The porch

Mimi did not appreciate the noise of John and Paul practising in the house, and so they often went into the covered porch.

They found that the hard surfaces of the bare walls, and the glass panels, generated just the right boomy bathroom acoustic they wanted for their sound. Here John would also play for hours by himself on the guitar that Mimi had bought him for £17 from Hessy’s music store in Liverpool.

The bathroom

The bathroom has retained some of its 1930s fittings, including the wall tiles, mirrored cabinet and airing cupboard.

The garden

The garden has been restored to how it looked in Mimi’s time, with a garden trellis, roses and soft fruits. In John's time, the back garden was more open, and the shrubs were smaller. Both Mimi and George were keen gardeners, and they kept the garden as neat and tidy as the inside of the house. They were particularly fond of soft fruit, such as gooseberries, blackberries, redcurrants and raspberries, which they grew on the left-hand side of the garden. John earned his five shillings pocket money by pushing the mower around the garden after he came home from school.