Posted by Harleyblues & Swaying Daisy
On Friday morning- May 30th, we took the National Trust tours to John's house and Paul's house. First it was John's (Mendips). It had only been opened for tours for about 6 weeks. The guide (who for some reason was really the guide to Paul's house but was just subbing at John's) told us we would have to enter at the back door because Aunt Mimi never let John's friends come in the front door.
I thought Mendips was really pretty because it has some stained glass in the windows. The sun was shining through and it was a really nice day. Downstairs, there was a kitchen, dining room (that doubled as John and Cyn's bedroom for awhile after they married), a morning room (where it says John used to listen to the radio) and a living room.
Upstairs there were three bedrooms but you could only look at two as the other one was where the caretaker stays. John's room was very tiny. In fact, all the rooms were small, but it was very nice and cozy. We all split up to walk around because the house was so small. For a minute I was in John's bedroom by myself which was really nice just to sit and imagine what it was like when John lived there. They had a radio in there and it was playing "There's A Place" while I was there.
One neat thing about John's house was that they had several books throughout the house where the visitors could write messages. I also enjoyed seeing the very small porch where John and Paul used to play guitars. I had no idea it was so tiny from the books that I had read.
They also had a small commemorative booklet you could buy that tells about the house and John's childhood. This tour was nice because there was plenty of time to look around and you didn't feel too rushed. I think we had about 45 min. to an hour in each house. Next we went to Paul's house at 20 Forthlin road.
In Paul's house, they had headphones that you could wear and you could hear Paul and Mike McCartney and others telling little stories. They had photographs that Mike took hung up in the spots where they were actually taken - I loved that. Especially the one of John and Paul writing a song together. They didn't have a booklet so I will have to rely on my memory for the rooms - when you went in the door the stairs were in front of you to the upstairs.
To the left was a living room, behind that was a dining room, and next to that was the kitchen (which you could see when you came in the door.) Upstairs you could see Paul's room (which was the smaller one at the front of the house) and Mike's room. They had the other bedroom closed off for the caretaker. From Mike's bedroom window you could see the police practice field with horses, which I thought was great because
I remembered the story from Pete Shotten's book of when he joined the police. He said he had to practice on that field and that Paul, John and George would stand on top of the out building and march back and forth with mops trying to make him laugh. Anyway- I just loved that both John and Paul's houses were just like they are described in all the books I've read. Oh, and of course, I think all of the women on our tour had to sit or lay on Paul's bed. Most of the furniture in the houses is not original but they have done a good job of recreating the homes to look like they did in the '50's. Well, I have really rambled here, haven't I?
Id also like to add that there were photo's in the houses that had never been published before...In Paul's house there's a piccie of a shirtless Paul with a snare drum heheheh...Uncle Albert & other family members, theres also a piccie of Paul sliding down the drain pipe in the back of the house which is still there! It was soo cool to be in these houses...as I was listening to PAUL singing a songy I layed on his bed envisioning Paul & John writing songs...It was pretty euphoric.!!~ It was so hot that day and inside the house, that I took a drink of water from Paul's water facet at the kitchen sink~ FAB!!~ lol At John's house I signed the guest books said
Hello to JULIAN from all the fans here at The Paul McCartney site.... there were even personal photo albums that we looked at in the dinning room.....John holding Julian Lennon as a baby~ in the back yard with Aunt Mimi , the photo's in the albums were priceless..they had a lovely stained glass window in the upstairs bedroom, of aunt Mimi I believe. I wasn't able to go into ...the backyard~ both places were beautiful, definitely felt the presence of John in that house.
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