Cinema visited by George Harrison and John Lennon saved from demolition

A cinema George Harrison and John Lennon spent their teenage years attending has been saved from demolition.

The Abbey Cinema in Wavertree, Liverpool which featured in The Beatles‘ personal writings and the original lyrics of their 1966 song ‘In My Life’, officially closed in 1979.

The cinema, which was designed by renowned architect and Liverpool City Council leader Sir Alfred Ernest Shennan, first opened in 1939.

It has since been used as a bingo hall, snooker club and, most recently a Co-op supermarket, which closed its doors last year.

Supermarket chain Lidl has called for the building to be knocked down to make way for a new store.

But following a campaign to preserve the building by Save Britain’s Heritage, Historic England has now given it a Grade II listed status.

HE listings advisor Sarah Charlesworth told BBC News that she hoped “a sustainable new use” could now be found for the building.

“We hope that the owner and the local community will now come together to find a sustainable new use for this remarkable building,” she added.

Meanwhile, Peter Jackson’s forthcoming The Beatles: Get Back documentary is due for release on August 27, after the original release date was moved due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking about the film recently, Ringo Starr said he was delighted that the Lord of the Rings director took over 56 hours of footage from that era and made it into the forthcoming documentary.

He also criticised the original 1970 Beatles documentary Let It Be for being “too miserable”.

“I didn’t feel any joy in the original documentary, it was all focused on one moment which went down between two of the lads [Paul McCartney and Harrison],” said Starr. “The rooftop concert [unannounced Beatles gig from the Apple Corps rooftop in 1969] was also only about seven to eight minutes long. With Peter’s [documentary] it’s 43 minutes long. It’s about the music and a lot of joy.”

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