Our Calendar for 2015...

For a number of years, DH and I have had a calendar printed as a Christmas gift for family members. DH and I usually collaborate about which photos from our 'collection' to use, but at the end of last year, DH gave up on waiting for my input and went ahead with the photos that he had selected. I always say not to use any photos with me in them, but for 2015, a few 'got through'. :-)
The front cover...

The entrance to the Beatles Museum in Liverpool

January...

The HMS Victory, the Duke of Wellington's ship at Portsmouth

February...

The Blackpool Tower...

March...

The lovely gardens in front of the Calais Town Hall...

April...

The beautiful Sacre Couer in Paris...

May...

Doc Martin's cottage (the smaller one on the left) in Port Isaac...

June....

A narrow boat negotiating a lock on the Rochdale Canal in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire...

July...

Photo time in the press interview room during our tour of Wimbledon...

August...not a photo I would have chosen...with the props (hat and glass of beer) in one of the staff messes on board the former royal yacht, Britannia in Leith.

September...
another photo taken in Scotland. The Forth Road Bridge taken from Queensferry...

October....

One of the prototype Concorde aircraft at Duxford War Museum

November...

The incredible Falkirk Wheel in Scotland...

December...

The famous Liver Building in Liverpool; photo taken from the Ferry on the Mersey...

The Back Cover...

Some of the Casinos in Macau.

So that is our calendar for 2015.

More 'Beatles' Experience' in Liverpool...

We ended up going back to the Beatles Museum gift shop the day after we had visited the museum...we had thought of other people who would love a little memento from the shop...

According to DH, our visit to Liverpool wouldn't be complete until we had visited Mathew Street where the Cavern night club was. The Beatles performed there 292 times....this was the figure quoted in the Beatles Story Museum. So we set the GPS and off we went and were lucky enough to score a park not far from the street.

We were still a street away from Mathew St, but I noticed that businesses were trading on the Beatles' name...

The original Cavern's entrance...

Just along from there is the present day Cavern Club...

We saw this statue opposite the club...

So 2 'groupies' decided it was a perfect photo opportunity....lol

The hotel where we stayed in Liverpool also was full of 'Beatles' Touches'...it was called the Penny Lane hotel and had obviously undergone quite extensive refurbishments and was really lovely. The staff were very helpful and insisted on helping DH bring in our luggage even though our car was parked a few streets away.

On the walls of the hotel, including in the guest bedrooms were framed photos of the Beatles...

The lovely bathroom didn't have any framed photos in though! Lol...

In the hotel lobby I was rather taken by an old photo of Paul...wearing a granny square vest! 

The view out of our hotel room window showed the more humble dwellings of the Penny Lane area...it has a real Coronation Street look about it, doesn't it?

So that's a bit more about our visit to Liverpool which turned out to be a a lovely trip down Memory Lane.

Liverpool...Beatles!

The first museum we went to in Liverpool was the one dedicated to the Beatles...and suddenly I was back in my teens! Lol. I grew up in a house where classical music, especially opera, reigned supreme. My poor parents, especially my Italian born dad, could not understand why I loved the music of the Beatles as much as I did. They appeared to be driven mad by this music. I thought all 60's music was pretty good...and still do! Lol

Let's 'walk down Memory Lane' for a while, shall we? 

The front of the museum...

The evolution of the band that was to become  the Beatles featured in the early part of the displays...how the Skiffleboard groups influenced them as well as American singers such as Little Richard and Elvis for example...

There was a mock up of the cellar converted into a club and called the Casbah... This place was set up by the original drummer's (Pete Best) mother. 

The Casbah was decorated with silver stars painted on the walls...this star is reportedly one painted by John Lennon.

The next exhibit was a mock up of the German nightclub in Hamburg where the Beatles performed for quite a while..

Great photo in the museum...

The mock up of the office of The Mersey Beat publication...note the spelling in the poster on the right hand side..

Also in the Mersey Beat office this record player and a large pile of sheet music...(I lusted after such a record player but alas Santa didn't ever bring one :-( ) 

An early jukebox

Then the displays moved to the time when the Beatles played the Cavern in Liverpool...

The Cavern stage area...

The piano in the recording studio...

Part of the recording equipment...

Eleanor Rigby's 'grave'

The last exhibit featured a white room with a white grand piano...and Imagine was playing...it was all too much...I started crying, it was so beautiful. DH walked on! Lol

And like museums the exit was via the gift shop...and yes, we did buy a few things...

As you do!