Campaigning video to stop priceless piece of Beatles heritage from being scrapped !
Petition link to save the Beatles Salvor Mast from scrap !
DISMEMBERED SALVOR MAST IN CITY COUNCIL YARD. PICTURE: JONATHAN BROWN, SHARE THE CITY
HELP! Save Our Beatles Salvor Mast
The first Shipping Lines campaign
In spite of reassurances to the contrary, Liverpool City Council is on the brink of scrapping the former Mersey salvage ship Salvor’s mast and derricks which were the backdrop of the very first official Beatles’ photo shoot with their new drummer Ringo Starr.
Shipping Lines is proud to launch its first campaign, HELP! SOS – Save Our Salvor Beatles Mast to stop the wanton destruction of this large part of not only the Fab Four’s memorabilia but also the city’s maritime history.
The goal is to re-erect Salvor’s mast and derricks on the Liverpool waterfront as a key visitor attraction, with information panels and copies of the Beatles publicity shots taken by Les Chadwick of the Peter Kaye photo agency on 19 September 1962, as shown.
Salvor’s mast and derricks were left to rot for three years piled up in the open air at the council’s Prescot Road yard, by Newsham Park. The council claimed the mast was being “safely stored” pending relocation after being cut up on its St Nicholas Place site by the Royal Liver Building, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Liverpool Parish Church.
But now a council spokesman has said that the mast and derricks are: “Still in the yard, but likely to go to scrap. I think we’re open to offers but Liverpool City Council is not best placed to rehouse it.”
On dismantling the mast and derricks where they stood since 1978, a council spokeswoman in a Liverpool Echo story of 20 August 2020 said: “The Salvor’s mast has been taken down and placed safely in storage due to the highway improvements on The Strand.
“A decision has not yet been made on where it will be relocated to.”
Also quoted in the same Echo article was Central Liverpool Cllr Nick Small’s Tweet confirming: “The Salvor’s mast has been removed as part of The Strand scheme, with a new home for the iconic Superlambanana*.
“The Salvor’s mast is being stored safely until a new location can be found. Suggestions welcome.”
Civic planning and tourism expert Jonathan Brown, who is founder of the Share the City website, said: “Beatles experts knew the Salvor mast as the location of the best of a surprisingly rare number of band photo shoots taken with Ringo in their hometown.
“Liverpool Council denied the Salvor mast would be scrapped and instead safely stored but clearly this is not the case.”
Therefore, Shipping Lines is calling upon Liverpool City Council to rethink the future of the Salvor mast and derricks and restore them as a key historic Beatles waterfront tourism attraction.
*This never occurred, and another abstract artwork was substituted, as shown right. In fact the Mercure (ex-Atlantic Tower) Hotel’s ‘bow’, centre left, looks far more maritime related.
Salvor mast at its former St Nicholas Place location, with Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 Pictures: Graham Jones
ANALYSIS:
Why is Salvor’s mast is so important? Jonathan Brown, Share the City website founder, civic planning and tourism expert explains.
“What’s so invaluable about the Salvor mast photos is that they combine Liverpool’s maritime and Beatles heritage, as it was rare for the Beatles to be photographed with identifiable city landmarks and this is the first with Ringo.
“Most of their publicity photographs were taken in London and yet this shoot is a recognisable setting on the Princes Landing Stage in front of and onboard Salvor, with its foremast clearly in the picture.
“Ringo joined late during the band’s Liverpool time, and these photos were taken in September 1962 with him, just when the band was on the cusp of national fame with his star quality adding to Beatlemania.
“The Beatles are Liverpool’s biggest cultural export of all time. Salvor was a working boat which was as a much part of the Mersey scene as the big glamorous liners.
“What’s so regrettable is that Liverpool City Council took the mast down in the first place when it was part of the World Heritage Site and without consultation when it was also in a Conservation Area.
“I’ve no idea why the council couldn’t reinstate it elsewhere. Having it ‘held in storage’ for three years is simply ridiculous in the context of Liverpool being a UNESCO City of Music and hosting the Eurovision Song Contest.”
Salvor’s heyday in the Mersey. Note the mast top’s water cannon visible in the yard photo above