Hello to all. I have just picked up a new book about Liverpool, The authors memories from the 40's on. The title is-Penny Lane Is In My Ears And In My Eyes. by Stan Williams, who lived on Borrowdale road Wavertree, Liverpool 15. It's well written and got some great pictures of those days.Stan was born in Toxteth in 1941 and he graduated as a teacher at Liverpool Uni, and then began a career teaching in Scotland. He has written for the British Beatles Fan Club Magazine. My interest in the book is the area Stan grew up in around Borrowdale Rd and Garmoyle Rd. in Liverpool 15. ( I lived in Garmoyle Rd through the 50's and early 60's)
Stan went to Lidderdale Rd Primary School as I did and then Dovedale Rd Junior school. (likewise) He remembers the same teachers I knew at that time- Miss Leopold of Lidderdale Rd Primary and Mr bell and Mr Bolt teachers at Dovedale Juniors and also Mr Evans, the Head at that school, so you can see I have enjoyed going down memory lane with Stan Williams- though I don't remember Stan at all. I guess the 4 year age difference counts for that.
One of Stan's memories is of a book shop on Smithdown Rd, which he calls Bassnetts. The only shop I recall which fits Stan's description was called Bascombes as I knew it. It was the only shop I knew where I could get the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine (never missed a copy!) and when I joined the Army my Mam threw them all out! It was this shop that also sold American Horror comics before they were banned and all the Super hero comics too. I bought my first paperback copy of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein here and also Bram Stokers Dracula. They had copies of Edgar Allen Poe's Tales Of Mystery and Imagination and all of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories. So you can see it was a magnet of a shop for young lads like myself in the late 50's and early 60's. I know that two Liverpool Fantasy and horror writers Clive Barker and Ramsey Campbell both mention Bascombes shop in frontispieces of two separate books they wrote. Sidetracked there a bit- Heartily recommend the book Penny Lane Is In My Ears And In My Eyes by Stan Williams. It's available at Waterstones. Cheers all. Jim Eaton