Eleanor Rigby Statue
34 Stanley Street, Liverpool L1 6AL
When Tommy Steele, the popular London performer, was appearing at the Liverpool Empire in 1981, he decided he would like to make a sculpture as a tribute to The Beatles, and hit on the idea of a piece about Eleanor Rigby, to commemorate their song of the same name.
He approached the City Council, who were delighted to accept his offer, and he said his fee would be threepence. This was because he had originally achieved success in the West End stage show “Half a Sixpence”.
The council decided to make a donation of 4,000 GBP towards the cost of the endeavour.
It took him nine months to build it, and he eventually unveiled it in Liverpool on 3rd December 1982.
It is a charming piece, depicting a lady sitting on a bench, purse on her lap, and a shopping bag beside her on the bench,and sticking out slightly is a bottle of milk. Beside her is a copy of The Liverpool Echo, and perched on the newspaper is a little bird with a piece of bread.
A plaque next to the monument dedicates it ‘To All The Lonely People‘ Of course, Eleanor Rigby is a fictional character, although a grave was found near St Peter’s Church in Woolton (where Paul met John) with the name Eleanor Rigby on it.
It is a very popular piece of the Liverpool scene and was, as they suspected, a terrific boost to Liverpool Tourism, which at that time was nothing like as huge as it is now.
Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/5t3meV1EyHEuEL2JA
