The Quarrymen (and Friends) in Concert at St Peter’s Church Hall

The Quarrymen in Concert!! Friday Augusts 23, 2024!

Tickets – £25.00 each – on sale HERE

From 8pm on Friday, August 23, John Lennon’s Original Quarrymen, and Friends, will ‘get back’ to where it all began, when they play a special concert in St Peter’s Church Hall, Woolton – just as they did on July 6, 1957, on the day that John met Paul and the Lennon-McCartney partnership began!

The current Quarrymen lineup consists of Colin Hanton on drums – who played with John, Paul and George – Rod Davis now on guitar, banjo player in the Quarrymen on the day John met Paul, plus Henry Duff Lowe on keyboards – the son of John Duff Lowe who played piano on the 1958 recording of “In Spite of all the Danger” and David Bedford, Liverpool Beatles’ author, on bass.

The Quarrymen will be supported by local musician, Edward Rhodes, who also opened the show when the Quarrymen played at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool last summer.  This 18-year-old singer-songwriter, frontman of the indie rock band Pendant, was the natural choice to join the skiffle legends at St Peter’s.  A huge fan of Rock and Roll, expect Edward’s set to be packed with classics from the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Ronettes, as well as some original songs.

The event is seated (general admission) but there will be room to get up and dance too!  Non-alcoholic refreshments will be available to purchase, but you are welcome to bring your own drinks too (of any variety)!  There will also be the chance to purchase exclusive merchandise from St Peter’s Church and the Quarrymen – as well as photo and signing opportunities.  The venue is fully accessible but please do get in touch if you have any access requirements or require a reserved (Blue Badge) parking space.

Provisional running order (timings subject to change):

  • 7.30pm – Doors Open
  • 8pm – Edward Rhodes
  • 8.30 – Interval
  • 8.45pm – The Quarrymen and Friends
  • 10.30pm – Concert ends

St Peter’s Church Hall will be open to the public from 10.30am to 2.30pm, and there will be free tours of St Peter’s Church and Churchyard offered from 4pm to 6pm.  Woolton village offers plenty of options for food (and drink) and we encourage you to check these out before returning to the Church Hall for 7.30pm when the doors will open for ticket-holders.

Free parking is available on Church Road. The venue is fully accessible and there are limited reserved spaces for Blue Badge holders.

Tickets are available online or by telephone (for telephone bookings, please call 0333 666 3366; booking fees may apply).  There are no additional fees for online bookings.  Please note that all ticket sales are final and tickets are non-transferable.  

If you have any questions, please contact heritagestpeters@gmail.com and we will do our best to help!

Photo credits: Dave Nelson, Jon Rhodes, Alix Brown, St Peter’s Church

The Legendary Drums and Drumming of a STARR!

If you love drums and drumming, this is the event for you! A celebration of the drumming of Ringo Starr, with special guest Colin Hanton, at St Peter’s Church Hall, Woolton – the place where it all began. 

Saturday February 3, 2024, from 10.15 to 4pm

We have just learned that Colin Hanton will not be attending the this event and apologise for publishing misleading information. If you have any queries about the event, please direct them to the event organisers.

Tickets only £16 – Available HERE!

Doors open at 10.15 am. Event starts at 11am.

Remembering Chas Newby

Chas Newby was a great friend of everyone at St Peter’s Church, and we were absolutely delighted when the Quarrymen, with Chas on bass, agreed to play at our concert celebrating the 65th anniversary of the day that John met Paul in our Church Hall. We will always remember your kindness, your generosity, your gentle smile, and the music that brought so much happiness. May you rest in peace.

When John Met Paul 65 – Anniversary Gifts for Sale!

On July 9, 2022, St Peter’s Church Hall hosted a very special concert by John Lennon’s Quarrymen to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the day that John Lennon met Paul McCartney at the Church fete (July 6. 1957).

This is your chance to own a UNIQUE piece of memorabilia from that anniversary celebration! (Well, two chances!)

The audience for the anniversary concert was limited to 65 ticket holders plus some invited guests, including John’s sister, Julia, and all guests received a small anniversary gift as a memento of the occasion.

The gift was a piece of the stained glass from the windows that were part of St Peter’s Church Hall from the time the hall was built in the 1840s until they were removed because of safety concerns in 2020. The stained glass panels were all carefully removed and dismantled and each piece of glass saved.

Much of the glass has been made available for sale via the St Peter’s ebay shop or to visitors who visit the hall in person. However, the edge pieces (small yellow/gold pieces approximately 2.5cm (1″) wide) were not been offered for sale. Instead, we decided to give them to the guests who attended the anniversary party.

After the anniversary party, TWO gift boxes were left over, and these are being offered for sale via our eBay shop in an auction format.

One of the auctions is very special indeed (link here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394290735076

The highest bidder in this eBay auction will recieve:

  1. A gift box containing a piece of stained glass from St Peter’s Church Hall. This piece of class is slightly curved and came from the top ‘arch’ section of the window
  2. A signed copy of the set-list from the 65th anniversary concert, which also has a unique doodle by Colin Hanton!
  3. A reproduction print of the front, back and centre pages of the programme from the St Peter’s garden fete on July 6. 1957

All income from this listing will be donated to Parkinson’s Research!
(Confirmation of the donation will be sent to the winning bidder if requested.)

The second listing (link here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394290734571?hash=item5bcd8f25eb:g:VDAAAOSwCvJjTCfr ) is for one of the anniversary gift boxes only.

We’re happy to answer any questions about these listings (or any of the items in our eBay shop). Email us at heritagestpeters@gmail.com

Help! We need somebody!

The Beatles/Heritage team at St Peter’s is made up of a very small group of volunteers and we could do with some more help, particularly with our social media.

If you regularly use facebook or twitter and could spare a few minutes every now and then, we could really appreciate your help.

All we’d ask is that you post/share on our facebook or twitter accounts when you can. It doesn’t need to be every day – just as often as you can! And because this is all online, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world!

If you think you can help, or would like to know more, please email us on heritagestpeters@gmail.com

Thank you!

Congratulations to Liverpool!

A huge congratulations to everyone in Liverpool for winning the bid to host Eurovision 2023 on behalf of Ukraine! We’ll have the Church Hall open during the day on Friday May 12 and Saturday May 13 and we’re hoping to welcome Eurovision fans – and musicians!! – to the place where the Beatles began!

October 8 – Church Hall Open

St Peter’s Church Hall will be open to visitors on Saturday October 8 in honour of John Lennon’s birthday on Sunday. We’ll be open from 10am. Entry is free!

You’ll be able to stand on the spot where Paul auditioned to join the Quarrymen on July 6, 1957, and we have a range of exclusive St Peter’s and Quarrymen merchandise for sale.

Heritage Open Day – September 17

This is the first year that St Peter’s Church has taken part in the events for Heritage Open Days, 2022. We had a full day of events and tours planned but, under the current circumstances and, out of respect for the late Queen, we have decided to change our programme slightly.

We will be participating this year but our priority will be to offer the Church as a place of peace for anyone who would like to share in the beauty of the building and reflect on the Queen’s long life and years of service, and to pray for our new King, Charles III, as he begins his reign. There will also be an opportunity to light a candle if you wish, or sign a Book of Condolences.

The Church will be open from 10am to 1pm; full details can be found here: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/heritage-stpeters-woolton

The Church Hall will also be open to visitors from 10am to 1pm as it is a very important part of the history and heritage of St Peter’s Church.

Entry is free and everyone is welcome.

We hope you understand why we have made this decision, and look forward to welcoming you to St Peter’s for Heritage Open Day in 2023 for a full programme of events and celebrations!

Len Garry

Len Garry of the Quarrymen is a real friend to St Peter’s and has helped us so much over the years, but now it’s our turn to try to help him.

Len with the rest of the Quarrymen at St Peter’s for the 65th anniversary celebrations this year!

Jackie Spencer sees him quite often as a special guest on her tours, and she shared this: “I know I’ve shared a few fundraising things in the past, but this one is very personal and dear to my heart. Anyone who has enjoyed meet and greets with Quarryman Len Garry lately will realise that he is struggling with mobility, and to keep getting out there to see and perform for Beatles Fans he now needs support in the form.of a mobility scooter. If anyone can help with a donation please do. Len Garry is a legend.”

This cause is very dear to our heart too, and we agree that Len is a legend. We completely understand that times are tough right now, but please help if you can! Even a pound or two can make a difference to a truly lovely man.

You can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/len-garry-3?utm_id=2&utm_term=qvqXwYA8N

Len the Legend in St Peter’s Church Hall