Ringo Starr's old Liverpool home drums up plenty of interest

Updated

Ringo Starr's old Liverpool home beat its asking price to sell for £70,000 at an auction on Thursday night.

The modest Victorian mid-terrace is where the boyhood Beatle moved with his mother Elsie Starkey at the time his parents separated in 1943, when he was aged three.

Starr learned to play drums in the two-up, two-down terrace at 10 Admiral Grove in the Toxteth area of inner-city Liverpool.

Starr, then plain old Richard Starkey, was born at nearby 9 Madryn Street but lived most of his childhood and formative years at the Admiral Grove property, celebrating his 21st birthday party there and getting married from the property, with his home becoming a regular haunt for the Fab Four before finding fame and fortune.

Starr paid homage to his home in his 2008 song Liverpool 8, and The Empress pub at the end of Admiral Grove appeared on the front of Ringo's first solo album, Sentimental Journey.

The house, which had a guide price of £55,000, is owned by a housing association, Plus Dane, who say proceeds will be ploughed back into housing in the local area.

Claire Griffiths, Plus Dane's executive director of property, said: "From the community's point of view, it's good to see that the forthcoming auction is attracting so much interest because we've promised that any profits we make from the sale of Ringo Starr's childhood home will be reinvested back into Plus Dane homes in the L8 area.

"We have taken on board the concerns of local residents and have put specific restrictions on the sale of the house so it cannot become a tourist attraction or museum."

The old homes of three of the other band members have gone up for auction in recent years.

Last year, Sir Paul McCartney's childhood home at 72 Western Avenue, Speke, sold in six minutes to a local mystery buyer for £150,000.

In October 2013, John Lennon's childhood home at 9 Newcastle Road in Wavertree sold at auction for £480,000, and in October 2014 George Harrison's former home, 26 Upton Green, in Speke, sold for £156,000.

Tony Webber, auction surveyor, Countrywide Property Auctions, said: "There has already been a great deal of interest in this property from potential buyers in the UK and internationally and it is a privilege to be dealing with such an iconic piece of Liverpool and the Beatles' history.

"It is a truly unique property and you can sense the excitement building on the lead up to auction night."

Part of the official Beatles Tour, the property still attracts fans daily.

It went under the hammer at the Fab Four's old stomping ground, The Cavern Club in Liverpool.

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