Live Rural NL blogger visits Penny Lane

There are places I remember, all my life…the Great Northern Peninsula will be one of those places. The line is from one of my favorite  songs, “In My Life” by the Beatles. For many years now I’ve love their music, but certainly didn’t appreciate Paul McCartney’s stance with former wife, Heather Mills-McCartney about the Canadian seal hunt in 2006. I will continue to support this humane hunt; it has been a tradition in my family for centuries as a means of both income, subsistence and necessity.

After living in Europe during 2007, I travelled nearly 30 countries but did not make it to Liverpool, UK. It would be 5 years later, September 2012 that I would walked Penny Lane.

While on a taxi tour with an American, Aussie and two die-hard seniors from New Zealand got a get day trip experiencing many facts about the Beatles, former residences, milestone moments in the city and where they got inspiration for many of their sounds. It had to have been the best 10 pounds I spent, unless one counts the pints of English ale.

In Penny there is a Barber Shop…we had the opportunity to stop in and say hello.

Strawberry Fields Forever…nothing to get hung about despite what John’s Aunt had told him.

A visit to the church yard to see all the lonely people – Eleanor Rigby Father McKenzie (Vicar McKenzie)

We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, yellow submarine…

This one was belted out from all of us while on the taxi tour. We’ve played a few of these tunes at home on the Great Northern Peninsula on the Beatles edition of Rockband. I’m typically the drummer, but certainly can not compare to Ringo Starr. It’s pretty inspiring when music crosses generations. I like many of the bands my parents did and my mother will even chime in with her rendition of eight days a week on Rockband. I’m not sure that we will sell any platinum albums, but we certainly know how to have fun.

There is something wonderful and uplifting about music. We certainly have that ability in Newfoundland & Labrador to write, play and sing about our way of life through our traditional Newfoundland folk music. Where do you get your inspiration? For me, I get inspired by the sights, sounds and people around me and write about them on this blog, liveruralnl.com.

I later toured the museum of The Beatles Story, which had memorabilia, story boards and displays tracing the group through the years.

That evening I decided to visit the Cavern, where The Beatles would perform in their early years. Live music was played covering many of my choice Beatles songs.

A wonderful evening. I met two Brits, who worked for the Red Cross (one who resembled a local Telegram reporter) and a Spanish lady as we traced the footsteps of the Beatles after the band finished at the Cavern. We would go to the Grapes and chat with other locals. It made for a memorable last evening in Liverpool. The Beatles story is a magical experience and I would recommend to fans, if you can  take the time to visit this modern-day city.

It is amazing sometimes how you can live in a place, as I did in London and not take the time to visit Liverpool. However, I am not richer for having had the experience and most likely the wait made me appreciate it even more. For those of you that have yet to experience the Great Northern Peninsula, I encourage you to come to the very Northern Tip…it is well worth the experience, maybe you too will find your inspiration around every corner.

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