Ringo Starr's old house to be taken down and stored as 11 streets are demolished

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | September 19, 2005 | Charles Clover

[Stoat]

Ringo Starr's old house to be taken down and stored as 11 streets are demolished

By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
(Filed: 19/09/2005)

The house where Ringo Starr was born will be taken down brick by brick and preserved, after an entire quarter of Toxteth is demolished around it, Liverpool City Council has announced.

The city's housing chiefs have been bitterly criticised by heritage groups and residents for plans to demolish the first home of the Beatles drummer in the Welsh Streets area.

	Saved: the former home of Ringo Starr in Madryn Street

The demolition is part of a £54 million regeneration plan to be funded under John Prescott's housing market renewal initiative.

The decision finally brought to an end months of uncertainty over the future of the 11 roads in Toxteth.

Flo Clucas, executive member for housing, said: "There has been a lot of speculation about Ringo Starr's former home in Madryn Street. I have asked officers to ensure that the property is taken down and stored."

Most of the 60 residents who packed the town hall to hear the decision held bright orange "demolish" posters and cheered at the decision.

Heritage groups reacted with disbelief to the decision to demolish the Welsh Streets - including a house ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme refurbished for £24,000 earlier this year.

Dr Peter Brown, chairman of Merseyside Civic Society, said of the council's decision: "For sheer surrealism this beats Yellow Submarine hands down - a ribald letter to the Telegraph months ago suggested as a joke the council take down Ringo's birthplace and re-erect it in their new 'Museum of Liverpool Life'; Cllr Clucas seems to have missed the irony. People like the city's authentic character, not packaged replicas."

[Stoat]

So, they're going to disassemble Ringo Starr's old house brick by brick and STORE IT, apparently with the goal of reassembling it one day at a new location.

Should I assume that each brick will be numbered and mapped via 3-D CAD so that each brick will be returned to it's original location relative to the others?

What about the pipes, conduit, wiring and other elements of the house?

Lawdy, this just sounds soooooo weird to me.

[Libloather]

I am the Starr...

[Libloather]

Keu-keu-kachoo...

[English Nationalist]

Why only 11 streets? Liverpool in it's entirety is due for demolition.

[nk_47]

"It Don't Come Easy"...

[SpringheelJack]

Don't think Ringo's worth it. I mean, I realize these people grew up during that time and are on a nostalgia buzz, but 50 years from now is anybody going to care?

[varyouga]

Just Damn! And I though the tax-n-spend Liberals were running wild over here.

[RegulatorCountry]

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

[bethtopaz]

I went to England in '97 to visit my best friend and had the opportunity to take the Magical Mystery Bus Tour ride. It was pretty cool, actually. We got to see the houses where each of the Beatles grew up, saw the orphanage "Strawberry Fields" which has a cast-iron gate painted bright red, the street "Penny Lane" where they hung out as teenagers, complete with the firehouse and barber shop, and ended up at The Cavern, where they were discovered. Since they didn't serve alcohol at The Cavern, the Beatles used to drink at the pub next door, "The Grapes." I'm not real big on group tours, but I'm glad I took this one. The tour guide told us the story about how John Lennon's aunt raised him. When he showed an interest in the guitar as a young teenager, she said, "You know John, the guitar's nice and all, but you can't make a living at it." After he became famous, he built her a house and put that saying on a bronze placard on the fireplace.

[Stoat]

Why only 11 streets? Liverpool in it's entirety is due for demolition.

From the article:

"People like the city's authentic character, not packaged replicas."

Having visited England but not Liverpool I will have to go by your description of the city.  Do I understand, then, that there are apparently people there who view dirty, ancient, tumbledown industrial tracts as an "authentic character" worth preserving at any cost?

Is there something in the water there that is making them completely insane?

[az_gila]

Hey - not all of it, my parents still live there!!

The suburbs are still nice, but Toxteth has a bad reputation (as in riots..)

ga

[Stoat]

Don't think Ringo's worth it. I mean, I realize these people grew up during that time and are on a nostalgia buzz, but 50 years from now is anybody going to care?

Perhaps I would feel differently if I were a huge Beatles fan, but I can hardly imagine it.  The music may have been interesting at that particular moment in time, but I don't see an eternal value to it....certainly not worthy of this sort of preservation effort.  Preserve the music, that's fine.  But an old brick house?  I could see it (maybe) if it was the home of an absolutely 'essential' figure of profound historical significance, but the Beatles' drummer?   "pounding furry stoat head on table"

[battlegearboat]

Bullocks!

[SpringheelJack]

But an old brick house? I could see it (maybe) if it was the home of an absolutely 'essential' figure of profound historical significance, but the Beatles' drummer?

Is the birthplace of Stephen Foster still a big attraction? He was probably as close as anybody came to being the Beatles of the 19th century.

[Stoat]

I'm sure that you had a good time and that it was quite meaningful to you because I'm sure that you were (or remain) a huge Beatles fan, but do you honestly think that it's appropriate to extend this sort of near-religious reverence to the drummer of a pop band? They are going to VERY CAREFULLY take the entire house apart brick by brick and STORE IT, apparently to reassemble at an as-yet undisclosed location.
If you were a resident of Liverpool, would you want your tax money spent in this way? Just curious.

[SpringheelJack]

Bullocks!

Bullocks to what?

[Stoat]

Is the birthplace of Stephen Foster still a big attraction? He was probably as close as anybody came to being the Beatles of the 19th century

Right off the top of my head, I don't know what the typical gate receipts are for the Foster Home Tour.  However, I would suggest that Foster's music has more 'lasting' value, but that's just my own personal bias I suppose.

Would it be appropriate for tax money to be spent on carefully disassembling the Foster house, brick by brick, storing it and reassembling it exactly as it was at a different location?

I'm not sure. 

[bethtopaz]

I'm sorry if you misunderstood my comments as approving of taking the house down and storing it. I really don't care what they do with the house. I was just relating my experience in Liverpool, since this seemed to be kind of a light-hearted thread.

[SpringheelJack]

However, I would suggest that Foster's music has more 'lasting' value, but that's just my own personal bias I suppose.

I don't know. Foster mostly survives on a few songs, as I suspect the Beatles will. Things like "Michelle" and "Yesterday" will probably stay sung for as long as "Oh Susanna" and "Camptown Races" have. But things like A&E putting the Beatles on a list of the "100 Most Important People of the Last Millenium" will die a deserved death with the Baby Boomers.

[Stoat]

No apology necessary, it is I who should apologize for apparently coming across in the wrong way.

"extending furry stoat paw for a polite handshake"

This is definitely a lighthearted thread and your words and presence are all welcome here.

I suppose that I may have come across as overly strident in my tone because I am still rather baffled by this whole thing.

Please forgive me?