (about £20,000 in the bin.) The original suspended wooden floor where
peopled danced still remains. On one occasion Paul didn't play his bass and
danced amongst the audience with a microphone.
I took a few photos thinking there
might be a plaque on a wall somewhere. Nothing. I sat in the car and had a
coffee and checked I was at the correct address. Yes this was it though it’s
about three miles from central Liverpool and off the beaten track for your
average fan. I’m a geek though and had to have a look. When The Beatles played
here nobody knew their popularity would boil over and spread across the rest of
Merseyside and the country. They were still intermittently played in Hamburg.
At their first appearance here George had just turned 18 years old, Pete Best
was the drummer and Ringo was in another band.
The hall was the last place on my list and it was
growing dark (had to brighten these photos.) I had a peanut butter sandwich and
another coffee to keep me going before a big tea at home. I read that the bells in the church were rung for the first
time on Easter Sunday 2003 after a silence of ten years. There was little
silence over the thirty minutes I was there due to constant traffic on the road
in front of the church. I did a salute and left.
The rear of the church...
The lads inside the hall...