On July 6 and 9, 2022, celebrations took place to mark the 65th anniversary of the day that John Lennon met Paul McCartney in the Church Hall and the Lennon-McCartney partnership began!
July 6, 2022
65 years ago, the Quarrymen were invited to perform at St Peter’s Church fete because, as it does now, the Church wanted to give its young people a chance and make sure that they felt welcome and included. So, rather than host a concert on the 65th anniversary of the day that John met Paul (the concert took place on Saturday July 9!), the events on July 6 were designed to be welcoming and inclusive, just as they were back on that historic and ‘fateful’ day.!
The Church Hall was open with free entry from 10am to 10pm, and included a Beatles-themed singalong, led by Norma Townley from St Peter’s Church, and an Open Mic night in the evening. The Fab Few opened the show, and made sure that they performed Twenty Flight Rock at 6.50pm, which is when the evidence suggests that Paul played the song for John back in 1957. Other musical contributions came from Paul Connor, Mick Francis, Kevin McGinn, Ed Harris, Hoonose, Pete Kiddle, Ian Gaskill, The Steps and Jimmy ‘Uke’ Byrne, before a grand finale in which all the musicians joined in a jam session.
July 9, 2022
The main event for the 65th anniversary of the day that John met Paul, came on Saturday July 9, when St Peter’s Church Hall rocked to the sounds of skiffle, rock and roll, and Merseybeat!
The stars of the night were the legendary Quarrymen, who returned to perform in the Church Hall just as they had 65 years ago. Some lucky visitors during the day were delighted to chat with Rod and Colin, and even were able to watch some of the soundcheck!
The Quarrymen, as always, were fabulous and they seemed to be having as much fun as everyone in the audience.
The first guests arrive 
The Quarrymen take to the stage (well, the floor!) 
As always, the Quarrymen invited members of the audience to join them for a song or two! 
Pam enjoying the show. She was a flower girl at the fete on July 6, 1957! 
We celebrated a couple of birthdays too! 
Another birthday girl! 
Some very special guests enjoying the show. 
The audience for the anniversary concert was limited to 65 ticket holders plus some invited guests, including John’s sister, Julia, and Beatles Fan Club secretary, Freda Kelly.
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. Most of the panes were made available for sale by St Peter’s Church, but the edge pieces were saved for this special occasion.
The Quarrymen were supported by The Shakers, back by popular demand after their performance at the Celebration of Community during the 60th anniversary celebrations. The Shakers are the Cavern’s resident Merseybeat group and leading exponents of the original Mersey Sound in Liverpool today!
It was an amazing and truly special evening and I want to say thank you to all those who worked so hard to make it possible:
— The Quarrymen – Rod Davies, Len Garry, Colin Hall and Chas Newby
— The Shakers, the Cavern’s resident Merseybeat band who, for one night only, left the most famous club in the world and returned to the place where it all began.
— The Titanic Hotel, The Cavern Club, the Liverpool Beatles Museum and Cavern Mecca – for donating some fabulous prizes for the raffle.
— Perfect Platters – for an amazing buffet!
— Alix Brown – the official photographer for the night
— Karen Allen and Chris Campbell – especially for all the hard work in preparing the surprise gifts for our guests on the night
— Graham Paisley – who came out of retirement for the night to oversee everything
— Jo Kneale – for the wonderful flower centrepieces on each table
— The St Peter’s Team – Rachel and Nick Chevis, Joanne and Gary Barwise and Dom Abba
— Julia Baird and Freda Kelly – for partying with us
— The support from our local councillors, Barbara Mace, Kris Brown and Malcolm Kelly, Jean and Charles Davies from the Woolton Society; and representatives from the Beatles industry in Liverpool, especially Jean Catherall and Colin Hall from Mendips.
— And last, but certainly not least, each and every person who came on the night to celebrate this very special anniversary and made the night the wonderful and memorable occasion that it was!
