Cathy Myles, who grew up next door to Ringo Starr in Toxteth, has shared her memories of life as Beatlemania transformed her quiet street. She was once sent round to lend eggs to the drummer, only to find herself face-to-face with all four Beatles.
Eggs and a chip sarnie
Cathy, now 72 and living in Queensferry in Wales, grew up at number 11 Admiral Grove, with Ringo, his mum Elsie Starkey, and stepdad Harry Graves next door at number 10. The families were close, with Cathy's mum Nancy and Elsie regularly popping in and out of each other's homes.
She recalled the day Ringo shouted over the yard wall asking to borrow some eggs while cooking for his bandmates. "I went round with the eggs, I can remember that clearly, because by then it was well known that they were something," she said.
Inside, she found Paul McCartney sitting in an armchair, John Lennon leaning on the fireplace, and George Harrison on the settee. "Ringo brought a cup of soup out for Paul, and I sat on his knee, and he gave me a chip sarnie off his plate," she said.
Beatlemania on Admiral Grove
As the Beatles' fame grew, the street changed dramatically. Cathy recalled opening her front door to go to school and finding photographers from Germany, America, and elsewhere waiting outside. "It became crazy. I literally had to fight my way through a crowd of photographers to get to school at the end of the road," she said.
She also remembered a German film crew calling her over to walk down the street for a documentary, and going to see the Beatles at the Liverpool Empire with her mum and Elsie. "All I can remember was having to cover my ears, because all you could hear was screeching, screaming, and Auntie Elsie saying, 'That's my lad!'", she said.
Defending Toxteth
Cathy said the neighbourhood was far removed from how it has sometimes been portrayed in biographies, particularly American ones that described it as the equivalent of the Bronx. "It drives me mad," she said. "It was normal for people to live in terraced houses with an outside loo. And his outdoor loo was actually quite posh because it was all painted white inside, and they actually had an electric light in there!"
She described the community as safe and full of lovely people. "You played out until your mum shouted for you to come in at bedtime," she said. "I don't ever recall even witnessing a fight when I was a kid."
With filming underway for a new Beatles biopic, Cathy said she hopes filmmakers get Ringo's early life right. "I would be disappointed if it were depicted like in many of the books, especially the American ones," she said. "It's really derogatory the way his environment is described."
