Latest news with #CorbettArms
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
John Lennon and Yoko Ono holiday hotel set for demolition
A hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a holiday as newly-weds when The Beatles were top of the charts with their final number one before splitting up is in danger of being Beatles star and his wife stayed at the Georgian Grade II listed Corbett Arms in the seaside town of Tywyn, Gwynedd, in the summer of 1969 during a turbulent time in the band's historyLennon and Ono were pictured by 13-year-old Alan Finlay, who also washed the superstar's car, while sat in the hotel's garden. The hotel has been shut for a decade, and after attempts to find the owner, the local council has applied for the 19th Century hotel to be knocked down as parts have already collapsed. The run-down Corbett Arms, which dates back to the early 1800s, is now a far cry from being the landmark hotel which attracted stars like Lennon and Beatles were on a break during the recording of what would become Abbey Road - which includes songs like Come Together, Something and Here Comes The Sun - when Lennon visited north was just months after his marriage to Ono in March 1969 and the singer wanted to show his new wife special places that meant a lot to him. They arrived on the north-west Wales coast as The Beatles song about them, The Ballad of John and Yoko, was number one - the 17th time they had topped the UK singles visit to Tywyn was also between the recording of Lennon's first solo single Give Peace a Chance, which the pair recorded three weeks earlier in their second week-long anti-war bed-in in Montreal, and its Corbett Hotel's odd-job boy Alan Finlay, then 13, greeted the superstars as they arrived."Dad would tell us about this real fancy car pulling outside the hotel and John Lennon got out," remembered daughter Gaby, 26."He was a huge music fan and was like 'oh my god', he couldn't believe it. "John Lennon then asked dad to clean his car. So he did with pride and couldn't believe it when John Lennon paid him, he said he'd have done it for free! But John paid dad quite a lot of money!"According to local folklore they had been turned away from another hotel, the Trefeddian Hotel in nearby Aberdyfi, before spending the night in grandmother Jean also worked at the four-storey hotel and said the couple, accompanied by Lennon's six-year-old son Julian and Ono's five-year-old daughter Kyoko Cox, did not have a booking."They asked to book out the whole top two floors for privacy," added Gaby."After dad washed the car, he saw them as a family sitting out in the garden and asked them for a picture and they agreed." Welsh rugby fan Alan went on to have three children, worked in the Royal Air Force and later as a mortgage advisor and taxi driver, and was a grandfather when he died aged 69 in 2022."That was dad's claim to fame, he loved telling people about that story," said Gaby. After a brief pit stop in Wales, Lennon and Ono went on to his home-town of Liverpool and on holiday in Scotland in his white British Leyland Austin Maxi car."This was downtime for them in a very busy time and it was an attempt to be discreet," said Mark Lewisohn, a historian, biographer and well-respected authority on the Beatles."But everywhere they went, they were recognised because nobody on the planet looked like John Lennon and Yoko Ono."Yoko was John's new partner and she wasn't British so he wanted to show her places important and special to him." "He had a life-long affinity to Wales after going there as a child and John Lennon's mother's family had a Welsh connection," Mr Lewisohn said. "He told the South Wales Argus in 1965 that 'Wales seemed full of green grass, beautiful mountains and such friendly people' so he always had a feeling for Wales."Following his UK road trip, Lennon returned to the studio with bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the July of 1969 to finish off Abbey Road in what proved to be their last recording then quit what is widely-regarded as the UK's most famous and successful band in the September, days before Abbey Road's release. "At no point when the picture in Tywyn was taken was John thinking The Beatles were going to break up," added Mr Lewisohn."But he wasn't adverse to it because what he thought about The Beatles and what we thought about The Beatles were two different things."Lennon and Ono's visit to north Wales was just days before Prince Charles' investiture as the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in the north of the couple sent a postcard of the 20-year-old prince to Starr and his family to the Apple offices in London, containing the simple message: "Hello".That postcard, bearing the postmark of Tywyn and dated 23 June 1969, was included in drummer's 2004 book Postcards From The Boys. From hello, it could be goodbye to the Corbett Arms for good unless help is found to save the once grand building that was described by locals as the "gateway into the town".It could be demolished within months because it is dilapidated and unsafe, with parts of it having already Corbett Arms is considered one of the UK's most endangered buildings, according to conservation charity SAVE Britain's Heritage. Campaigners, including Catherine Evans who remembers Lennon's visit to her home-town, want this important part of Tywyn's history to be saved. "The history is unbelievable, going back to the 1800s, and it's a shame it got to this state and pulled down when it could have been saved," added Ms Evans, whose parents both worked at the Corbett local authority has issued 11 notices to force repair works by the owner but emergency demolition now seems likely in order to protect public safety. Scaffolding has been put up to secure the building with an application in place for listed building consent to carry out the demolition work."We understand the significance of this historic building and concerns of the local community," said Gareth Jones, of Cyngor Gwynedd."However, the condition of the building has deteriorated to a point where immediate action is now required to protect public health and safety. Sadly there is no other option."
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Let It Be! Locals lose fight to save Grade II-listed hideaway seaside hotel where John Lennon stayed with Yoko Ono
Locals have lost a last-minute bid to save a hideaway seaside hotel beloved by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Campaigners fought to restore The Corbett Arms where Beatles fans have made pilgrimages to follow in the footsteps of a Lennon family holiday. But council chiefs have ordered the fans to 'Let it Be' because the hotel is too dangerous to be saved. Safety chiefs says the site is a danger to the public after hotel has been allowed to crumble away in Tywyn, North Wales. The authority was accused by locals of 'cultural vandalism' for failing to save the grade-II listed structure which has been closed for 14 years. Music icon Lennon visited the 3,000-population seaside town with his son Julian, wife Yoko and her daughter Kyoko in 1969, just before the band split. He stayed at the hotel with his family before they headed north to Scotland for a driving holiday and even sent a postcard to fellow bandmate Ringo Starr. The postcard sent from the resort was included in bandmate Starr's 2004 book Postcards From The Boys. But the Grade II listed property has since fallen into disrepair after it was left empty and the iconic former ballroom's roof collapsed. It had been sealed off to protect the public with even 999 crews banned from going inside in January. A Gwynedd Council statement said: 'The condition of the Corbett Arms Hotel in Tywyn has been a cause for concern for Cyngor Gwynedd and the local community for years, and we have taken action to protect the public and safeguard this listed building. 'Despite efforts to protect and ensure the long-term use of this Grade II listed building, its condition has continued to deteriorate with a significant collapse at the rear of the building at the end of January, along with a further collapse on the roof of the ballroom at the end of February.' The council said scaffolding was put up to protect the public along with street closures next to the building. It added: 'Unfortunately, the condition of the building has deteriorated to the point where there is a risk of another collapse and the Council need be in a position to take immediate action to protect public health and safety. 'This is why we have commissioned a specialist company to erect the scaffolding along Maengwyn Street and part of Corbett Square and carry out pre-preparation work on site for specialist machinery. 'This means that we will be in a position to react immediately if further emergency work is required due to another collapse or evidence arising from the ongoing monitoring work.' The council continued to say that it 'has no choice but to submit application for listed building consent, to include demolition, under Section 90 of the Historic Environment Act (Wales) 2023.' 'This process is being conducted transparently, with due regard to historic environment policy for Wales and the guidance of Cadw,' it added. 'Arrangements for submitting this application are progressing and it is expected that the application will be submitted in the coming days. 'As part of the listed building consent process, all interested parties will have the opportunity to make representations during the consultation period. 'These representations will be considered by Welsh Government Ministers prior to the determination of the application. 'Unless there is another collapse or evidence that the condition of the building is deteriorating to such an extent that the Council must respond urgently, other than preparatory works, the Council will not carry out demolition work until listed building consent has been approved by Welsh Government Ministers.' Campaigner Glyn Evans, who was born in the town, launched a petition in 2020 for the council to buy the hotel with a compulsorily purchase. The petition was signed by over half of people living in the town - but Glyn says 'nothing was ever done.' Gwynedd Council's enforcement notice is addressed to the 'representatives of Susan Helen Holmes'. She ran two businesses from the hotel - Helenian Holdings, dissolved in 2010, and ROAC Ltd which dissolved in February 2022. Helen, an icon of the West Midlands soul scene in the 1970s, died in 2012 after battling cancer aged 58. The hotel was first recorded in 1827 and was part of the Corbett family's estate.
