Merseyside trip - part 1 - Magical Mystery Tour

Our long awaited trip to Merseyside for the Liverpool - Everton match finally took place on Monday. Setanta had switched the match from its original Saturday date, which caused Ken Black to drop out, but Richard Simcox agreed at short notice to join Colin, Dave and I and the four of us made tracks out of Banchory on a cold morning, with the promise of heavy snow en route.

I drove the first leg and we stopped at Happendon services for brunch. This was the sight that greeted us as we headed back to the car:

Dave took over the driving and it was a slow drag over Beattock Summit with only one lane of the motorway in effective use as the snow took hold. Still we made it to our initial destination of Albert Quay in good time to sample the ales at the GBG listed Baltic Fleet - Liverpool's only brewpub. On the way there, we happened to pass Goodison Park and I took this photo from a moving car in the driving wind and rain - hardly a classic for our stadia of the world library, is it?:

I propped my camera up in the pub to take a photo of me in front of the bar and who should wander in to the frame but CK himself!:

After lunch we walked across to Albert Dock and jumped on our Magical Mystery Tour coach. First stop was George Harrison's house:

Right at the end of the street, there just happened to be a BetFred bookie's shop - Richard couldn't resist - and Dave was spotted there too - allegedly only in for a quick p... stop:

The bus stopped off at derelict Strawberry Field:

After that, we passed John Lennon's house - the only one with a blue plaque, which you can only just make out through the steamy windows of the bus:

Macca's house was next:

and here's Colin and I waiting to board our bus again:

At Penny Lane, Dave took this rather interesting shot of me amidst a major hailstorm:

Our final destination was Matthew Street and, of course, we had to pose outside the Cavern Pub and the statue of John:

Colin too:

The names of all the bands who have played the Cavern over the years are engraved in bricks outside:

and the stage of the Cavern Club looked like this:

More to follow about our trip to Anfield.