Stage where Lennon met McCartney fails to sell at auction

The stage on which John Lennon first met Paul McCartney has failed to sell at an auction of Beatles memorabilia.

The piece of pop music history was expected to fetch up to £50,000 in the sale held by Fleetwood Owen auctioneers at London’s Sticky Fingers Cafe yesterday.

McCartney was in the audience when Lennon performed on the stage with his skiffle group The Quarrymen during a garden fete at St Peter’s Church Hall, Woolton, Liverpool in July 1957.

Light fittings from the hall sold for £750 at yesterday’s auction but other items, including a door and an exit sign, failed to reach their asking price.

The group had shared a billing at an evening dance in the hall with the George Edwards band, which played waltzes and foxtrots.

Occasional Quarrymen guitarist Pete Shotton recalls the atmosphere was stony McCartney was quite cocky and sure of himself but he and John had little to say to each other.

Nevertheless it was the start of a musical partnership that would create some of the 20th century’s best loved songs.

The stage, which survived a fire at the hall two months ago, was being sold as part of the building’s restoration.

Other Beatles memorabilia including George Harrison’s first guitar and a piano owned by Lennon also failed to sell.