At approximately 6.50pm on Saturday July 6, 1957 — 69 years ago today — a meeting took place in St Peter’s Church Hall between two teenagers that would go on to rock the world! Introduced by Ivan Vaughan, a mutual friend, the young John Lennon and Paul McCartney connected musically for the first time and the Lennon-McCartney partnership was born. That partnership would lead to the greatest band of all time — the Beatles — and although there are many other places in Woolton, in Liverpool, in the UK, and around the world that are equally important in the history of the Beatles, it was in St Peter’s Church Hall that it truly began. As John himself said, “that was the day, the day I met Paul, that it started moving.”

It therefore seemed appropriate to choose this day and time to publish this blog post and officially launch my new website: St Peter’s Church, Woolton: History and Heritage (Heritage by Dr Donna).

I have always been a Beatles fan and, when I moved to Merseyside in 2007, I couldn’t wait to visit all the Beatles sites. This, of course, included St Peter’s Church and I first met Graham Paisley and Dave Peters in 2008. When I moved to Woolton in 2010, they asked me to help them with the numerous Beatles fans who visited St Peter’s. For over 15 years, it has been my privilege to do so, and to continue Dave and Graham’s work and legacy after Dave’s sad death and Graham’s retirement.

In that time, I have collected numerous photos, anecdotes and research material and, while I hope to continue to share the beauty and importance of St Peter’s with those who visit in person, I also wanted to find a way to share everything that I have learned with the wider world. Hence this website — in which I aim to create a digital archive so that the stories that have been shared with me, and the material that I’ve been given or that I’ve gathered, will be preserved, and is available for everyone.

This is an act of love and my personal tribute to the history and heritage of St Peter’s Church. For the official Church website, click HERE.

None of this would have been possible without the support and sponsorship of Doug Schwab and Liverpool West Productions and I am truly grateful!

This endeavour is driven by my passion for history and for the Beatles, my love for St Peter’s Church, and because of my job as a Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Chester and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. You will see, if you look through the menu at the top, that a big focus of my website is the connection between the Beatles and St Peter’s (obviously!!) but I also want to share bits of the history and heritage of the Church itself, including tributes to all those who are mentioned on the Church War Memorial. This last aim is very important to me as it allows me to continue the work of the late Tom Canty, a true gentleman and cherished friend.

As you look through the pages, you will see that many of them are still ‘under construction.’ This is because I have hundreds of digitised items that still need to be uploaded, as well as bags (literally) of material that need to be sorted and scanned. This will be done over the next year or so (or as soon as I can!), with updates shared via the ‘latest news’ blog posts.

However, I was persuaded by various friends, Beatle fans and others involved in the Beatles industry, to launch the website as it currently stands so that the material that I have already prepared can be shared, rather than wait any longer. I appreciate your patience and ongoing support as the work continues!

So, at 6.50pm on Monday July 6, 2026, to mark the 69th anniversary of the day that the world changed, welcome to my website! And thank you!

Donna Jackson