New mural added to Penny Lane Art Trail as dad aims to turn it into a wider attraction

The latest mural has been added to the Penny Lane Art Trail as a local dad and artist aims to turn the famous address into a wider attraction.

Tens of thousands of visitors come to the Beatles landmark every year, but Ian van de Waal realised very few of them spent any time there.

Instead most hopped on and off tours for photos by the signs without ever walking along the lane let alone spending any time or money there.

Now Ian, who lives just off Penny Lane, has created a second street artwork as he puts together the trail which he hopes will include four life-size Beatles plaques, interactive maps and more colourful murals on businesses and houses.

The first was completed at the end of summer last year, on the side of Croccante pizza on Church Road.

He explains:

“The plan is to install an art trail along Penny Lane and in the neighbouring area, just to give tourists something to see other than grey walls as they arrive from all over the world. 

“I want to create something that keeps people walking along Penny Lane rather than just getting off and on the bus at the end of the road.

“I also want it to go further than just The Beatles because, although they’re obviously the focus, I want to include more than that. I’ve spoken to local schools and they’re all interested in taking their kids along the trail once it’s up and running and using it as a way to teach the kids about art, music and local history.”

The most recent artwork is on the side of Tiger Rock, just around the corner from Penny Lane on Smithdown Road.

It has East Asian influences in its design in keeping with the restaurant’s menu, but shares a colourful floral motif with the first mural.

“I’d walked past that wall for years and always thought it was crying out for some artwork, so I came up with the design and approached Tiger Rock and said to them, ‘if you part-fund it, I’ll part-fund it from a crowdfunding campaign I did last year.’

“Now it’s completed I’ve had other places in the area getting in touch to ask if I’ll do something similar for them so I’m just trying to decide which to do next. 

“I’m in talks with people who can potentially fund it, so as and when money comes in we’ve got locations for new murals including a couple of residents on Penny Lane who’ve said we can use the side of their houses.”

Ian says his overall goal is to really turn Penny Lane and the surrounding area into a place that’s better for locals and visitors.

“I spoke to an American tour guide last summer and she said, ‘you’ve got this landmark location which to us is the equivalent of Graceland but there’s no infrastructure there, it’s crazy’.

“I think 70,000 people alone come on the Magical Mystery Bus, then you’ve got all the other tours so I’d say there’s probably 100,000-150,000 a year at a conservative estimate and the local businesses aren’t seeing the benefit of that.

“I want to show people that Penny Lane is a place worth stopping at, that’s why we want to have interactive maps with a QR code at each end. They’ll take people to a website which highlights not only the murals we’re doing but also food and drink.

“When people look at it they’ll see there’s more to do there, so they might spend an hour or two having a bite to eat and visiting local businesses.

“All the murals will be colourful, bright and really engaging and we know tourists want to take a pic next to anything like that. It then goes straight onto social media so it’s free marketing for Penny Lane which should have an economic impact on the whole area.”

Find out more about Penny Lane Art Trail here.

Find more art news in Liverpool here.

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