[2026]
[Saturday
13 June 2026]
Hilton Liverpool City Centre, 3 Thomas Steers Way, Liverpool L1 8LW
…Janet… wrote that after a “pretty good sleep” she was “up,
ca. 7.55am.” Her “OK…!” (08:13) was my cue to… shower, etc.
We left the room (08:55) and went down to the Exchange Restaurant for breakfast. Yesterday, I’d realised how different the original
Rice Krispies were from the, still-branded as Rice Krispies, “Multigrain Shapes”; and today, I thought I might prefer cornflakes. Then I had bacon, sausages and baked beans, and lastly coffee.
We left there (09:29), and went back up to the room…. We got ready to go out. On one occasion I’d been unable to open the attachment to the
Musement e-mail of 24 May using the phone, i.e. to get access to our vouchers for today’s Magical Mystery Tour; so I’d accessed them on the computer at home, and printed them. I took them with me today.
On them, we read:
- WHAT TO REMEMBER
Please arrive at check-in 30 minutes before departure. Boarding starts 10 minutes prior. Seating is unreserved,…
Due to transport regulations, every person on board the tour requires a ticket…
WHERE
Anchor Courtyard, Liverpool, UK
-
- Meeting point:
Tour starts at the Albert Dock, where you will meet your guide at the Magical Mystery Tour Ticket Office in Anchor Courtyard, just a few metres from the bus stop. Please arrive at check in point 30 minutes before tour departure time.
So although the tour was scheduled for 10:30, we knew we had to check in 30 minutes before, so we left the hotel at 09:45. I used
Maps on my phone to determine precisely where we were headed: not into the dock area by the road directly to the west from the hotel (Salthouse Quay) as we’d done the day before yesterday, but by the road south of that (Gower Street).
Janet wrote: “At ca. 9.45am we set off for the Magical Mystery Tour. Thank goodness the wind had dropped to a mild breeze. It was cool (and [remained so] for most of the day — except when the sun emerged and I could feel the heat (at last!). However, always looking on the bright side, [there was]
no rain. Yeh!).”
The Magical Mystery Tour coach was parked in Gower Street just at the far end of the bridge over the channel between Salthouse Dock and Wapping Basin. There was no obvious location for obtaining tickets at Anchor Courtyard a few yards farther along from the coach; but the driver was aboard the coach, and after we showed him the printed vouchers, he directed us to the
Fab4 Store, a Beatles souvenir shop in Britannia Pavilion beyond Anchor Courtyard, where at the counter we were issued with “Boarding Passes”.
Sunday 14 June 2026 09:51:46
The Magical Mystery Tour coach, waiting in Gower Street, Liverpool
Anchor Courtyard, the stated location of the “Magical Mystery Tour Ticket Office”
Google Maps Street View © 2026 Google
The Fab4 Store, Britannia Pavilion, where we obtained our tickets
Google Maps Street View © 2026 Google
The Fab4 Store, Britannia Pavilion, where we obtained our tickets
Google Maps Street View © 2026 Google
Magical Mystery Tour “Boarding Pass”
“We boarded the coach just before 10.30am,” Janet wrote: “front row, right. Perfect.” After we boarded, our guide introduced himself, “Dale Roberts”, and our driver, “Dennis”.
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:24:00
Dale Roberts our Magical Mystery Tour guide welcomes us aboard—
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:31:16
—and conducts us on the Tour.
“And off we went. The itinerary had changed, but all the key places were included.” In 2002, we passed 197 Queens Drive, Liverpool 16, home of the Epstein family, and in 2008 we passed St. Peter’s church hall, Woolton, where John Lennon, playing in the skiffle group The Quarry Men, had met Paul McCartney for the first; but neither of these was on our itinerary today.
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:40:22
Magical Mystery Tour: in High Park Street, approaching Madryn Street where Ringo was born in 1940, Admiral Grove where he lived till 1963, and the former Empress pub which appeared on his first solo album
Sentimental Journey
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:41:50
Magical Mystery Tour: Madryn Street—
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:42:14
Magical Mystery Tour: Madryn Street—
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:42:14
Magical Mystery Tour: Madryn Street— where Ringo was born, at №9
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:43:14
Magical Mystery Tour: Admiral Grove—
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:43:14 (detail)
Magical Mystery Tour: Admiral Grove— where Ringo lived till 1963
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:43:14 (detail)
Magical Mystery Tour: Admiral Grove— where Ringo lived till 1963, at №10
“Unlike [in] 2008,… the Empress pub was now a barber’s shop and the frontage had been brightly painted,”
Janet commented. The mural featuring Ringo Starr, seen in the “10:40:22” photo, was painted on its side. Later researches indicated that the building was on the market, so not only was it a former pub, it was also a former barber’s shop.
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:43:24
Magical Mystery Tour: the former Empress pub
Our first stop, where we alighted from the coach, was at the south-west end of Penny Lane.
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:57:04
Magical Mystery Tour: south-west end of Penny Lane
Sunday 14 June 2026 10:58:21
Magical Mystery Tour: south-west end of Penny Lane
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:06:44
Magical Mystery Tour: “the shelter in the middle of a roundabout”, 10A Smithdown Place at the north-east
end of Penny Lane
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:07:12
Magical Mystery Tour: St. Barnabas’ Church, Smithdown Place, where Paul McCartney sang in the choir as a lad
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:07:20
Magical Mystery Tour: “the shelter in the middle of a roundabout”, 10A Smithdown Place
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:07:32
Magical Mystery Tour: former bank, 20 Smithdown Place, where one assumes “a banker with a motorcar” worked
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:07:32 (detail)
Magical Mystery Tour: former bank, 20 Smithdown Place, where one assumes “a banker with a motorcar” worked
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:07:42
Magical Mystery Tour: hairdresser’s, 11 Smithdown Place, the location of “a barber showing photographs of every head he’s had the pleasure to know”
“Unlike [in] 2008,” Janet wrote, “we could not go down Arnold Grove; it was cordoned off.” We alighted from the coach in High Street, Wavertree, turned left (northwards) along Frederick Grove, and walked about 70 yards to the entrance to Arnold Grove to the right.
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:14:26
Magical Mystery Tour: Arnold Grove—
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:14:26 (detail)
Magical Mystery Tour: Arnold Grove— where George Harrison was born in 1943
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:14:26 (detail)
Magical Mystery Tour: Arnold Grove— where George Harrison was born in 1943, at №12
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:14:34
Magical Mystery Tour: Arnold Grove
12 Arnold Grove had acquired a “blue plaque” since our last Magical Mystery Tour in 2008.
“Blue plaque” on the wall at 12 Arnold Grove
The house that had had a “blue plaque” in both 2002 and 2008 was John Lennon’s former home at 251 Menlove Avenue; but we only slowed to a halt briefly there (see “11:41:40”, below), and the hedge seemed pretty overgrown, so I couldn’t tell whether the “blue plaque” was still there.
“Blue plaque” on the wall at 251 Menlove Avenue
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:15:22
Magical Mystery Tour: 12 Arnold Grove, where George Harrison was born in 1943
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:16:44
Magical Mystery Tour: reboarding the coach in High Street, Wavertree
We stopped at the old gates of Strawberry Field, though Dale Roberts reckoned that John Lennon would have sneaked in over the wall at the back of the estate, which was nearer to his home.
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:33:04
Magical Mystery Tour: Strawberry Field, celebrated in the song “Strawberry Fields Forever”
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:41:40
Magical Mystery Tour: just a glimpse of “Mendips”, 251 Menlove Avenue, where John Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi, 1945–1963
As in 2002 and 2008, we all alighted from the coach in Mather Avenue, and went in procession along Forthlin Road to see Paul McCartney’s former home.
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:53:06
Magical Mystery Tour: proceeding from the coach into Forthlin Road
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:54:18
Magical Mystery Tour: proceeding along Forthlin Road
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:55:36
Magical Mystery Tour: 20 Forthlin Road, Paul McCartney’s home from 1955
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:55:44
Dale Roberts, our Magical Mystery Tour guide, outside 20 Forthlin Road
Sunday 14 June 2026 11:56:28
Magical Mystery Tour: 20 Forthlin Road, Paul McCartney’s home from 1955
We returned to the coach; then for the next 20 minutes or so, I didn’t pay much heed to Dale Roberts’ commentary, about later history of the members of the Beatles, especially George Harrison, and of his own involvement, or to our location, with some non-Beatle landmarks being pointed out.
Sunday 14 June 2026 12:22:12
Magical Mystery Tour: in Hope Street, passing Mount Street
Left: the former Liverpool Art School, which John attended for three years from 1957
Right: the former Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, which both Paul and George attended
Sunday 14 June 2026 12:22:52
Magical Mystery Tour: in Hope Street
Ahead: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Returning to Janet’s journal entry: “The itinerary had changed, but all the key places were included. Unlike 2008, we could not go down Arnold Grove: it was cordoned off. Also, the Empress pub was now a barber’s shop and the frontage had been brightly painted. It was such fun, though — [the] absolute highlight of the weekend — and the tour ended near Mathew Street at 12.45pm. We went to the Cavern Club. It was absolutely
chocker,[i] but I managed to find a shelf with two bar stools. Quite a challenge getting up (and down)! We had a drink — it was like the ‘old days’, when the music was so loud you had to bellow to make yourself heard. I spotted a woman wearing a
T-shirt that had “MEGGIES” on the back, and while I was on the loo [John] asked [her] about this. [It] turned out that this lady and her female companion were from my ‘neck of the woods’, and I said I was a ‘Meggie’ — then [I] noticed the Cleethorpes crest (three owls) on the back of the
T-shirt above ‘MEGGIES’. Small world! We left not long after and headed… for the ferry.”
- [i] Chocker: “chock-a-block": filled to capacity
On our previous two visits to The Cavern Club, it hadn’t been very busy, and there'd been plenty of seats available; but perhaps the Beatles phenomenon had latterly undergone a revival, because the only location to sit, which would not have involved sharing a table, was on two tall stools before a shelf at the end of an alcove. I went to the bar and bought drinks, a pint of
Amstel lager for me, and a Diet Coke for Janet… (£8.30, 12:56).
Sunday 14 June 2026 12:43:40
Entering The Cavern Club, Mathew Street
Sunday 14 June 2026 12:50:36
The Cavern Club, Mathew Street
Sunday 14 June 2026 12:51:08
The Cavern Club, Mathew Street
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:14:48
The Cavern Club, Mathew Street
(Lower left:) One of the “Meggies”
We left there (13:30). We wanted next to find the Mersey Ferry, so needed to head more or less westwards to the river. We perhaps turned right out of Mathew Street into North John Street, left into Cook Street, left at its end into Castle Street, and right at its end into James Street. At any rate, in James Street, we passed banners, protesting against the massacre of tens of thousands of people by the Islamic régime of Iran.
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:43:13
Protest, near the Queen Victoria Monument, against the Islamic régime of Iran
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:45:02
Queen Victoria Monument, Derby Square, James Street, Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:49:07
Crossing The Strand: multi-storey office building, 1 Mann Island, Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:49:34
Crossing The Strand: (left to right:) Mann Island Building; Port of Liverpool Building; George’s Dock Building with the Queensway Tunnel Ventilation Tower
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:50:32
Crossing The Strand: (left to right:) Port of Liverpool Building; George’s Dock Building with the Queensway Tunnel Ventilation Tower; Cunard Building; Royal Liver Building
After crossing The Strand, we continued straight ahead along Mann Island. We tagged along with two women who were also heading for Mersey Ferries. We turned right along George Parade, and arrived at the ticket office in the Mersey Ferries building just in time to book on the waiting “River Explorer
Cruise” …(13:59: £25.00).
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:57:20
On George Parade, approaching Liverpool Gerry Marsden (Pier Head) Ferry Terminal; (right:) Royal Liver Building
Sunday 14 June 2026 13:58:07
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: the waiting “Dazzle Ferry” (MV Snowdrop) at Liverpool Gerry Marsden (Pier Head) Ferry Terminal
“Make the most of your River Explorer Cruise with Mersey Ferries”, page 1
“Make the most of your River Explorer Cruise with Mersey Ferries”, page 2
“Cardholder copy”, printed “13:58:56”
“River Explorer Cruise” receipt
“River Explorer Cruise” tickets, printed “13:59”
…“We caught the 2pm departure by the skin of our teeth,”
Janet wrote: “[we were the] last [ones] on! I had a black decaff and [John] a sausage roll and a Fanta.”
… (14:07: £9.75). I thought the sausage roll would be heated in a microwave oven after I selected it, but it was served to me just as it was: cold.
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:09:49
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: refreshments
Janet wrote: “The journey was different from our previous visit and we only had one stop at Seacombe, whereas last time it stopped at Wallasey and Birkenhead and the trip was longer. It was a proper ferry.” This time there was only one stop, “Seacombe Ferry Terminal”, Wallasey; the stops in 2008
(→“Tuesday
2nd September 2008”) were at the same Seacombe Ferry Terminal, “Wallasey” and at Woodside Ferry Terminal, “Birkenhead”. The trip was “longer” in distance, going further downriver, but not in duration, for both lasted
ca. 50 minutes (2008, 11:00–11:50; 2026, 14:00–14:50). Actually, I’m not sure whether it was longer in distance, for this time it perhaps went farther upriver. As for its being a “proper ferry”, because were in such an urgent hurry to board, one thing escaped the notice of both of us at the time (I only noticed this weeks later, when I came to write up this account of today, and was looking more closely at the photos): we were travelling on the “Dazzle Ferry” described in the “Make the most of your River Explorer Cruise with Mersey Ferries” handout:
- Dazzle Ferry
One of our most colourful attractions is our stunning Dazzle Ferry, created by Sir Peter Blake, as part of the First World War commemorations. Sir Peter Blake is most famous for The Beatles’
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.
The eye-catching dazzle design is in honour of the patterns that were first used on vessels in the First World War. They worked by ‘baffling the eye’ and making the ships difficult to target. Each ship’s pattern used unique colour and monochrome designs — to avoid making classes of vessels recognisable to enemy U-boats and aircraft.
The Dazzle Ferry, called ‘Everybody Razzle Dazzle’, is the only operating dazzle ship in the UK. Taking a River Explorer Cruise aboard the Dazzle Ferry is the best way to appreciate it in all its glory whilst learning more about the dazzle history through the exhibition panels on board.
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:19:34
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: calling at Seacombe Ferry Terminal
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:30:24
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: the Viking Vela, docked at the Liverpool Cruise Port
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:30:40
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: two of the “Three Graces”: the Royal Liver Building (centre), and the Cunard Building (right)
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:30:52
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: (left:) the third of the “Three Graces”, the Port of Liverpool Building; (centre:) the Museum of Liverpool; (right:) St. John’s Beacon (Radio City Tower)
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:31:24
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: the Wheel of Liverpool; Liverpool Cathedral
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:34:04
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Queensway Tunnel ventilation tower, Birkenhead
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:34:36
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Birkenhead Town Hall
We passed the Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, where there were a number of tanker/supply ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in dry dock.
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:36:00
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:36:10
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead: (centre:) RFA Wave Knight (A389); (left:) RFA Tide Surge (A138)
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:36:40
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead: RFA Tide Surge (A138)
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:37:50
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead: RFA Wave Knight (A389)
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:37:56
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead: RFA Tide Surge (A138)
And we skirted by Tranmere Oil Terminal—
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:39:04
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Tranmere Oil Terminal: crude oil tanker “Gemini Sun, Monrovia”
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:39:44
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Tranmere Oil Terminal: crude oil tanker “Gemini Sun, Monrovia”; tugboat “Millgarth, Milford”
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:39:56
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Tranmere Oil Terminal: oil/chemical tanker “STI Wembley,
Majuro”
—as we turned to port (i.e. left, as one faces the direction of travel), to return to our starting point.
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:40:08
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: turning to port, to return to Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:41:06
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Liverpool Cathedral
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:41:30
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:43:12
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: Liverpool shoreline, including the “Three Graces”
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:52:40
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: going ashore from the “Dazzle Ferry” (MV Snowdrop), passing others waiting to board, at Liverpool Gerry Marsden (Pier Head) Ferry Terminal
Sunday 14 June 2026 14:52:56
Mersey Ferries “River Explorer Cruise”: going ashore at Liverpool Gerry Marsden (Pier Head) Ferry Terminal
“We disembarked at 2.50pm and headed for ‘The Big Wheel’,”
Janet wrote: “Terrific views up there!”
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:18:11
Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:19:36
Crossing Duke’s Dock by footbridge to get to the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:21:54
Wheel of Liverpool
Receipt for the Wheel of Liverpool ride, printed “15:23”
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:25:34
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:26:10
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:26:48
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:26:56
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:27:08
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:27:34
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:28:24
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:28:44
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:31:16
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:31:24
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:32:28
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:33:58
Views from the Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:35:44
Wheel of Liverpool
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:37:04
Wheel of Liverpool
“After that,” Janet wrote, “we went to The Beatles Story museum; we’d been twice before, 2002 and 2008. There were additions, but we think all the other stuff we’d seen previously was still there. In the gift shop I bought Janice a
Penny Lane coaster as I recalled that was significant to us. On the day of the release of the single we were [working] at Moffatt & Craigie together and, at lunch-time, we legged it to Rayners down Freem[an Street] to listen to both sides of the record (a double A-side of
Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields [Forever]), although we knew we’d buy it come what may!
Happy days!”
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:41:38
Approaching the museum “The Beatles Story”, Britannia Vaults, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool
Ticket and receipt for “The Beatles Story”, printed “15:44”
We declined the device with headphones that was offered, for a guided tour of the exhibits and tableaux, and decided to make our own way round. I wanted to visit in chronological order, but somehow that plan went awry.
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:46:08
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:48:54
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:49:50
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:50:02
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:50:25
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:50:39
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:50:47
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:51:17
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:51:41
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:52:44
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:53:29
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:54:04
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:54:28
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:54:38
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:55:18
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock: 78 r.p.m. acetate record
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:55:18 (detail)
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock: 78 r.p.m. acetate record: “Hello Little Girl”
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:55:28
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:55:56
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:56:48
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:58:17
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:58:42
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 15:59:14
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:00:28
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:01:24
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:01:51
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:02:12
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:02:34
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:03:23
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:05:17
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:05:36
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Among the tableaux that were new to the museum, most of which are included in the photos above, there were some outlining the solo careers of the individual Beatles after the group split up.
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:05:51
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:06:38
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:10:36
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:13:05
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:13:50
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:14:16
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:14:32
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:14:45
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:15:37
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:16:08
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
The exhibit of the piano from John Lennon’s solo career wasn’t new, though.
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:17:04
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:17:14
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:17:29
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:19:23
“The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
“We went for a drink at the Fab4 Café,” Janet
wrote, “feeling very weary…” We left the “The Beatles Story”, and looked around, weary and thirsty and in need of refreshment; we entered a door, and found that it was, in fact, connected to the “The Beatles Story” museum.
Sunday 14 June 2026 16:40:08
Refreshments at the café attached to “The Beatles Story”, Royal Albert Dock
“Then we headed off for dinner at Gusto on Albert Dock,”
Janet wrote, adding that it was “a stone’s throw from our hotel: perfect!” As she was writing this, she remembered: “Before this we had a go on the carousel. Fab!”.
From our location in the “16:40:08” photo, above, we turned left along Gower Street, then left along Salthouse Quay between Albert Dock on our left and Salthouse Dock on our right.
Gusto Italian is in Edward Pavilion, the building between Salthouse Dock and Albert Dock just before their northern end. Its address is “Edward Pavilion, Albert Dock” but its entrance is on the Salthouse Dock side. Before we got there, we saw that just beyond it, on the north-east corner of Salthouse Dock, there was a Victorian-style carousel — and we decided, “We have got to have a ride on this!”
… (“Motion Rides”, £8.00, 17:02).
Sunday 14 June 2026 17:01:14
Victorian-style carousel on the north-west corner of Salthouse Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 17:03:50
Victorian-style carousel on the north-west corner of Salthouse Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 17:03:59
Victorian-style carousel on the north-west corner of Salthouse Dock
Sunday 14 June 2026 17:04:39
Victorian-style carousel on the north-west corner of Salthouse Dock
Then we entered the Gusto Italian restaurant. Janet wrote: “[John] had an Aperol Spritz, warm focaccia and olive oil balsamic dip, then pasta with spicy sauce and chicken. I had some olives, a Coke Zero, and Caesar salad. I enjoyed this, but it was not as good as the one I had at our hotel.” Later, she downgraded her opinion about the Caesar salad from guardedly positive to mildly negative: “I didn’t really enjoy this; there were no anchovies or parmesan, and the croutons were not crunchy. The hotel one was a
real one, which I enjoyed.” This was more in keeping with what she’d written about the music that was played: “Also, the bloody music was [deafening (deleted)] extremely loud, which I hated.”
I had no complaints (I don’t think I found the music as excessively intrusive as
Janet did); my only disappointment was that there was no grappa in the drinks menu listings.
Gusto Italian, Edward Pavilion, Albert Dock: menu
Sunday 14 June 2026 17:25:36
Gusto Italian, Edward Pavilion, Albert Dock: Aperol Spritz; Diet Coke; Warm Rosemary & Garlic Focaccia, with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic; Nocellara Olives
Sunday 14 June 2026 17:44:28
Gusto Italian, Edward Pavilion, Albert Dock: Chicken Caesar Salad; Pollo Arrabbiata Gnocchetti
The bill included “Serv[ice] Ch[ar]ge” of £8.47, so we didn’t add a
tip… (“Gusto Liverpool”, £76.22, 18:46).
Gusto bill, printed “18:41”
“Back at the hotel,” Janet wrote, “we booked a table for our dinner tomorrow: 6pm. Sorted! We were back in our room at
ca.7pm after being out for 9 hours again. Yikes! We were completely ‘knackered’. A real full-on day. A real good day, though. I had a shower, then updated this; and we were in bed by
ca.9.30pm, feeling footsore and weary.”
We left Gusto Italian just after paying the bill. We went to the hotel reception, booked a table in the the Exchange Restaurant, then rode in the lift up to our room (arriving, 18:55).…
There was a very strange, only partial reflection in Salthouse Dock of the Wheel of Liverpool, so it looked like a separate entity moving on the surface of the water just beyond Strand Street.
Sunday 14 June 2026 21:02:28
The Wheel of Liverpool, seen from our hotel room, with a strange, only partial reflection
I shut down the computer (20:59);… cleaned teeth; and retired to bed (21:19).…
[Monday
15 June 2026]
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