John belonged to the first generation of post-war teenagers. When rock ‘n’ roll hit Britain in the mid ‘50s John’s bedroom had posters of Elvis, Rita Hayworth and Brigitte Bardot on the walls and ceiling. The room soon became a total mess, despite his aunt's efforts.

Here he would listen to the latest American rock ‘n’ roll songs himself and with his friend Paul McCartney. Visitors to Mendips will be able to see John’s bedroom and listen to some of the music that inspired him. This is where he began the extraordinary collaboration that would become the most famous partnership in the history of pop music.

When Paul started coming round to Mendips John and Paul would sit for hours on his bed in the upstairs front room, playing records, picking out tunes, and beginning to compose their own songs. 'Please Please Me', 'I Call Your Name' and 'I'll Get You' all began life at Mendips. Mimi disapproved of the noise and would often banish them to the porch.

Yoko said; “John used to formulate his songs in his bedroom. He told me that when he was writing his diary, sometimes Mimi used to look into it, and he found out about that, so he started to write in gobbledegook…and so even before the surrealism appeared in his songs, it was there”.

John's next step was to buy himself a guitar, which he smuggled into the house by claiming that his mother had given it to him; in fact, it cost him £5.10s by mail order. Ambitious to improve, he persuaded his mother Julia into getting a rather better, Spanish-style model.