Beatles fans, rejoice! The inspiration for the hit song “Strawberry Fields Forever” has opened its doors to the public.
The Strawberry Field children’s home opened its doors earlier this month as a tourist attraction and youth training centre for people with disabilities 70 years after closing down.
As a child, John Lennon is said to have “found sanctuary” in the gardens of the site in Woolton, Liverpool, which became immortalised by the band in 1967.
According to BBC News, around 60,000 tourists visit the outside gates of the site, which has been run by the Salvation Army since 1936.
“As children, we all have somewhere that’s a bit ours – a bit special,” Lennon’s sister, Julia Baird, told BBC News.
Baird said Lennon would climb over the walls of the children’s home and play hide and seek in the gardens.
“John Lennon found sanctuary here as a child and that’s exactly what we want to offer by opening the Strawberry Field gates for good,” Anthony Cotterill from the Salvation Army told BBC News.
The site will host an exhibition on Lennon’s early life, and also run a training facility for young people with learning disabilities.
