NEW PLANS TO GIVE RINGO´S CHILDHOOD HOME A MAKEOVER

The terraced house on Madryn Street where Ringo once lived is part of the well-known Welsh Streets

Ringo's childhood home is saved

Plans to rejuvenate the childhood home of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr - recently threatened with demolition - have been unveiled.

The promise of a £14m government grant has saved the iconic property which has long stood under the shadow of the bulldozer.

The terraced house on Madryn Street where Ringo once lived is part of the well-known Welsh Streets in Liverpool in Toxteth.

Now Liverpool council have declared a start on draft design proposals to give the addresses on the road, still visited by hordes of Fab Four tourists every year, a lease of life.

More than 150 new houses will be built in the Welsh Streets along with 32 refurbished terraces, 16 on Ringo’s Madryn Street and 16 on nearby Kelvin Grove.

Residents in Toxteth will now get the chance to have their say on the blueprints and put forward how they want the Moptop’s ex-stomping ground to look like.

Ringo, 71, was born in the dilapidated three-bedroomed Victorian terrace at 9  Madryn Street and campaigners were horrified by attempts over the past  half-decade to send it to the wrecking ball.

In June, housing minister Grant Shapps came to the Welsh Street to announce the scheme to save Ringo’s home, using a speech heavy on Beatles puns to win over locals.

He said: “Ringo Starr’s home is a significant beacon of Beatlemania, a bricks and mortar reminder of a hugely important influence on British music.

“But it’s also a lot more than that – a real example of communities having the power and voice to step in a save the places they treasure most.

“With the Help! of Liverpool residents we worked it out and Madryn street can be saved for the nation.

"Its future will now be in the hands of local residents – if they can make a success of this street then many more similar houses and streets could be saved.”

Hopes remain the National Trust could take on the property in the same way they did with John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s childhood homes, both in Allerton.

Liverpool council said: “We are really excited about these proposals, because we believe they will revitalise the Welsh Streets.”