00:01School books once doodled in by John Lennon are on display as part of a new tour, giving fans a rare glimpse into the Beatles' early years.
00:10We can see where John frequented, but this place is one of the rare few, especially because most of it's all original as well.
00:17It is literally the exact same spot and nothing's changed.
00:20The John Lennon School tour takes visitors through Calderstone School, formerly Quarry Bank, where Lennon studied between 1952 and 1957.
00:31When John left, there was the headmaster at the time, Bill Pobjoy. He just wanted to get rid of any sort of talk or knowledge of John ever coming to the school.
00:42So it was very much for years. His name wasn't mentioned. Anything which did belong to him has been discovered.
00:50So, you know, we've got his school books and things. They're because they've just been discovered in a box in the attic. Nothing's been kept because of who he was. It's pure fluke.
01:00I've been lucky enough to get a preview of the latest in fab for tourism in the city inside the very corridors Lennon once walked.
01:08Fans can step into the classrooms he learned in, the room where he formed the quarrymen, and even stand on the assembly stage where he first performed with the group that would one day evolve into the Beatles.
01:20There's a couple of sacred spots. You know, you've got the original stage that John first performed on. He performed his first ever musical performance in this spot.
01:29We think it was June 1956. It could be July. We kind of can't nail it down exactly. But it was in this room at a school dance.
01:38So that was with the quarrymen. You know, you can go and see sort of the original houses where John spent all of his lessons in.
01:44We've got his original school desk that you can sit at and get your photo with. We've got memorabilia, school books and all sorts of school uniform.
01:52Back then, Lennon's future was uncertain. He was failing in school and facing the prospect of a dull, dead-end job.
01:59His escape came through his creativity. He poured his energy into art and music, even producing a hand-drawn satirical newspaper, The Daily Howl.
02:08One of the tales we tell on the tour is when he filled the staff common room with carbon monoxide fumes.
02:17He was never caught because, you know, that's grounds to be expelled, isn't it? So he was never caught for it.
02:21But, yeah, there's plenty of stories to come and hear about. And some of you'll know and you can put a place to those stories. And some of them are fresh stories.
02:30The tour includes Lennon's original school desk and notebooks filled with doodles and sketches, alongside stories from classmates who remember him.
02:40Obviously, we want it to be as authentic as possible. So what we've done is we've always confirmed the stories by two or more parties.
02:48So at least we know that, you know what, this isn't people making this up. This happens and these are the spots.
02:53It's a journey through the making of a legend told right within the school where it all began.
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