Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever.

（The Beatles　"Strawberry Fields"）

行き方
<train>It takes about three hours from London, Euston staion via Crewe. From York, it takes two hours and twenty minutes. From Manchester, it takes fifty to sixty five minutes.
<bus>It takes about four and a half hours from Victoria Coach station. There is a night bus from London too.
<In my case>I used the train from Euston.

I'd been to England more than ten times. However, I hadn't been to Liverpool because I wasn't a great fan of the Beatles.
"I don't recommend Liverpool to you, if you aren't a Beatle's fan." An employee of the British Tourist Authority in Japan had once told me^*. The words made me hesitate a little. Liverpool is a little far from London. Even if I felt like it, I couldn't go there easily.
However, when I went to Nakaido "Chabo" Reiich's concert at Yokohama last year, he said, "I had four places which I'd wanted to visit. The first palce was St. Louis and Memphis, the second was England. The third was Bali as Gimmy Hendrix and the fourth was New York." Suddenly, I felt like visiting Liverpool. "Yeah...Liverpool was one of places which Chabo had longed to go."

^＊There are many museums such as the Walker Art Gallery and the Tate Gallery. Moreover, there are two cathedrals, the Metropolitan Cathedral and Liverpool Cathedral. I heard that Liverpool was nominated for the European Capital of Culture 2008. In addition, you can get on Mersey Ferries and see around the river. It is about ten years ago when the employee of the British Tourist Authority had said such kind of things to me. Now, Liverpool has a lot of interesting spots and maybe has changed for the better.


I got on the 11:10 train with my friend from Euston staion and arrived at Liverpool at around 2 PM.
When I got off the train, I thought, "I've finally come to Liverpool". However, I didn't have time to be deeply moved. Soon after arriving at Liverpool, we went to Southport and went back to Liverpool at 12:30, the next day.

Liverpool Lime Street station

At first, we went to a tourist information centre near the station to book the Magical Mystery Tour which would start from 2:10.
The number of people who boarded the bus at this tourist information centre was only six or seven including ourselves. "Only us?", I wondered. The fee was 10.95 pounds per person. It was a special tour bus with a tour guide and I began to wonder, "Can the tour guide and the bus driver make a living?" I was anxious for them although it was none of my business!
However, of course, I was wrong! It was the tour for Beatles fans! Soon after the tour started, when the guide showed us the famous Yellow Submarine, he got off the bus saying, "Wait for a few minutes while I pick up some another tour people here." It was another tourist information centre near to Beatles Story, the recreated old Cavern Club. More than twenty people joined us. "I undersand." Ha ha ha!

During the Magical Mystery Tour, we were taken to more than thity spots related to the Beatles. From two tourist information centres, near the station and Beatles Story, to the Cavern Club, it took about two hours. We saw many spots from the bus, but when we arrived at the main spots such as Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, we could get off the bus walk around and take some pictures. During the tour, the Beatles' music was played and the tour guide told us their story and showed us their schools, birthplaces, houses and so on.
I sat on the first seat and got off the bus soon after the tour guide. Apart from the guide, I was therefore the first person to see the places of interest.
The first spot was Penny Lane.

Penny Lane there is a harber showing photographs
of every head he's had the pleasure to know.
And all the people that come and go stop and say Hello

（The Beatles　"Penny Lane"）

After we visited the house which George used to live, we went to Strawberry Fields(the top picture). Because my favourite Kiyoshiro sang "Strawberry Fields", when he performed as a member of the RC Succession, "Strawberry Fields" is one of my favourite Beatles' songs. I saw many messages and drawings which were written on the gate. The red gate which had many dead leaves under it made me somehow slightly sentimental.

left : the house where George lived ; the middle : the house where Paul lived ; right : the house where John lived(only the right photo was taken by Tsukasa)

The next spot was the house where Paul used to live. From here, when we were going back to the tour bus, a rainbow appeared in the sky. All of us were happy to see the unexpected beautiful colours of the rainbow.

The last spot was the world famous Cavern Club. Unfortunately, we didn't have chance to enter. The tour finished at Cavern Pub which was on the opposite side. In the pub, guitars, bases and drums, which the Beatles had used, were displayed. I was a little moved.

During the two hour Magical Mystery Tour, I felt as if I had gone back in time a little and was experiencing the Beatles age. After the tour, my friend and I, who didn't know them so well, thought that we became a little closer to the Beatles. It was a very worthwhilte tour.

(2004.2.21)
To Liverpool 2

To the Top

Trip to England