The chain was put up at the start of the weekDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter
10:00, 27 Jul 2025
Tourists at the entrance to the street(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A chain has been put up to stop tourists accessing a Liverpool street. The chain is in place on Arnold Grove in Wavertree, the birthplace of Beatles legend George Harrison, and it carries a sign which says: “Private Road – Residents Access Only”.
George, who was the youngest of four children, spent the first seven years of his life at 12 Arnold Grove before the family moved into a council house on Upton Green in Speke. Last year, the home on cul-de-sac was marked with a blue plaque to celebrate George’s contribution to culture through film, music and his humanitarian work.
As is the case with John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney’s childhood homes in South Liverpool, Arnold Grove has become a hotspot for tourists – featuring on tours – and residents of the Wavertree street said this has only increased since the plaque was installed. They have now taken action regarding that.
The BBC reported on Monday that a chain was put up as residents had complained about their privacy being invaded by tourists. Chris Bennett, who lives on the street and is licensee of The Cock and Bottle pub on the nearby High Street, told the BBC: “Since the blue plaque went up it’s been ridiculous. The volume of traffic is too much now and we don’t get any peace.
Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“The first taxi could come at 9am and my wife will see another on the road when she gets home at 9pm. You get people looking through the window and if you leave your front door open they look through the door.”
The ECHO visited the street on Friday and the chain was still in place. Arnold Grove is unadopted, meaning Liverpool City Council is not responsible for it.
Wishing to hear from residents, we knocked on the street’s doors. Only one wanted to speak about the chain and the number of tourists in the area.
Onyema, who didn’t wish to give his surname, said he has lived on Arnold Grove for around a year and he does not see the visits of Beatles fans as a problem.
He told the ECHO: “Tourists don’t park here, they park the tour coaches on the main road and then they come here. They always come around but I don’t have a problem with it.
“It’s a good street to live on – it’s a lovely place. I like the fact tourists come here.”
While the ECHO was in the area, a Magical Mystery Tour bus arrived and parked on High Street. Tourists were then walked to Arnold Grove, where they looked at the house and the plaque from Frederick Grove, behind the chain.
The ECHO understands the tour used to take people onto the street but this has stopped since the chain was put in place.
Tourists Holly Andrews and Scott Tucker(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Holly Andrews, 36, from Pennsylvania, USA, was among the Beatles tourists to depart the bus in Wavertree on Friday. She was sad not to have made it onto the street but understood concerns from the residents.
She told the ECHO: “I did this tour in 2008 and I was just looking at my photo from being in front of the house. But in the same token, these people have a right to their own privacy and their homes.
“It’s great to be able to see it and imagine the guys walking down the street and doing their thing. But it’s also being respectful to the home owners and striking that balance.
“I guess it also depends on the amount of respect the tourists are giving the home owners. Some people do understand that this is someone’s home, where they like living. Compared to the people who will try to get in, probably. This is their home, not yours.”
Regarding this issue, a spokesman for the Magical Mystery tour told The Telegraph that it had received no previous complaints about increasing tourist numbers, and said it had a “great relationship” with the street’s residents.
Liverpool-based Beatles tour guide Jackie Spencer wrote on Facebook on July 22: “Many people are contacting me asking my opinion on the chain across Arnold Grove. I’ve been biding my time and considering how to reply, but the truth is I am livid.
“Not at the residents of Arnold Grove. Not at all. They’ve put up with a lot over the years and in my 30 years as a guide they’ve always been lovely and welcoming to me because I have never overstepped the mark and treated everyone with the respect and gratitude they deserve.
“I am livid at the fake unlicensed guides, taxi drivers & lone tourists who have absolutely no respect for people’s privacy.”