Strawberry Field, Woolton, Liverpool

Strawberry Field was a Salvation Army children's home in the Woolton suburb of Liverpool, whose garden gates John Lennon would sneak into as a boy to play. Lennon attended the annual garden party held there each summer, reportedly inviting his friends over the wall. The place lodged itself so deeply in his imagination that it became the source of one of his most beloved songs — 'Strawberry Fields Forever', released by the Beatles in 1967. The song was not straightforwardly nostalgic: Lennon described it as an attempt to reach toward a dreamlike state of perception, and its experimental double-tracked production — two takes in different keys spliced together — made it a landmark of studio art.

The gates themselves, bearing the name 'Strawberry Field' in iron lettering, became a pilgrimage site for Beatles fans from around the world. The property remained a Salvation Army care facility for decades after Lennon's death. It was on these same streets that Lennon first met Paul McCartney in 1957, at the St Peter's Church fete in Woolton — a meeting that would change the course of popular music.

The site reopened to the public in 2019 after a £4 million restoration. The Salvation Army transformed the grounds into an exhibition space and training centre, and visitors can now walk through the gates and grounds that inspired one of the most celebrated songs of the twentieth century. The iconic red gates are open daily and admission is free to the grounds.