Beatles in Surrey: Nostalgic look back at the Fab Four's link to the county
To mark ITV's broadcast of 'The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One' we take a look through the archives to see what links the Fab Four to this county we call home.
It was back on Friday June 21 1963 the band played to an audience in Guildford, in their one and only visit to the town. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were the headline act on the Jimmy Crawford Package Show. The band headlined two concerts at the Odeon in the upper High Street. Scores of screaming fans were in tow waiting to hear the band of the moment and their many hits. Some braves fans even tried to scale the wall in Sydenham Road in an attempt to get into The Beatles' dressing room.
At the time the Surrey Advertiser's sister paper, the Guildford and Godalming Times, reported on the gig. The reviewer said: “The Beatles did their best to sing above the deafening screams of the audience. “I recognised their hit numbers but most of the words were inaudible.”
Even though the band did not frequent the music venues of Surrey, they did see the appeal of the county as three out of the four band members have at one point called Surrey their home. John Lennon lived in Kenwood, St George's Hill in Weybridge in 1964 for four years and George Harrison owned a bungalow in Claremont Lane in Esher.
Ringo Starr also decided to take up residency in Weybridge and bought a property in the exclusive St George's Hill estate. Starr bought Sunny Heights in 1965, installing a pub, The Flying Cow, at the property to entertain vistors. The house had 28 rooms, five bathrooms and a cinema.
By: Amani Hughes
Source: Get Surrey
