It’s actually “The Beatles Story” (not endorsed in any way by any of the surviving Beatles, although they are aware of its presence)(and haven’t forced them to close down, thus implicitly endorsing them)(according to their website!) at The Albert Dock – we went there in the holidays to meet up with Mandy & Arnoud.

The first bit was a little dry for the kids, although a top “can you find these things” discovery sheet was provided. The audio tours meant that near the beginning there were groups of adults standing around like zombies listening to the early history of the band.

Joel got a bit bored.

The highlight at this point was the fake water coming out of a fake downpipe in fake Hamburg (spot the fake German hooker).

When we went into the reconstructed Cavern the kids looked really worried because they know children aren’t usually supposed to go into pubs, however they were reassured and then wanted to move on when mummy started dancing to the music that was playing.

Bizarrely, that was pretty much the only music we heard while going round the museum/visitor attraction. Which for a place about a band seemed a little odd.

Lily wasn’t sure why I got her to pose in front of the Abbey Road picture that’s there for posing in front of, but she played along anyway.

(I liked the FAQ on the website “Q: Where is Abbey Road? A: It’s in North London, not Liverpool”)

Mandy & Arnoud posed, with more knowledge of _why_ they were posing…

(although, frankly, the photographer could do with more skill & less moving)

…and then suddenly things got more interesting. There was a pretend plane, from wihch The Beatles conquered the USA…

Things got psychedelic…

And there was a section done out like the Yellow Submarine with a periscope and two very fierce looking goldfish who I managed to miss taking a photo of because Joel was too busy pulling levers and twisting knobs. At least, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Then there was The Discovery Zone in which we discovered a groovy stamp-on-the-instruments game and played a tea chest.

We finished up with a light snack & drink at the Costa handily situated by the exit, and then went for a walk around the dock. I didn’t take any photos because it was CHUFFING FREEZING. I’m note sure where the wind was coming from, but I do know where it was going to, and it was damn cold.

The phrase of the day (from Lily) was “Is this the one who was shot?”

Worth a visit, I’d say, although with me being a tightwad it seems a little steep…