#forthlin road

Domestic Paul appreciation post.

John has remained living in his neighbouring home to this day, now with his wife, and has witnessed all the changing eras of the road. He says he is one of the 'few people left still living there who can tell its stories'. <…> "Forthlin was very small and very quiet. It was a very sedate-looking place. It was like a haven compared to the big road we lived on in Garston. When we first moved, my uncle came to stay, but after a week, he said he wanted to go back home because he couldn’t stand the lack of noise."

Before The Beatles reached the peak of their fame, John remembers often passing Paul but having no idea who he was.

He said: “Paul was around five years older than me, so I didn’t know who he was. I had no idea that the person appearing on Top of the Pops was the same person on my road. We used to nod our heads at each other when we’d pass by in the street because we both had grammar school blazers on, so we used to acknowledge each other, but that was it. That was back in 1960, before they were famous."

As the band’s popularity quickly grew, so did the crowds on John’s street, and what he once knew as his quiet family home became a hub of pandemonium.

He said: "At first, I hadn’t caught onto it all. I was only around 11 or 12, and I wasn’t a fan; I preferred Buddy Holly, so I didn’t see the point in standing outside someone’s house.

"The very first time I saw people standing outside, there were only around two people, but then the next time, there were around 20 to 30 young girls and then people started gathering excitedly in big numbers. It came as a big surprise to me to see people standing in his garden.

"Now I realise I saw the beginning of Beatlemania."

As hordes of teenage girls lined the street, desperate to catch a glimpse of the pop star and get an autograph, John and the rest of the residents on the street decided to use it to their advantage.

John said: "George Harrison would drive his white Jaguar down the road to come and pick Paul up. It would already have Lennon in the back. He would honk the horn, and Paul would run out and jump into the car.

"Fans followed him and tried to get as near to the car as possible, but George was quick and off and away with it. As time went on, it became more and more difficult for Paul to run through the crowds.

"Me and my friends had great fun though, because we used to sell daisies from his garden to the girls who came for a sixpence. When we ran out of daisies, we used to get them from elsewhere and say they were still from his garden.

"I think everyone on the road had some sort of scheme going on where they were making small amounts of money out of Paul being in The Beatles. Other than selling daisies, I personally didn’t take any other great interest. I used to wonder why so many people didn’t have anything else better to do. I think I thought it was quite strange, but you get used to it."

When Paul moved to Heswall in 1965, John thought that would be the end of visitors to his road, but found himself witnessing a new era.

He said: "We thought as far as our road was concerned that it was done with The Beatles.

"Nobody thought we would have visitors on the road to this day, because it doesn’t seem feasible. There’s no other group it carries on for; we just thought all the fans would follow him, but we still have plenty.

"It did stop for a while when Paul moved out and before the idea of tours, but when The National Trust bought it in 1995, it was like the second coming, which was tourism. It was unbelievable to see."

In 2012, residents on Forthlin Road petitioned the council to stop tourist coaches and reduce traffic on the street, but John says the hustle and bustle has never been an issue for him. <…> "It does divide the road, but it doesn’t annoy me. There was a petition, but we didn’t sign it because it didn’t bother us, and we quite like the novelty. If I ever meet someone, it’s one of the first things I tell them that I live on the road that Paul McCartney lived on.

"It’s always been a claim of fame of mine.

"The road has got so famous it’s so special. I went down to Mathew Street the other day and bought a fridge magnet for my own road. It’s part of Liverpool’s history, and it’s probably one of the biggest parts we’ll ever have.

"If I looked out my window or my front door, I would see people going up and down all day long. I think it’s going to be extremely famous for a long time. I can’t see any sign of it dying out."

BBC2 are taking us on a tour of Paul McCartney’s childhood home in ‘Hidden Treasures of the National Trust’ at 18:35 today (Saturday)!

Barry Miles, Many Years From Now