Happy Birthday George

Somehow I knew when I woke up Saturday morning that this was going to be a good day.

Met up with Jackie and everyone at the usual meeting point at the Albert Dock.  Ducked into the Beatle Story for a quick look around and met up with Anne-Marie and Amanda who were also coming on the tour to celebrate what would have been George's 60th Birthday this weekend.  Anne-Marie brought to our, by our I mean Janine and I, attention some George Teddies that were in a box along with Paul Teddies!!!  Somehow all of a sudden I end up with two George Teddy Bears, one Paul and a stray George that nobody wanted to leave in the box with a ton of Pauls.....hhmmmm, I get worried, I see this as an insult to my love of Paul but hey I can "bear" it and I take the stray George into my arms and head for the cash till.

Outside I decide to share my stray Teddy with Jackie who is delighted at the prospect of giving him a home...aaawwww - LOL!!

Once everyone arrived, off we set.  The usual crowd of George fans are with us and we know we will have fun.  This was sort of confirmed on the bus when just about everyone pulled out their own George Teddies and we discover we all had the same idea.

Everyone having a great time	Jackie telling one of her stories	Smiles all around

Jackie tells everyone that we will be doing things in almost reverse order today as we want to end up in Wavertree where we will concentrate on the place of George's birth 60 years earlier.

We headed firstly to The Jacaranda where Jackie told everyone the history of the Beatles and the Jac and how it was from there that the young Beatles left for their first trip to Germany.  She told of how Louise, George's mum didn't want George to leave to go to Hamburg and was worried about him.  Louise embarrassed George by giving him a tin of home baked Scones to take with him.  Today Mathew I am Louise Harrison!!!  I had brought with me a tin of said Scones and handed them out to everyone.  Well, if you're going to make it authentic you have to have the Scones...right?

OK.  Things got silly when we reached LIPA where I jumped off the bus to take a pic of Teddy George on the Case History sculpture.  This sort of set the tone for the day when George was photographed at every possible  opportunity along the way.

George Teddy at The Case History	George Teddy with Real George	George Teddy at Mendips

A visit to the Palm House at Sefton Park is always a treat but today was special.  Park Ranger Richie had a surprise for us all.  When we arrived we are greeted by Richie in full Victorian dress depicting Henry Yates Thompson the man who built the Palm House for the people of Liverpool to enjoy.  Richie also, of course, brought the history of the Palm House up to date by speaking of George's involvement in the Friends of Sefton Park who are the people responsible for working extremely hard over the years to bring the Palm House back to its former glory.  George made a considerable cash donation to the Fund and this was, without doubt, the financial injection needed to begin and complete the work. 

Jackie & George Teddy - Palm House	Some of the Group listening to Richie	Henry Yates Thompson a.k.a. Richie The Ranger

We spent a lot of time in Wavertree which is good because there's never really a proper chance to actually do things like visiting the Church where George was christened and where the Harrison family worshipped.  We had a great vegetarian lunch in the Farrier's, which is part of Wavertree Town Hall just opposite the Church.  Jackie explained to everyone that Wavertree Town Hall is the place where births, marriages and deaths were registered long ago.  George's birth would have been registered at this Town Hall 60 years ago.

George Teddy at Wavertree Town Hall	The Church where George was Christened	Jackie speaking to some of the Group outside Wavertree Town Hall

After a great day in Wavertree we made our way to the city centre where everyone had some free time before the evening event at The Aintree Institute where the Blue Meanies would be playing in honour of George.  We went to the Inny last year at the same time and we had a fabulous time with the Meanies.  We knew what to expect and we got what we wanted - a wonderful evening of great Beatles music in the company of some of the nicest people you could wish to meet at the Aintree Institute.  They made us feel so very welcome, looked after us and made sure we had a great time.

Jane & George Teddy

Peter Nash & George Teddy

Well as usual the evening ended all too soon and once again thanks to Jackie & Jane we all had a great time.  The whole day was just about "bearable" and as you can see everyone wanted to have their pic taken with George Teddy!!!!

Without Jackie and Jane and all the work they put into ensuring everyone enjoys these events we would have nothing to look forward to outside of Liverpool Beatle Week, so these Beatle Birthday Days give us another chance to get together, like we need one???  If you are reading this and you were not there then why not come along on Paul day in June and see what a great time we all have, make some friends and remember - all you need is love.  Check out Jackie's site for details on other Beatle Days.

And finally:

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