Salvation Army’s Strawberry Field’s gates open to the public

From Saturday, visitors will have the chance to walk through the gardens of the Strawberry Field home in Woolton, Liverpool, where Lennon would play as a boy.

The musician used to climb over the wall to gain entry to the Beaconsfield Road home, which he later immortalised in song, but the Salvation Army is now opening the site’s famous red gates to the public as a tourist attraction and youth training centre.

Lennon’s sister, Julia Baird, 72, who is also honorary president of the Strawberry Field project, told the PA news agency that the grounds of the home had been a “sanctuary” for the musician as a youngster.

She said: “I suppose as children we all have somewhere that’s a bit ours, a bit special.

“It might be a little hidey-hole under the stairs or it might be up an oak tree but it’s somewhere we take ourselves off and that’s a special place.

“It seems from the song that this was John’s special place.”

The home was made famous by The Beatles song in 1967 and around 60,000 tourists pose for photos outside its distinctive gates every year.

Replica gates are now in place but the original structures will be on display for visitors in the grounds.

The newly-built centre will include a cafe and exhibition on Lennon’s early life, but will also provide training for 18 to 25-year-olds with mild to moderate learning…