The Cavern Walk for Sale

 "In those old Cavern days, half the thing was just ad lib, what you’d call comedy. We just used to mess about, jump into the audience, do anything."-John Lennon

It was Wednesday January 16, 1957 when the doors to The Cavern Club was opened on 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool. From there this warehouse cellar had turned into a the place to be in the late 50s and 60s filled with top Liverpool acts including The Beatles.
The Quarrymen is believed to have had their first gig at the iconic venue on August 8, 1957.

"Skiffle was a breeding ground for musicians - one or two of them became jazz musicians, but more ended up doing rock 'n' roll. I knew John Lennon quite well as we lived in the same area: he lived 400 yards up the road from me. He was 16 and arrogant and hadn't got a clue, but that was John Lennon." - Alan Sytner, The Cavern Club owner

(Left To Right) Pete Best, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon

 The Quarrymen were John Lennon's first band with Colin Hanton (drums), Pete Shotton (washboard), Eric Griffiths (lead guitar), Rod Davis (banjo), Bill Smith (tea chest bass), Len Garry (bass), and Nigel Whalley as manager. Later on July 6,1957 Paul McCartney joined the band after a mutual friend of Lennon and his, Ivan Vaughan introduced the two at St. Peter's Church Fete. But during the first preformance at The Cavern McCartney was absent due to Boy Scout Camp.

"We did some skiffle numbers to start off with at the Cavern but we also did rock 'n' roll. John Lennon was passed a note and he said to the audience, 'We've had a request'. He opened it up and it was Alan Sytner saying, 'Cut out the bloody rock 'n' roll.'"- Colin Hanton

The Beatles with Ringo Starr

George Harrison joined the group in 1958 and later in 1961 The Quarrymen fell apart leaving just Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and new drummer Pete Best to preform at The Cavern Club. Each gig earning about £3, 15 shillings. 

In 1973 The Cavern was knocked down and ordered to be closed for a rail development project in Liverpool. in 1984 Tommy Smith, a Liverpool football player bought the property and built a new Cavern Club a few feet away from the old entrance (you can visit Mathew Street today and see the original entrance and the rebuilt Cavern). The club was built with a deeper underground from the original and added 15,000 bricks from the original club saved from demolition. Once again in 1989 the club was closed due to financial problems but was soon reopened in 1991 by two locals who still own the club today. The club is still filled with live musicians every night and museum sections filled with Beatles memorabilia and more. 

It's been announced that the Cavern Walks Shopping Centre in the centre of the city which has recently been put on the market for a guide price of £ 1million. The Cavern itself is not up for auction, as said on The Caverns website; 

The Cavern Club would like to clarify the misleading features that have recently appeared in The Times and New Musical Express (NME); The operational business of the Cavern Club is not up for sale by auction.
Cavern Walks is to be auctioned. It comprises 10 floors, with the ground floor offering the boutique-style shopping centre of 23 retail units, including high profile tenants like Vivienne Westwood and Cricket.
The upper floors provide 80,088 sq ft of office accommodation.
The Cavern Cub is located in the basement of the building.
Dave Jones

Director
Cavern City Tours

McCartney Rocking The Cavern