With A Little Help From Ringo’s Friends

The drummer, born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, lived at the number nine Victorian terrace at Madryn Street in Toxteth, an inner city area of Liverpool, England, for the first three months of his life.

BBC News reports that the Liverpool City Council has been talking about demolishing the terrace, along with hundreds in the “Welsh Streets” area, for the past five years.

Official demolition notices have been re-posted at Madryn Street with a demolition date of March 2011.

“The properties in the Welsh Streets are in such a poor condition that demolition is the only option,” said a council spokesman.

“Once demolition is complete, high quality residential developments will be built of affordable homes for sale and socially-rented housing offering the modern desirable homes with gardens which local residents deserve. Regeneration will hopefully secure a brighter future for an area which has previously suffered from blight and abandonment.”

The Save Madryn Street (SMS) campaign is being headed by local Ringo impersonator Max Frudd.

The campaign also includes Phil Coppell, a Liverpool Beatles guide; Steve Barnes from the Hard Days Night Shop; Dave Bedford, historian and author of “Liddypool”; author Frank Carlyle and journalist Chris Johnson.

The group argues that the home should be preserved because it attracts thousands of visitors a year – and that bulldozing the site would have a harmful impact on Liverpool tourism.

“We are going to fight tooth and nail in Liverpool, and around the world, to call a halt to this crazy decision to demolish Madryn Street,” Coppell said, according to BBC News.

“The homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon are already preserved and Ringo is no less important. We want to see Ringo’s birthplace conserved and turned into a proper tourist destination; and we are also taken by the idea that some of the houses could be converted for tourist lets.”

A Liverpool council spokesman previously said the residence wasn’t worth saving from the bulldozers because Starr only lived there for three months.

“Ringo Starr’s family home of 20 years is in Admiral Grove, which is still standing and being lived in today,” the spokesman said, according to Liverpool Echo.

“Ringo lived in Madryn Street for just a short time when he was a baby. This house has little true historic value.”

Click here for the BBC News story.

Click here for the Liverpool Echo story.