After the recent Kenwood binge, a little digestif - namely, a fascinating pic of 7 Cavendish Avenue, dating from 1961. According to Fount of all Knowledge (in this area, at any rate) The Beatles' London, Paul bought the place from a doctor called Desmond O' Neill, and it's therefore quite likely that the doc was the owner when this snap was snapped. Note - no gate: It was Mr McCartney who installed one, for obvious reasons, before moving in.
In 1961, o' course, Paul is mainly in Hamburg and Liverpool, consolidating the Beatles' growing reputation.
And all the while, 7 Cavendish Avenue sits there, waiting...
Also below, another shot from 1974, showing the more familiar view, including Maccagate the first. The gate that's there now is a different one (for any collectors of gate trivia, of whom I trust there are none).
Many thanks to Julian Carr for his sterling picture research, and to the City of London, London Metropolitan Archive for permission to use these pics.
How interesting to see the Victorian street lamp at the front. I'm sure I read in Many Years From Now that Paul had that installed?
ReplyDeleteI wondered about that before I posted, but I don't have access to my ridiculous pile of Beatles-related tomes at the moment, so I thought I'd just post and let someone else worry (or not) about it.
ReplyDeleteBut you are quite right.
Almost every picture tends to pose more questions than it answers, in this case, as in others.
Okay .. hand up, i'm a Cav gate freak.
ReplyDeleteThe lamp was moved into the front yard, to the right of the door, on a post however.
I lament the loss of the old green gates, you can see the wear on them where they have been scrubbed clean over and over, now Paul has the posh timber gates, i guess he supposes his fans are sniffing erectile medication these days, instead of spray paint cans.
How old is the house
ReplyDelete