Piece of Beatles history set to be sold for scrap

A piece of Liverpool's Beatles history looks set to be sold off for scrap.

The mast of the ship the Salvor was the backdrop to the first official photo of the Beatles after Ringo Starr had been added to the line-up in 1962, and stood on a roundabout near the Liver Buildings for decades until it was moved during roadworks.

Maritime campaigner Peter Elson has called for Liverpool City Council to honour its previous commitment to trying to find a suitable new home for the mast.

Liverpool City Council said no-one had shown any interest in rehoming the mast, but it was open to offers.

The mast was taken down in 2020, and stored in a yard in Newton Road.

Elson, a former reporter on the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post who now works as a maritime tour guide, managed to get the council to hold off scrapping it.

But a suitable plan for its future has yet to materialise.

A plan to relocate it to China for a Liverpool university campus had been under discussion but that came to nothing, Elson added.

He said it would be a shame if the Salvor mast was lost for good, following in the footsteps of the original Cavern, demolished in the 1970s.

Elson said: "It's deeply sad that a washed-up, clapped-out old hack like me has to be doing this.

"It's a no-brainer that a massive piece of Beatles memorabilia like that should be saved, yet they were going to sell it for scrap.

"You would think that they would have learned after that whole own goal with the Cavern and Ringo's house in Madryn Street, which they were going to demolish until a campaign was launched to save it."

The Salvor was one of two salvage vessels operated by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, used to lift navigation buoys in and out of the Mersey.

The ships were scrapped in the late 1970s but, in what Elson called a "rare moment of maritime sentimentality" the council bought the mast and it was placed on the Strand roundabout.

After it was removed, the council indicated it would find a new home for it.

Elson said: "We have so many passengers coming off the cruise liners who are in their 60s and 70s, they're from America and they remember the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, and it would be a great attraction given its Beatles history."

He added he believed the mast should be found a new home somewhere near the landing stage, close to where the Beatles photo was taken, so people could replicate the picture.

A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: "We have previously reached out to our maritime network but unfortunately there has been no interest in taking it.

"It needs someone who has the means to rehome, recommission and maintain it for years to come.

"If anyone does come forward as a result of the campaign we are happy to hold discussions with them."

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