Julia Baird in front of the famous red iron Strawberry Field gates in Liverpool, UK / photo: Gavin Trafford
The Strawberry Field visitor attraction – a unique addition to Beatles tourism in Liverpool – has reopened with a new nature-based wellbeing programme aimed at strengthening connections and addressing digital fatigue after years of lockdowns and home working.
Set in the grounds and gardens of the former Salvation Army children’s home immortalised in John Lennon’s song Strawberry Fields Forever, the visitor attraction first opened in September 2019, and then closed several times during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, before reopening.
As a child, John Lennon lived with his aunt opposite the Strawberry Field children’s home, and often scaled the walls to play in the gardens with the children.
The attraction features the iconic red gates that lead to the historic gardens, which now act as a sanctuary and tranquil space for reflection.
Inside the new visitor centre – designed by Hoskins Architects – an interactive exhibition tells the interweaving history and heritage of the original children’s home, the Salvation Army, John Lennon’s childhood and the writing and recording of the song Strawberry Fields Forever.
Exhibits include the original piano which John Lennon used to compose and record Imagine, which is on long term loan to the attraction from the George Michael Estate, as well as a selection of images and filmed interviews from witnesses to the story, including John’s sister Julia Baird, honorary president of Strawberry Field.
“John and his friends used to climb over the walls of the Strawberry Field gardens to sit in the trees, to pick the fruit, to play and to watch the resident children at play,” Baird told Attractions Management.“
“I think it meant an awful lot to him, becoming his go to place of sanctuary when he was younger….he actually called the song, Strawberry Fields Forever ‘my only psychoanalytic poem.’ “The site has been a wasteland since 2005 when the government closed down the children’s home – nobody could have envisaged this amazing, visionary, state-of-the-art building rising like a phoenix from the ashes,” she said.
The Salvation Army – which still owns the site – runs a programme called Steps at Strawberry Field supporting local adults with learning difficulties and other barriers to work to help them with employment skills and work experience. All proceeds from the attraction are used to help with this work.
"I think John would have loved this,” said Baird. “The Steps at Strawberry Field programme offers support, a safe place and help into the outside world for students. It’s a wonderful idea that the Salvation Army is going to cultivate youngsters in the precious soil of Strawberry Field.“The gardens are my favourite part of the attraction; there are strawberry beds, a peace/meditation garden featuring the original red iron gates. People can just go there to sit and think.“Inside, the star attraction is the piano, which John used to write and record Imagine. Most people think the song was recorded on the white piano in the Imagine video, which was far more aesthetically pleasing than the Steinway that John bought directly from Germany in 1970.
“The White Room at Tittenhurst Park was prepared beautifully for the video, but Phil Spector – who was a perfectionist – said the acoustics weren’t good enough, so they had to go back to John’s studio to record it on the Steinway.”
2022 will see the addition of a bandstand in the gardens, which will be used to host music events and performances.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2021 issue 4
Editor's letter: Eco drivers
Therme Group and The Eden Project are going global, on an environmental mission says Magali Robathan
AM People: Julia Baird
On why her brother John Lennon would have loved the Strawberry Field attraction and the work it’s doing for the local community
AM People: Åsa Caap
The thrill of opening the Space Stockholm digital culture centre
Interview: David Harland & Sir Tim Smit
With projects underway around the world, the Eden Project is going global with its call to arms for the future of the planet
Museums: Getting creative
How the Young V&A will aim to provide children with the creative tools stripped out by the pandemic
Interview: Richard Land
Mixing waterslides with wellbeing, the Therme Group is creating a category all of its own while taking on the world, says the group’s chief development officer
Museums: Kunsthaus Zurich completes
A David Chipperfield extension has more than doubled the museum’s exhibition space, making Zurich a major destination for the arts
Interview: Julien Kauffmann
As Farah Experiences prepares to open SeaWorld Abu Dubai, its CEO talks COVID-19, branding and branching with David Camp
Research: Making pre-booking work
Attractions are benefiting from the switch to pre-booking, but must cater for spontaneous, disorganised visitors too, says Jon Young
Research: All creatures great and small
Zoo enrichment and research can’t just be focused on the large animals most popular with visitors, argues Dr Paul Rose. All must be represented
Research: Popularity game
Research on zoo animals focuses more on ‘familiar’ species such as gorillas and chimpanzees, rather than less well known ones such as the waxy monkey frog, scientists say
Analysis: Light in the dark
A successful winter light show can see margins upwards of 30 per cent. Kathleen LaClair and
Yael Coifman look at some of the operators getting it right
Museums: Munch Museum opens in Norway
The iconic new attraction has opened on Oslo’s waterfront with the world’s largest collection of works by Edvard Munch
Mystery Shopper: Galleries & Gourds
It has transformed the sleepy town of Bruton, UK, but does Hauser & Wirth Somerset live up to the hype? Magali Robathan mystery shops to find out
Julia Baird in front of the famous red iron Strawberry Field gates in Liverpool, UK / photo: Gavin Trafford
The Strawberry Field visitor attraction – a unique addition to Beatles tourism in Liverpool – has reopened with a new nature-based wellbeing programme aimed at strengthening connections and addressing digital fatigue after years of lockdowns and home working.
Set in the grounds and gardens of the former Salvation Army children’s home immortalised in John Lennon’s song Strawberry Fields Forever, the visitor attraction first opened in September 2019, and then closed several times during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, before reopening.
As a child, John Lennon lived with his aunt opposite the Strawberry Field children’s home, and often scaled the walls to play in the gardens with the children.
The attraction features the iconic red gates that lead to the historic gardens, which now act as a sanctuary and tranquil space for reflection.
Inside the new visitor centre – designed by Hoskins Architects – an interactive exhibition tells the interweaving history and heritage of the original children’s home, the Salvation Army, John Lennon’s childhood and the writing and recording of the song Strawberry Fields Forever.
Exhibits include the original piano which John Lennon used to compose and record Imagine, which is on long term loan to the attraction from the George Michael Estate, as well as a selection of images and filmed interviews from witnesses to the story, including John’s sister Julia Baird, honorary president of Strawberry Field.
“John and his friends used to climb over the walls of the Strawberry Field gardens to sit in the trees, to pick the fruit, to play and to watch the resident children at play,” Baird told Attractions Management.“
“I think it meant an awful lot to him, becoming his go to place of sanctuary when he was younger….he actually called the song, Strawberry Fields Forever ‘my only psychoanalytic poem.’ “The site has been a wasteland since 2005 when the government closed down the children’s home – nobody could have envisaged this amazing, visionary, state-of-the-art building rising like a phoenix from the ashes,” she said.
The Salvation Army – which still owns the site – runs a programme called Steps at Strawberry Field supporting local adults with learning difficulties and other barriers to work to help them with employment skills and work experience. All proceeds from the attraction are used to help with this work.
"I think John would have loved this,” said Baird. “The Steps at Strawberry Field programme offers support, a safe place and help into the outside world for students. It’s a wonderful idea that the Salvation Army is going to cultivate youngsters in the precious soil of Strawberry Field.“The gardens are my favourite part of the attraction; there are strawberry beds, a peace/meditation garden featuring the original red iron gates. People can just go there to sit and think.“Inside, the star attraction is the piano, which John used to write and record Imagine. Most people think the song was recorded on the white piano in the Imagine video, which was far more aesthetically pleasing than the Steinway that John bought directly from Germany in 1970.
“The White Room at Tittenhurst Park was prepared beautifully for the video, but Phil Spector – who was a perfectionist – said the acoustics weren’t good enough, so they had to go back to John’s studio to record it on the Steinway.”
2022 will see the addition of a bandstand in the gardens, which will be used to host music events and performances.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2021 issue 4
Editor's letter: Eco drivers
Therme Group and The Eden Project are going global, on an environmental mission says Magali Robathan
AM People: Julia Baird
On why her brother John Lennon would have loved the Strawberry Field attraction and the work it’s doing for the local community
AM People: Åsa Caap
The thrill of opening the Space Stockholm digital culture centre
Interview: David Harland & Sir Tim Smit
With projects underway around the world, the Eden Project is going global with its call to arms for the future of the planet
Museums: Getting creative
How the Young V&A will aim to provide children with the creative tools stripped out by the pandemic
Interview: Richard Land
Mixing waterslides with wellbeing, the Therme Group is creating a category all of its own while taking on the world, says the group’s chief development officer
Museums: Kunsthaus Zurich completes
A David Chipperfield extension has more than doubled the museum’s exhibition space, making Zurich a major destination for the arts
Interview: Julien Kauffmann
As Farah Experiences prepares to open SeaWorld Abu Dubai, its CEO talks COVID-19, branding and branching with David Camp
Research: Making pre-booking work
Attractions are benefiting from the switch to pre-booking, but must cater for spontaneous, disorganised visitors too, says Jon Young
Research: All creatures great and small
Zoo enrichment and research can’t just be focused on the large animals most popular with visitors, argues Dr Paul Rose. All must be represented
Research: Popularity game
Research on zoo animals focuses more on ‘familiar’ species such as gorillas and chimpanzees, rather than less well known ones such as the waxy monkey frog, scientists say
Analysis: Light in the dark
A successful winter light show can see margins upwards of 30 per cent. Kathleen LaClair and
Yael Coifman look at some of the operators getting it right
Museums: Munch Museum opens in Norway
The iconic new attraction has opened on Oslo’s waterfront with the world’s largest collection of works by Edvard Munch
Mystery Shopper: Galleries & Gourds
It has transformed the sleepy town of Bruton, UK, but does Hauser & Wirth Somerset live up to the hype? Magali Robathan mystery shops to find out
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
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