43 Elswick Street in Dingle, the terraced house where Paul McCartney first held a guitar and learned his first chords, is going under the hammer. The two-bedroom property is being offered by Merseyside music specialist Omega Auctions with a guide price of £150,000 to £170,000.
The unassuming stretch of terraced houses has played a surprising role in Liverpool's cultural history. Decades after McCartney's visits, the streets around it became instantly recognisable to millions of television viewers as one of the filming locations for BBC sitcom Bread.
McCartney's written provenance
The house was the former home of Paul McCartney's childhood friend Ian James. McCartney himself has provided a remarkable piece of provenance for the guitar he played there. He wrote: "The above guitar, belonging to my old school pal Ian James, was the first guitar I ever held, It was also the guitar on which I learned my first chords in his house at 43 Elswick Street, Liverpool 8."
The guitar was later sold by Ian James for £330,000 in 2006, with McCartney's written provenance accompanying it.
A unique place in Beatles history
Dan Muscatelli-Hampson, director of operations and consignments at Omega Auctions, said the house was particularly fascinating because of what it represents in the story of McCartney's musical development. He told the ECHO: "The Beatles map around Liverpool is quite well-established, and you've got John Lennon's house on Menlove Avenue, and Penny Lane, and all of the other spots as well.
"But it's interesting to think that before all of the established events, Paul was travelling around and ended up there in the Dingle, and for him, he may well say that that was sort of the most important place in his development to have been there."
Emblematic of the city
Elswick Street and the surrounding roads are also forever associated with Bread, the Carla Lane sitcom which became one of the defining television portrayals of Liverpool family life. The distinctive terraces were used extensively for filming, earning the streets their own place in the city's television history. Paul appeared in an episode of Bread with his wife Linda, and later returned to the area.
For Dan, that combination of history is what makes the area so distinctive and he believes the reason the area worked so well on screen is also what makes it feel so unmistakably Liverpool. He said: "People know them as the Bread Streets, and they are very distinctive.
"You can see the river, which is obviously so important to Liverpool and its development and history and then you've got the terraced houses, which are all close together, so you've got the river, and then you've got tight-knit communities there as well. I think that that's probably why it was used for Bread. It kind of symbolizes Liverpool itself, really, that area. It's emblematic of the city."
Sale details and interest
The auction house has previously sold properties connected to the Beatles, including Julia Lennon's former home in Allerton and a house in Speke where George Harrison spent part of his childhood. The current owner of number 43 knew about its history when they bought the property a couple of years ago and now feels it is the right time to move on.
The guide price is based on the market value of properties in the area, while the value of its history is much harder to put a figure on. Dan said: "The Beatles effect is less tangible and less easy to predict. We will let the market decide on that one."
There has already been some interest ahead of the sale, with potential buyers required to complete an approval process before they can bid. The house sits in an increasingly popular part of the city, close to Liverpool city centre, with views towards the water. Dan said: "It kind of sells itself from all angles as we see it. The Beatles are not just the be-all and end-all. It's a fascinating area with lots of history. There's a lot of history around other artists or other famous faces or famous events as well."
