A piece of The Beatles’ local history in Liverpool looks set to be sold off for scrap after nobody came forward to re-home it.
The mast of the ship the Salvor, used on the Mersey docks for decades, was used as the backdrop to the first ever official photograph of the Fab Four after Ringo Starr joined in 1962.
It stayed at a central spot in Liverpool city centre for several decades after the photo, near the iconic Liver Buildings, but in 2020, it was moved due to roadworks and now faces the threat of being broken up and sold off as spare metal after Liverpool City Council said it had not been able to find any new home for it.
The Council had previously said it had been open to offers for the mast, and some local campaigners, including former Liverpool Echo reporter Peter Elson, are working to find it a new home, but as it stands no suitable option has come forward.
“It’s a no-brainer that a massive piece of Beatles memorabilia like that should be saved, yet they were going to sell it for scrap,” Elson has said. “You would think that they would have learned after that whole own goal with the Cavern and Ringo’s house in Madryn Street, which they were going to demolish until a campaign was launched to save it.”
2026 is a busy year for the two living Beatles – Paul McCartney will release his new album ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ on May 29 (pre-order here), while Starr also released his 22nd solo album ‘Long Long Road’ last month.
The former includes a duet between the two former bandmates on ‘Home To Us’, a nostalgic reflection on their Liverpool roots that marks their first ever vocal collaboration. It also features Texas’ Sharleen Spiteri and The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, and you can check it out above.
‘Long Long Road’, meanwhile saw Ringo joined by St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow and Billy Strings and was produced by T-Bone Burnett. He recently spoke to NME about the record and the guest features.
“Everyone on there brings something different because they’re all great players and singers. They’re great musicians who have been at it a while, and they all came through T Bone. In my eyes, he’s never made a mistake on my records,” he said.
Sam Mendes’ quartet of big screen biopics of The Beatles are also on their way, with each film taking on the perspective of a different member of the band. Set for release in April 2028, they will see Paul Mescal play McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Starr.
Steven Soderbergh, meanwhile, is working on a Lennon documentary, John Lennon: The Last Interview, which he has revealed includes the use of generative AI.
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