Kenwood: 3D sunroom!

Here's a not so wee Christmas pressie: Chris Sileo, the not so wee genius that he is, has released the latest version of his 3D sunroom. A work in progress, still, but now an "explorable" one.

For once, enough o' my blather - go to the link at the end of this sentence (click on the 4 arrows on the menu bar when you get there to centre it), and prepare to be astoundergast... 3D SUNROOM!

(Chris also has a Facebook page up and running showing some of his other works in progress. Head over there and "Friend" him, or whatever you do on these things: The Beatles in 3D on Facebook)

Whaddon House, SW1: Flat 15.

Whaddon House, on Williams Mews, London SW1, saw Fabs related goings and comings during the peak mania era; Ringo and George both lived here in '64 and early '65, variously in flats 5, 6 and 7. This was mainly because Eppy had already moved in circa late 1963, occupying the top floor flat number 15, and it is this, dearly beloved, with which we occupy us-selves today.
Above, Brian in morning dress, apparently off to Ascot, no doubt to lose (or even win) an enormous sum on the fillies. Taken on the balcony immediately outside the living room, note the tiling intact to this day:

A Bri-eye view:

Heading in to the living room, and this pic of John captures a corner likewise more or less unchanged:

As for the rest of the room, doing that auld "then unt nau" raises the head of dread renovation once again. Note the appearance of doors in the other corner, where previously there were none:

This pic of ver Fabs with Lonnie Trimble, Brian's housekeeper, gives a wider view of the same spot. The modern doors lead to the kitchen. It seems that at some point the living room has been widened out, not to mention, in common with much modern renovation, blanded out, with various quirks removed in order to leave a bigger and more symmetrically shaped room.
I'd guess the door visible here in the Trimble pic would have been the original kitchen entrance (with the kitchen at that point being of a larger size); renovation has seen a whole section of wall (and kitchen) removed to create more floor-space in the living room, with the new kitchen entrance knocked through in that far corner:

Something similar has occurred in the other corner of the room; note the jutting out bit of wall and double-doors in the Eppy pic. Again, that section of wall has been removed and a single door installed, for the same reasons as above - in order to create more living room floor space:

Les Fabs in pretty much the same spot:

Lastly, some other modern shots of the flat: kitchen, hall, bedroom and en-suite:

If I don't get round to posting anything else this year, might I take the opportunity to wish regulah perusers of this rubbish all gratings of the season, and a happier New Year too. Might I? I just might.

50 Pubs Associated With The Beatles: ...

No. 40: The Old Dive, 12 Brythen Street, Liverpool.
The return of the profoundly pointless 50 Pubs Associated With Etc. feature, and where better to restart than The Old Dive on Brythen Street.
This hostelry is mentioned in an amusing anecdote in Hunter's Beatles biog, as recounted by then landlord Danny English.
Ver lads, it seems, used to frequent this place on a regular basis, due to its proximity to Mathew Street, which made it a handy spot to waste a few hours between lunchtime and evening engagements.
Being perennially skint (or possibly just a bunch of tight-wads), they would pull the old trick of ordering a single beer, and then using that as an excuse to sit in the warm for hours on end staring into space.
Eventually, said Mr English advised our heroes that it was high time they stood the barmaid a drink. Quoth Danny: "After a lot of discussion, they asked me what she was drinking. I said stout. They said how much was that. After more discussions, they produced 4 and a half d. each and bought her a Guinness."
The only illustration of the interior I've been able to find is the following rather wonderful pic from the pages of the Catholic Herald:

It dates from 1957, and shows the then Archbishop of Liverpool, accompanied by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, plus a bevy of nuns (that shurely can't be the collective term for nuns, can it? Isn't it a gaggle of nuns? Oh dear, I am talking to myself again), inside the Old Dive, getting bladdered.
I jest. No alcohol was imbibed by the group; rather they were there to pick up a collection - Liverpool's tallest column of pennies, no less, destined for a local hospice.
Sadly, this pub together with the whole surrounding area was levelled a few years later, and nothing now remains.