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Pat Walsh
Pat's Peeps Podcast
Ep. 359 Pt. 3 Today's Peep heads to Arnold Grove to find out how a small house shaped George Harrison's life and Legacy
Arnold Grove. Arnold Grove. Arnold Grove, yes. Arnold. There it is up there. Arnold Grove. Oh, Arnold Grove. So we'll just stand here and as you look up there you can see the name. Now when George travelled around the world, he made hotel hotel reservations, he made dinner reservations in the name of Arnold Grove. And when people stopped him, stopped him in Los Angeles or stopped him wherever he was, he had a little lanyard around his neck with his name tag of Arnold Grove. Unadopted, what that means is that where you are now is the borderline. This is down to the residence, and that will be down to the authorities. So unadopted means private road, if you want to put it that way. Number 12 is on the right hand side where the car is now the Volkswagen, and on the side you can see the blue plaque. Last year, Olivia Harrison came here, came along, and with her people, and she's done a lovely speech, and she pulled the code and that unveiled the blue plaque on the front of the house there. So here we go then. George Harrison was born on the 25th of February 1943 at number 12 Arnold Grove. Here's a picture of the family altogether. Harold was a bus driver around Liverpool. Louise sold fruit and vegetables on a high street shop. Harold and Peter are the elder brothers, elder sisters, Louise, George, the baby of the family. Four children, two adults, two-bedroom house is just too small. Mrs. Harrison was on the housing waiting list for 17 years. Good news came her way, she finally got given a larger home. The home for the family is going to be a four-bedroom house and it's going to be all the way at the back of Liverpool Airport. In other words, in the middle of nowhere. Right at the back, sorry, a three-bedroom house, right at the back of Liverpool Airport in the middle of nowhere. When Mrs. Harrison moved there, she hated it. It was too far. She didn't want to be there. Mrs. Harrison just bid at the time. In 1958, on the 20th of December, Harold got married and moved out the family home. The year later, Louise marries an American engineer and goes to live in Benton, Illinois, in the US. That enabled mum and dad, two boys, a chance to get another home. Now the American Ford Motor Group came to Liverpool in 1953 and they ring fenced Halewood Farm. Halewood Farm is going to be the Ford Motor Factory. Everyone who lived in that neighbourhood worked at Ford, and when Mrs. Harrison moved to that neighbourhood, she couldn't believe a look. It was a wonderful new house with all mod cons. George becomes a Beatle. This is George in 1963. He's putting his car on the driveway. Now when he woke up the following day, his car's going to be hit by the young girls with lipstick messages and kiss marks and so on and so on. And he's going to get upset about this. George Harrison will come home in 1964 and he's getting ready for a journey to America. The Beatles were given the bags. Stand there in a second. The Beatles were given bags by British Airways, BEA, British European Airlines. They were told to hold the bags when they walk off the plane. That's exactly what they've done at JFK. That shows George with his bag and his George's bag at JFK and his John with his Pan Am, you can see there. The Beatles arrived in New York City February the 7th, 1964. Two days later, they made their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The week after that, they flew to Miami, second edition of the Ed Sullivan Show from the Juville Hotel. 21st of February back to JFK, back home to London. Four days later, George Harrison celebrates his birthday. He's in London and he's celebrating his birthday at the restaurant, and that is George at the restaurant. Telling everyone thanks for all the cards. Now we had no idea in Liverpool mum and dad had to open the door with boxes and boxes of mail coming through the front door here. Mum and dad looking a little bit alarmed. So George came home in 1964 in November, and George stood on the front door of his house with his dad giving him a thumbs up. Now we walked in the house that night, and George Harrison told his parents, I bought you a home. I'm a millionaire. I bought you a home on the outskirts of Liverpool. In other words, in the middle of nowhere. Mrs. Harrison did not want to go. She was happy where she was, but she's got to go because he's bought the house. Mrs. Harrison moved to the new home in 1965. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She passed away in 1970. In 78, he lost his father with lung cancer. In 1997, George found a mark on the back of his neck. His wife noticed it when he was doing a bit of garden in his wonderful home. And the mark, as I say, was a cancerous growth. He had an operation privately and he got it taken away and he told everyone quite happily, I got rid of it. It's gone, it's not going to give me a problem. 18 months later, he was back in the theatre. This time, an operation on his throat. He's got a cancerous growth. He had an operation, he goes to Italy, Tuscany to recover. George Harrison was brought back to New York City, the cancer has spread. He's going to go home now to London. George was attacked in his own home on the 30th of December 1999. An intruder got in the house. But the reason why you didn't hear much about it is because the millennium, the year 2000, was right upon us. The 30th of December 1999, the news got buried with the millennium celebrations the next night. So George Harrison was attacked in his own home, and it's his wife who we thank. She fought the man off with a table lamp and with a fire poker. She batted that man while that man stabbed her husband, caught him in the stomach, got him in the chest, got him in the arm, got him in the back, had him on the floor, and George is in a situation he can't get out. He just cannot fight the man. It's his wife. She hit him with everything she had, knocking him to the floor. And when the man started moving again, she got a table lamp and she hit him again, and this time he's out cold. The police got to the house, they arrested the intruder, and George got taken to the hospital. He came home several weeks later, released a statement telling everyone, I'm gonna be fine, I'm gonna be okay. Now you mentioned Tom Petty before. Tom paid the visit to come and see him in London, and Tom sat on the end of his bed holding his hand. Tom was upset. George was getting a little bit upset, but George lightened the mood by saying that it was my wife. My wife is the one who fought the attacker. Without her, I wouldn't be here. And when Tom said, Well, ain't you glad you married a Californian because she saved your little ass? Tom was making light of the moment, but it was a serious situation. 2001 he flew to Switzerland, Austria. He had treatments on cancer. It's not working. He's gone to New York again. Staten Island, he's having treatments. On the 11th of November 2001, Paul McCartney paid the visit to him. That's when Paul held his hand, looking at him, talking to him. Four hours, the two of them, talking about the good old days back in Liverpool. And then Paul had to leave because George was slipping away and sleeping. And as he went to sleep that night, Paul gave him a kiss and walked out the hospital. 29th of November, two weeks later, I passed away in California. George was passed away in California, Beverly Hills to be precise, on Heather Avenue. And George was cremated at the Hollywood Forever Crematorium in California. He was laid to rest on the Ganges in India. So George came from that house down there and was laid to rest on the Ganges. I will send you photos of this that happened last year.