Exclusive update: Getting John Lennon's Mendips home "Back to where it once belonged" (slideshow)

Restoration of the gardens at Mendips to it's original style is making progress

University history experts at Chester University are working with the National Trust to restore the garden at the house named "Mendips" located in Woolton, where John lived with his Aunt Mimi from the time he was five years old, until he went to the art college.

When he became a famous Beatle, Lennon moved Aunt Mimi to Bournemouth to escape the constant deluge of fans that pestered Mimi about John and stole the silverware and other mementos. After the next owner passed away, Mendips was bought by Yoko Ono and donated to the National Trust in 2002. It has since been a tourist attraction along with Paul McCartney's childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road.

Colin Hall, the curator of Mendips, talks about his role with the gardens and how the restoration project came about:

"As resident of Mendips I'm the chap who does most of the gardening here - with occasional help/support from the Trust e.g., when dangerous overhanging branches need removing or something similar occurs requiring expertise and equipment I don't have."

"Dr. Donna Jackson became the volunteer gardener here after I requested some help. Donna is a lecturer at Chester University, and Simon Osborne is the Property manager of the National Trust. Donna was asked if she and her students would like to become involved in research projects at both Speke Hall and at Mendips. Fortunately Donna and her students were very keen to help.

"So far the students have completed their research, during which they visited Mendips one time for a tour of the house. I gave them as much help as I could about the garden from anecdotal information I had accumulated from nearby elderly residents who'd lived around the corner when Mimi owned the house, plus info I'd learned from John's friends and family.

Dr. Donna Jackson said in a separate interview that the problem with recreating the gardens is that there are no pictures of the original gardens to give a clear cut picture of exactly how it was. John's cousin, Mike Parkes, who used to play at Mendips with John, is doing his best to remember what was there. 

Timing of the project

Colin said the restoration won't happen overnight. "...It is something that has been in the pipeline ever since I became custodian."

The Trust has said they hope the project will be completed by 2012. 

What was growing at Mendips when John was there?

"Plants I can tell you that were here in John's day are: apple trees, pear trees, gooseberry bushes, red currants, rasperries, rose bushes, 'pinks', bluebells, daffodils, tulips, lupins and some small 'box' (a reference to the shape into which they were cut) bushes in the front garden.

"There are apple and pear trees here now that most probably where here in John's day, as are damson trees, red currant and gooseberry bushes - I take great care of these, and they crop every year.

"Each summer my wife and I make preserves from the gooseberries here at Mendips and bake apple pies from the cooking apples - indeed each year we send several bags of apples to Speke Hall where the chef also bakes 'Aunt Mimi's Apple Pies' for sale in the restaurant at Speke!

"I intend to plant some rasperry canes - John's cousin Mike (Parkes) recently told me there were raspberries in the garden in John's day. We already have strawberries growing (appropriate in that John could look across to the extensive grounds of Strawberry Field from the vantage point of his tree house!).

"This spring I replaced the plants around the rustic trellis and rockeries - including 'pinks' and geraniums - of the type that would be have been here when Mimi lived here.

"Plants grown back then were slow growing because people had less time to spend in their gardens - and of course garden centers or nurseries were not a common feature of life. In those days the gardener in the family would spend hours pouring over seed catalogues and sending away for their chosen items."

"We know Mimi traded plants with her neighbours - who always knew her as 'Mrs. Smith" says Colin. "This was a very common thing for people to do in the Fifties. 

Colin said the elm tree that John used to play in, may never be replaced though. "Plans to plant an elm tree (there was an elm here in John's day in which he had his tree house - built for him by Uncle George) have not been discussed yet."

John Lennon was not the best gardener

Colin confesses that John was not keen on gardening and didn't do the best job. "Apparently as a teenager John used to cut the grass for his Aunt Mimi in return for his weekly pocket money - 5 shillings a week, a princely sum in those days. His cousin David told me that more often than not John would not complete the task satisfactorily and Mimi would persuade David to (finish up), for which he was only paid 2s/6d - half of what John received!"

Stay tuned for further updates on this project. In the meantime, take a look at the photos I took in 2007. Keep in mind that cameras are not allowed inside the house whatsoever. So--sorry, I could not take photos of the inside, but those can be seen however at Julian's site here.

For information on the tours, the National Trust website has the schedule and information.