The Cavern Club Old and New.
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Hi All I'm trying to find out just where the original Carven club stood in Mathew Street. Everyone seems to say something different, some that it stood next door to the rebuild and some that it stood over the opposite side of the street. I talked to a chap who works on the Magical Mystery Tours (who I believe own part of the cavern club) and he said that far from being demolished the original was just sealed off and filled in with the above ground buildings being knocked down. He then said that when the original club was excavated they found that all of the arches were in tacked but unsound so they sold off the damaged bricks then took down the whole structure turned it by 90 degrees and rebuilt it. He went on to say in regards to the original entrance that it was now the clubs fire escape and it is further down Mathew Street than the new corner entrance and there are photos on the door that prove it to be the old entrance (which they do as far as I could tell). So is any of the above true?If so why do so many think it was on the other side of Mathew Street? And just how much of the original structure is used in the new rebuild? There is surprisingly very little information on the rebuild anywhere so any info will be helpful. All The Best
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M.Shakesby:
Hi All I'm trying to find out just where the original Carven club stood in Mathew Street. Everyone seems to say something different, some that it stood next door to the rebuild and some that it stood over the opposite side of the street. I talked to a chap who works on the Magical Mystery Tours (who I believe own part of the cavern club) and he said that far from being demolished the original was just sealed off and filled in with the above ground buildings being knocked down. He then said that when the original club was excavated they found that all of the arches were in tacked but unsound so they sold off the damaged bricks then took down the whole structure turned it by 90 degrees and rebuilt it. He went on to say in regards to the original entrance that it was now the clubs fire escape and it is further down Mathew Street than the new corner entrance and there are photos on the door that prove it to be the old entrance (which they do as far as I could tell). So is any of the above true?If so why do so many think it was on the other side of Mathew Street? And just how much of the original structure is used in the new rebuild? There is surprisingly very little information on the rebuild anywhere so any info will be helpful. All The Best
The orginal Cavern is just barely a few doors down from the rebuild on the same side of the street. It is sealed off but there is a sign there that says the original Cavern entrance with a picture on it. I took a picture of what the sealed up entry looks like but I can't post it from my phone right now. I can't help you with your other questions though.
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Thankyou for your reply. I'm thinking the door your talking of is the one we're told is the fire escape for the new club. I wish I'd taken a photo myself when I was there last week. I believe it has a blown up photo of a guy standing in the original door way. Its one of the many mysteries of the Cavern, if the above buildings were knocked down (many sources saying a car park was built on the empty plot) how is the original door still there to be used as a fire escape? All The Best
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M.Shakesby:
Thankyou for your reply. I'm thinking the door your talking of is the one we're told is the fire escape for the new club. I wish I'd taken a photo myself when I was there last week. I believe it has a blown up photo of a guy standing in the original door way. Its one of the many mysteries of the Cavern, if the above buildings were knocked down (many sources saying a car park was built on the empty plot) how is the original door still there to be used as a fire escape? All The Best
It is a blown up photo of the original doorman/bouncer, just a couple doors down (to the left) on the same side of the street. No car park there. When I was there in 1993 I saw an empty area which is not there any more. Never heard about this "fire escape" thing though.
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There is a below ground level shopping complex on the same side as the rebuild, and its open area (I think there is a cafe there) partially covers the area of the original cavern, while the rebuild cavern covers the other section. Its such a shame though that the original cavern wasn't preserved intact. One thing is for certain though, the original cavern and the rebuild are on the same side of the road and share,in part, the same space.
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M.Shakesby:
Thankyou for your reply. I'm thinking the door your talking of is the one we're told is the fire escape for the new club. I wish I'd taken a photo myself when I was there last week. I believe it has a blown up photo of a guy standing in the original door way. Its one of the many mysteries of the Cavern, if the above buildings were knocked down (many sources saying a car park was built on the empty plot) how is the original door still there to be used as a fire escape? All The Best
Here is the picture I took, though now realize that I didn't take a picture of the whole door after all!
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Basically the original Cavern entrance is where this pic is
but you went down more steps than you do in the new cavern, and you turned right at the bottom so most of the cavern is on the right, whereas the new build entrance is further right up the street, but you go down fewer stairs and then go left when you go down. So techincally pretty much just the mock up stage part of the "new" cavern is where the old one was, but height wise only about the bottom foot of the new one shares airspace with the top foot of the old one! i'm not making much sense, but it makes sense in my head!! 
To the right of the new entrance used to be open land that some parked on, this used to be refered to as above the original, but it wasn't. The site of the original doors has been pinpointed thanks to pictures that match up with the bricks and building opposite. -
M.Shakesby:
Its one of the many mysteries of the Cavern, if the above buildings were knocked down (many sources saying a car park was built on the empty plot) how is the original door still there to be used as a fire escape? All The Best
It's not the original door, just the site of where it was. It's a door in the new build, sharing the same spot
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Eeee Cor Blimey:
M.Shakesby:
Its one of the many mysteries of the Cavern, if the above buildings were knocked down (many sources saying a car park was built on the empty plot) how is the original door still there to be used as a fire escape? All The Best
It's not the original door, just the site of where it was. It's a door in the new build, sharing the same spot
But is the place where the original door was used as a fire escape?
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^ well is has fire esacpe written at the bottom of it, so i presume so - prob a small passage from the new cavern and maybe linked with some of the cavern walks shopping centre,you know what health and safety is like over here - they make everyone have multi exits in case your main one is blocked by fire.. (rightly so!)
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Eeee Cor Blimey:
^ well is has fire esacpe written at the bottom of it, so i presume so - prob a small passage from the new cavern and maybe linked with some of the cavern walks shopping centre,you know what health and safety is like over here - they make everyone have multi exits in case your main one is blocked by fire.. (rightly so!)
I didn't notice the fire escape writing! -
Eeee Cor Blimey:
Basically the original Cavern entrance is where this pic is
but you went down more steps than you do in the new cavern, and you turned right at the bottom so most of the cavern is on the right, whereas the new build entrance is further right up the street, but you go down fewer stairs and then go left when you go down. So techincally pretty much just the mock up stage part of the "new" cavern is where the old one was, but height wise only about the bottom foot of the new one shares airspace with the top foot of the old one! i'm not making much sense, but it makes sense in my head!! To the right of the new entrance used to be open land that some parked on, this used to be refered to as above the original, but it wasn't. The site of the original doors has been pinpointed thanks to pictures that match up with the bricks and building opposite.Thank you for posting this, I'm glad you got the whole doorway!
I'm not quite sure why I didn't take a full picture. I'll just blame it on the jet lag since we went to The Cavern the morning we flew in. -
The rebuilt Cavern is on roughly 50-75 percent of the original site. The original entrance, hidden behind the murals now leads to the stage area in the narrow part of the club, closer to Mathew Street. Luckily some workmen were using that entrance in December 2011, and seeing the door was open, I took full advantage and walked down into the club.
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Apparently in the new bit of the club, to the left of the stage, up where the bar is. Is where the location of the original stage was, there is a marker to say so, along with a Julia Baird poster of the Cavern wall. It was good to sit up there and try to imagine how it was back in the early Sixties, when Paul rocked the stage several hundred times!
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When I was in Liverpool doing one of the tours , I was told that it was built on essentially the same site but back to front. A lot of proof was offered as to why this was the case at the time by the tour guide, but I can't remember the details..
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I visited the 'new' Cavern recently but only looked round the first section (nearest to road) in front of the bar. I hadn't realised that it went back so far as the floor plan at the bottom of this page (see link) clearly shows.
ops: http://www.tag.mercurymoon.co.uk/T-REX_DAY/ -
stuartshire:
When I was in Liverpool doing one of the tours , I was told that it was built on essentially the same site but back to front. A lot of proof was offered as to why this was the case at the time by the tour guide, but I can't remember the details..
It was built to the right of the old site. Read all the previous posts for more details.
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Kestrel:
I visited the 'new' Cavern recently but only looked round the first section (nearest to road) in front of the bar. I hadn't realised that it went back so far as the floor plan at the bottom of this page (see link) clearly shows.
ops: http://www.tag.mercurymoon.co.uk/T-REX_DAY/I had no idea either and I've been there several times!
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Nancy R:
stuartshire:
When I was in Liverpool doing one of the tours , I was told that it was built on essentially the same site but back to front. A lot of proof was offered as to why this was the case at the time by the tour guide, but I can't remember the details..
It was built to the right of the old site. Read all the previous posts for more details.
Not according to the information I was given.
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stuartshire:
Nancy R:
stuartshire:
When I was in Liverpool doing one of the tours , I was told that it was built on essentially the same site but back to front. A lot of proof was offered as to why this was the case at the time by the tour guide, but I can't remember the details..
It was built to the right of the old site. Read all the previous posts for more details.
Not according to the information I was given.
Well, sorry, but your info is wrong. Many of us have been there. Did you not see the picture on the previous page? (the old entrance to the Cavern) which is to the left of the new Cavern quite a number of feet.
