Woolton Walking Tour
Follow John Lennon's footsteps to explore places from his childhood with our Woolton Walking Tour.
Starting at Strawberry Field, our self-guided walking tour visits places from John's childhood in Woolton and where it all began for The Beatles. Previously a Salvation Army children's home where John Lennon found solace playing in the gardens as a child, Strawberry Field is now a visitor centre complete with exhibition, garden, cafe and gift shop. It exists as a place of sanctuary for visitors and provides support to young adults who are experiencing barriers to employment with our 'Steps at Strawberry Field' programmes.
About the Tour
Using Strawberry Field as a base, venture into the village that John grew up in and where he met Paul McCartney for the first time. You are welcome to park in our free car park and use our amenities. Why not begin your tour in our visitor exhibition and learn the history of Strawberry Field and why John Lennon found it so inspiring. Get your tickets here.
The walking tour is an approximate 5km loop and should take around 90 minutes. Please be mindful that there are some hills and pavements may be narrow in some places. On your return, why not stop for some refreshments in the Imagine More café or relax in our garden.
You can pick up our Woolton Walking Tour map for free from the Strawberry Field gift shop or download it and print it yourself.
Learn more about John's childhood places
Strawberry Field
Strawberry Field is a visitor attraction and training centre owned by The Salvation Army. It has a café, garden, gift shop and exhibition that tells the story of the history of Strawberry Field and its connection to John Lennon. This is where the self-guided tour of Woolton begins.
Feel free to use our car park and amenities. The best way to start your tour is taking our media-guided exhibition and garden tour. Here you will learn the history of The Salvation Army, Strawberry Field, John Lennon’s childhood and the writing and recording of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. Inside you can find the piano John used to compose and record ‘Imagine’ and delve into interviews with friends, family and former Strawberry Field residents who knew John. Outside you can explore the very gardens where John once found sanctuary.
Strawberry Field was a gothic style mansion originally owned by a wealthy shipping magnate named George Warren. In 1912, it was transferred to another wealthy merchant whose widow sold it to The Salvation Army in 1934. In 1936 Strawberry Field was opened as a children’s home for girls, later accepting boys. Due to dry rot and structural problems, the Victorian house was demolished in 1973, but Strawberry Field continued to house some of Liverpool’s most vulnerable children in purpose-built units. By 2005, the service provision for care changed and the Strawberry Field children’s home closed. You can learn more about the Strawberry Field here.
In 2019, The Salvation Army opened the Strawberry Field ‘gates for good’, offering a place of sanctuary for all who visit. All money spent at Strawberry Field is reinvested into the community and funds ‘Steps at Strawberry Field’, a series of programmes aimed at young adults with barriers to employment.
Once you have explored Strawberry Field, head off on your self-guided tour to explore places of significance to John Lennon's childhood.
Woolton Hill Service Reservoir
Woolton Hill Service Reservoir marks the highest point in Liverpool at 292ft (89m). It was constructed between 1879 and 1902, at a time when Liverpool was experiencing rapid industrial growth and urbanisation and therefore needed a reliable water supply. It serves as buffer storage and supplies water on demand by gravity, ensuring consistent water supply to the local area.
Reynolds Park
Reynolds Park is a nice green spot for a stroll or a rest. It’s a beautiful 14-acre park complete with a walled garden, wildflower meadows and woodland areas with rhododendron footpaths. When John Lennon was a teenager he would play in this park with his gang ‘The Outlaws’. It is also said that this is where John met his first girlfriend Barbara Baker, although initially she fancied John’s friend and future Quarry Men bandmate, Len Garry.
Bishop Martin Church of England Primary School
Behind the hedge where the school now stands used to be an open field where the Quarrymen played on a makeshift stage at St Peter’s Church’s summer fete. It was at this fete on 6th July 1957 that Paul McCartney first saw John Lennon perform. The Quarry Men was a skiffle band made up of a 15 year old John on guitar and vocals, Eric Griffiths on Guitar, Colin Hanton on drums, Rod Davis on banjo, Pete Shotton on washboard and Len Garry on tea-chest bass. All band members attended Quarry Bank High School, hence the name The Quarry Men.
St Peter’s Church
St Peter’s Church is an Anglican parish church, originally built in 1826 to hold 200 people. The church soon became too small for Woolton’s growing population, so a new, much larger church was built in 1885 and was consecrated the following year. The church is a Grade II listed building, designed by renowned architect Aldridge and noted for its Gothic Revival style. You may recognise it from the film ‘Yesterday’. As a child, John Lennon attended Sunday school at St Peter’s and would sometimes ring the church bell. It was this church that hosted the summer fete where John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met.
St Peter’s Churchyard
There are a number of notable graves in St Peter’s Churchyard, including George Warren, who was the original owner of the building which would become Strawberry Field children’s home, and George Toogood Smith, John Lennon’s uncle. Uncle George was a strong male presence in John’s life and was responsible for teaching him to read, draw and paint. Uncle George also bought John his first harmonica!
Another grave in the church grounds is that of Eleanor Rigby. Knowing that John and Paul frequented this area during their teenage years, it would make sense that it is the Eleanor Rigby from Paul’s song of the same name. However, Paul claims he chose the name Eleanor because of his ‘Help!’ co-star Eleanor Bron. He does accept that the name Eleanor Rigby might have slipped into his subconscious during his youth and held some inspiration for the song.
St Peter’s Church Hall
It was here that John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met on 6th July 1957. Paul had been invited to watch the Quarry Men perform by a mutual friend Ivan Vaughan, who later introduced them. Paul showed John a technique for tuning his guitar and played a few songs by Little Richard – John’s favourite! Following this meeting, John and Pete Shotton discussed if they should ask Paul to join the Quarry Men, and a few weeks later it was as good as done.
Woolton Picture House
Opened in 1926, Woolton Picture House is Liverpool’s oldest independent cinema and the only single-screen cinema in the city. John and his friends would come here to watch comedies and westerns. In 2008, Woolton Picture House became the set for the film ‘Nowhere Boy’, a biopic about John Lennon’s youth. Despite being voted in the top 20 ‘Best Film Venues in Britain’ and being much loved by the community, Woolton Picture House has been closed since 2020. However, plans have been submitted to Liverpool City Council to reopen the site, which we very much look forward to.
Woolton Baths
This community swimming baths opened in 1893 and is a rare example of a small, late 19th-century village swimming pool. It’s a Grade II listed building with striking features such as its Baroque Revival style entrance. The pool was home to Woolton Swimming Club, which was founded not long after the baths opened making it one of the oldest swimming clubs in the country. It is likely that John Lennon swam here as a child, as did many of the village children.
Woolton Library
Another Grade II listed building, Woolton Library was built in 1834, although it was originally a Methodist chapel. It opened as a library in 1929 and operated until 2012, when it sadly closed due to council cutbacks. Aunt Mimi wanted to encourage John’s reading, so she likely brought him to this library.
Dairy Cottage
Dairy Cottage, built in 1839, was owned by John’s Uncle George who operated a family dairy farm. The cottage was originally part of a guest house, which later became the shop for the farm. John stayed here with his mother Julia when he was two and would regularly return throughout his life to visit other family members living at the cottage.
The Old Quarry
The Old Quarry was one of several quarries in the Woolton area which played a crucial role in the development of Liverpool and its surrounding areas. This quarry provided the red sandstone you will see in buildings across the city, such as Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and many of the buildings on this walking tour.
88 Vale Road
88 Vale Road is the childhood home of original Quarry Men member Nigel Walley. Nigel was one of four tea-chest bass players in the group, and later the group's manager. Although Nigel didn’t secure many gigs for the band, he was able to land them their first performance at the Cavern Club on 7th August 1957 through a connection at the golf club.
84 Vale Road
This is Ivan Vaughan’s house. Ivan was John's childhood friend, living just around the corner, and Paul's school friend. He was the person responsible for introducing the two of them at St Peter’s Church Hall. Ivan sometimes played tea-chest bass in The Quarry Men.
As you walk from Vale Road to Menlove Ave, you will see the wall that used to border the original Strawberry Field grounds. Is this where John used to climb into Strawberry Field?
251 Menlove Ave
This is the house that John grew up in with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. The house is nicknamed ‘Mendips’ after Mendip Hills, a series of limestone-baring hills in Somerset. John lived here from 1946 to 1963. In the early years, The Beatles would use the house as a practice space and it was here that John and Paul wrote their first number one hit ‘Please Please Me’. Mendips is now owned by The National Trust who run The Beatles’ Childhood Home Tours to both Mendips and Paul McCartney’s childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road.
If you have time, why not visit Calderstones Park too?
Calderstones Park
This 94 acre park is where John spent much of his youth. The park is home to ancient Calder stones which are believed to be older than Stonehenge. These megaliths are thought to have been part of a burial chamber dating back to the Neolithic period. Calderstones Park is also home to 2019’s ‘Tree of the Year’. The Allerton Oak is over 500 years old, and legend has it that the huge crack in the tree was caused by a gunpowder ship explosion on the River Mersey in 1864. Within the park sits the Calderstones Mansion House, said to have inspired John Lennon to buy Tittenhurst Park which resembles it. The Mansion House is now operated by The Reader.
Why not end your tour with a well-deserved cup of tea in the Imagine More Cafe back at Strawberry Field? We hope you have enjoyed your self-guided tour of John Lennon’s Woolton.