University students to do up John Lennon's Liverpool garden

by Adam Faulkner. Published Mon 14 Jun 2010 12:40
Chester University students researching John Lennon's Mendip garden
Chester University students researching John Lennon's Mendip garden

Five university students are hoping to recreate the authenticity of the garden at John Lennon's childhood home.

A mecca for Beatles' fans, Mendips is looked after by the National Trust with house retaining its 1950s look, while the garden has a more modernised feel.

The property was handed over by John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono in 2002, but Simon Osborne, the property manager of the site, feels the time is right to restore the authenticity of the garden.

He said: " We have restored the building and its contents faithfully and accurately to recreate the environment in which John grew up with his Aunt Mimi.

"But the garden features varieties of plant that simply were not grown in domestic gardens in the 1950s.

"We want the garden to look as close as possible to the one that John and Aunt Mimi would have used and enjoyed every day.

The University of Chester students volunteered for the six week work placement with the Trust so that they could research the planting scheme for Mendips.

Trawling through gardening history books and old photographs of Mendips, the group are compiling a report on the type of plants that would have been present in the Beatles star's old residence.

Mr Osborne added that he was delighted with the hard work done by the students so far.

He said: "I am really looking forward to seeing the results of the students’ work.

"It will be instrumental in developing our plans for the reinstatement of the garden.

“This has been a very practical and useful project both for the students and for the Trust.

"It gives us valuable information that we would not otherwise have obtained and moves forward our plans for restoring the garden."

Dr Donna Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, and leader of the project said that she was pleased with the students' devotion.

Dr Jackson said: "“I’m very proud of the care, attention and hard work that the students are devoting to this project.

"They fully realise the significance of what they are doing and have even asked if they can continue to work on the project after the official end of their placement.”

"The Beatles are hugely important to the history and economy of this region and I’m delighted that our students share our excitement and sense of privilege.”

One of the students, Rebecca Lindley, whose home town is Keighley, West Yorkshire, said: “I got involved in the Mendips project because it is a great opportunity to work with the National Trust, especially on something as important as the home of one of the Beatles.

"It's a privilege to be able to work on John Lennon's childhood home.”






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