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FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE FAB FOUR WITH A BEATLES TOUR OF BRITAIN

  • 15 Sep 2010

VisitBritain celebrates the new film Nowhere Boy and the home of The Beatles

LOS ANGELES, August 30, 2010 -- Travelers can follow in the footsteps of the Fab Four with a Beatles Tour of Britain. VisitBritain, the national tourist board for England, Scotland and Wales, celebrates the new film about John Lennon, Nowhere Boy, and the home of the Beatles by highlighting where to explore The Beatles’ legacy in Liverpool and London. For more information about planning a Beatles trip to Britain, go to www.visitbritain.us.

Nowhere Boy, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood and starring Aaron Johnson, Annie-Marie Duff and Kristin Scott Thomas is in theaters October 8, 2010 from The Weinstein Company. The BAFTA Award-nominated film shot on location in Liverpool, conveys the crucial formative teenage years of John Lennon. For the first time on screen, it depicts the events and personal circumstances that led to the formation of the Beatles—and the underlying family currents that shaped and molded the creative and inspirational qualities of John Lennon.

Visit Beatles Liverpool

To honor John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday, the city of Liverpool is gearing up for a two month long Beatles celebration from October 2010 through December 2010. Key events include live music shows, art exhibitions, and an international poetry competition. The Victoria Gallery and Museum will host an exhibition during the festival titled “Astrid Kirchherr: A Retrospective,” which will display some of the early photographs she took of The Beatles during the beginning of their career.

In Liverpool, the first stop for fans has to be The Beatles Story in Albert Dock, a fantastic museum full of Beatles paraphernalia that is dedicated to The Fab Four. The Beatles Story follows John, Paul, George and Ringo from their early beginnings to global Beatlemania and beyond.

Fans should also take the Magical Mystery Tour, a bus trip taking in various Beatles landmarks including Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. This tour also takes you to some key places in the boy’s childhoods, including their homes and schools.

A stop at The Cavern Club on Mathew Street is also a must for Beatles aficionados. The Cavern was where the Beatles first started out, and although the original Club hasn’t survived, the current Cavern occupies about three-quarters of the original space and houses the original stage. Beatles tribute bands often take the stage here and it is common for visitors to grab a pint and sit in one of the chairs next to the original Cavern Club sign to enjoy the music.

Mathew Street also has plenty of other references in honour of The Beatles, from a John Lennon statue to the Cavern Pub and even the themed four-star luxury hotel, The Hard Day’s Night, just around the corner. Outside the hotel you will find photographs as well as statues of the boys, and they often display some interesting paraphernalia outside the windows.

Die-hard fans of the Beatles might even like to go on The National Trust special joint tour of the childhood homes of John Lennon (Mendips) and Paul McCartney (20 Forthlin Road). It is a once in a lifetime experience to see the place where The Beatles met and composed so many of their songs.

This October, Fan Trips Travel has partnered with Abbey Road on the River to create an exciting 5-night package to offer Beatles fans a front row seat to the John Lennon Tribute Season in Liverpool. The Beatles Tribute Fan Trip includes a Cavern Club concert, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra John Lennon Songbook concert, tours of John and Paul’s childhood homes, a Beatles Liverpool tour, and entrance to Beatles Story and the White Feather exhibit. The final night includes a fabulous exclusive party at Beatles Story with two members of The Quarrymen. Price per person based on double occupancy at a 4-star hotel in central Liverpool is $1399, inclusive of on tour travel and many meals. www.fantrips.travel/btft/

For the producers and director of Nowhere Boy, it was important to shoot as much of the film as possible in Liverpool -- although it was at times a challenge due to the transformation the city has undergone in the last 50 years or so.

For producer Kevin Loader the biggest challenge was trying to film Liverpool as it would have been in the late 50s. As he explains, “it’s almost impossible now to get a shot of even the Liver building because it’s hemmed in by beautiful new gleaming buildings, some of which are still under construction. Saying that, the neighborhoods in Woolton where John grew up are pretty leafy suburbs of Liverpool and are fundamentally unchanged. So we did manage to shoot quite a lot of the childhood scenes around Allerton and Woolton. Loader continues “…Because of what the Beatles became, it’s a place of pilgrimage for people from across the world now. I think its right that the film made its own pilgrimage there.”

Visit Beatles London

The Beatles frequently travelled to London both to play shows and to record material. There are numerous ways for fans to enjoy Beatles history while in London.

Perhaps the most iconic picture in the Beatles history is that of the Fab Four crossing Abbey Road. While the exact crossing is a busy intersection today, fans from all over the world still flock to the site just a few blocks away from St.John’s Wood tube station. The studios themselves were under threat of being sold earlier this year, but are now under protected status by the government. While there isn’t much visitors can see inside the studios, the outside wall has become a sort of homage to the Beatles, and many fans leave messages of inspiration and gratitude to the boys.

Another great way to see The Beatles’ London is by booking a walking tour. There are several walking tours available, including two from London Walks. Abbey Road Studios are of course frequented by these tours, as is the Hard Rock Café where there are many pieces of paraphernalia including John Lennon’s original hand-written lyrics for “Imagine” and “Instant Karma.” One of the London Walks also visits the film locations for A Hard Day's Night and Help, the registry office where two of the Fabs were married, and the apartment immortalized by Ringo, John and Yoko.

The London Beatles Store at 231 Baker Street is quite a popular spot for picking up various souvenirs. A few blocks down the road at 94 Baker street fans can see the blue English Heritage plaque for John Lennon, which sits above the place where the Beatle’s retail shop, Apple Boutique, used to stand. Nearby, fans can see life-like reproductions of the Beatles in wax at Madame Tussaud’s, where they keep company with many other famous people including the Royal family and the cast of Harry Potter.

Visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of Sir Paul McCartney himself may want to pay a visit to Soho Square where the offices of McCartney Productions Limited are situated. While Paul does not come in every day, he is a frequent visitor to the music publishing company.

More about the film Nowhere Boy

Imagine… John Lennon's teenage years. Liverpool 1955. A smart and troubled fifteen-year-old is hungry for experience and a desire to escape the complexities of his family life and the petty-minded mentality of post-war Britain. In a family full of secrets, two strong women clash over John (Aaron Johnson): Julia (Anne-Marie Duff), the free-spirited mother who for personal reasons gave John away in his infancy—and her sister Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas), the buttoned-up Aunt who stepped in and raised John. John grasps at music as his escape path and in particular the brand-new import from America—rock ‘n' roll. The fledgling musician forms the band that eventually becomes The Beatles and then finds a kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie Sangster). Just as John is embarking on his new life, tragedy strikes. But John channels his anger and personal pain into creativity and making music. The story ends as the young man leaves home and heads to Hamburg with his band. The rest truly is history…

With a script and perspectives drawn from a variety of impeccable sources, and its authenticity endorsed by those who knew John Lennon best (including his childhood pals depicted in the movie), it is the first film to allow admirers to—in the words of one of Lennon’s last and most personal songs—“understand the little child inside the man.”

Nowhere Boy is an Ecosse Films production in association with Film4, the UK Film Council’s Premiere Fund, NorthWest Vision and Media, Lip Sync Productions and Aver Media. The script was developed with the support of the UK Film Council’s Development Fund. The film was released in the UK at the end of 2009 to rave critical reaction. It received four nominations at the 2010 BAFTA (British Academy) Awards: Outstanding British Film; Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer (Sam Taylor-Wood); Best Supporting Actress (Anne-Marie Duff) and Best Supporting Actress (Kristin Scott Thomas).

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