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Liverpool Beatles mast faces scrap after council finds no new home
Liverpool’s Beatles mast, part of the band’s first official photo, may be scrapped after the council found no new home for it.
A piece of Beatles history in Liverpool is now expected to be sold for scrap after no one came forward to take it on.
The mast from the ship Salvor, which spent decades on the Mersey docks, sat behind the first official photograph of the Fab Four after Ringo Starr joined the band in 1962. For years it stood in a central spot near the Liver Buildings, before being moved in 2020 because of roadworks.
Now Liverpool City Council says it has not been able to find a new home for the mast, leaving it at risk of being broken up and sold as spare metal. The council had already said it was open to offers, but so far no suitable option has emerged.
Local campaigners, including former Liverpool Echo reporter Peter Elson, are still trying to save it. Elson said,
“It’s a no-brainer that a massive piece of Beatles memorabilia like that should be saved, yet they were going to sell it for scrap. You would think that they would have learned after that whole own goal with the Cavern and Ringo’s house in Madryn Street, which they were going to demolish until a campaign was launched to save it.”
Elsewhere in Beatles news, 2026 is shaping up as a busy year for the two surviving members of the band. Paul McCartney will release his new album, The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, on May 29. The record can be pre-ordered here: pre-order here. Starr also released his 22nd solo album, Long Long Road, last month.
The McCartney album includes Home To Us, a duet with Starr and the pair’s first-ever vocal collaboration. It also features Texas’ Sharleen Spiteri and The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde. Starr’s Long Long Road features contributions from St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow and Billy Strings, and was produced by T-Bone Burnett.
Speaking to NME recently about the album and its guests, Starr said,
“Everyone on there brings something different because they’re all great players and singers. They’re great musicians who have been at it a while, and they all came through T Bone. In my eyes, he’s never made a mistake on my records.”
Sam Mendes’ four Beatles biopics are also on the way. Each film will tell the story from a different band member’s point of view. Due in April 2028, the cast includes Paul Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Starr.
Steven Soderbergh is also working on a Lennon documentary, John Lennon: The Last Interview, which he has said will use generative AI.
