Lucy
Jul 13, 2010, 03:52 AM
At home with the Beatles: Unseen photos taken by star-struck teenager who visited the Fab Four every weekend
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294323/At-home-Beatles-Unseen-photos-taken-star-struck-teenager-visited-Fab-Four-weekend.html#ixzz0tYvxHfuu
For most Beatles fans, a meeting with one of their idols during their heyday would have been a dream come true.
However, for Sue Baker, it was a weekly occurrence.
The superfan was just 15 during the mid-Sixties when she would visit the Fab Four every weekend for two years.
Mrs Baker, now a grandmother, took photos of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr on their doorsteps.
She tracked down McCartney's London home having read a vague description of it in a Beatles magazine.
He eventually asked her if she ever visited the other three, and, when she said no, he gave her their addresses which she wrote on the back of an envelope.
She spent the next two years visiting each Beatle – and told how they were always happy to open the door to them.
However, if they were out recording, or on tour, Mrs Baker would have a chat with their wives and bring them chocolates.
Mrs Baker, 59, who lives in Reading with husband Ken and has four children and two grandchildren, has decided to sell the photos and envelope - which are expected to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.
She said: 'I was a real Beatlemaniac and I remember reading in the Beatles Monthly magazine that Paul had moved into a new house.
'It gave a description so I went with a friend to try and find it. It had electric gates and an old lamppost in the front garden.
'We looked everywhere and eventually someone showed us where it was for half a crown.
'From then on we went every weekend and Paul would always come out and sign things for us.
‘Then he asked if we visited the others and I said we didn't know where they lived.
'So he gave us their addresses and we started to visit them.’
Mrs Baker also asked her friend to take a picture of her sitting on Harrison’s Mini when he wasn't in - and then took a snap through his bedroom window.
On his house you can see among the loud painting the words ‘Mick and Marianne were here’ - referring to Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful.
There is a picture of Mrs Baker with Lennon who is sporting huge sideburns, and snaps of Starr with a cigarette in his hand.
The teenage fan had two paper rounds in her home town of Reading, Berkshire, to be able to afford to travel by train to meet her heroes.
She often took her five-year-old brother Phillip who is also in some of the photographs.
Phillip was about the same age as Lennon's son Julian and sometimes the pair would play together while Mrs Baker spoke with the legendary singer-songwriter at his home in Weybridge, Surrey.
Mrs Baker added: 'After a while the people who lived near John hired security because there were so many of us.
'They picked me and a friend up once and we insisted we were visiting John and he was expecting us.
'They knocked on his door and when he came out he said we were right and he was expecting us and never to stop people from knocking on his door again.
'Because I delivered newspapers to pay for my trips to see them I would read the news and anything that mentioned the Beatles.
'I put all the cuttings and the photographs in a box and it has been in the attic for years. I have been thinking about selling them for some time.
'I kept up the visiting for about two years during 1965, 1966 and 1967.
'I just hope someone gets enjoyment out of them. They bring back great memories for me.'
The sale at Cameo auctioneers in Reading takes places on August 3.
Spokesman Alan Pritchard said: 'This is a wonderful collection of unseen photographs and memorabilia.
'There are a lot of Beatles fans across the world and I'm sure they'd all love this unique archive.
'Already there has been a lot of interest as there always is with good Beatles memorabilia.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294323/At-home-Beatles-Unseen-photos-taken-star-struck-teenager-visited-Fab-Four-weekend.html#ixzz0tYvxHfuu
For most Beatles fans, a meeting with one of their idols during their heyday would have been a dream come true.
However, for Sue Baker, it was a weekly occurrence.
The superfan was just 15 during the mid-Sixties when she would visit the Fab Four every weekend for two years.
Mrs Baker, now a grandmother, took photos of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr on their doorsteps.
She tracked down McCartney's London home having read a vague description of it in a Beatles magazine.
He eventually asked her if she ever visited the other three, and, when she said no, he gave her their addresses which she wrote on the back of an envelope.
She spent the next two years visiting each Beatle – and told how they were always happy to open the door to them.
However, if they were out recording, or on tour, Mrs Baker would have a chat with their wives and bring them chocolates.
Mrs Baker, 59, who lives in Reading with husband Ken and has four children and two grandchildren, has decided to sell the photos and envelope - which are expected to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.
She said: 'I was a real Beatlemaniac and I remember reading in the Beatles Monthly magazine that Paul had moved into a new house.
'It gave a description so I went with a friend to try and find it. It had electric gates and an old lamppost in the front garden.
'We looked everywhere and eventually someone showed us where it was for half a crown.
'From then on we went every weekend and Paul would always come out and sign things for us.
‘Then he asked if we visited the others and I said we didn't know where they lived.
'So he gave us their addresses and we started to visit them.’
Mrs Baker also asked her friend to take a picture of her sitting on Harrison’s Mini when he wasn't in - and then took a snap through his bedroom window.
On his house you can see among the loud painting the words ‘Mick and Marianne were here’ - referring to Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful.
There is a picture of Mrs Baker with Lennon who is sporting huge sideburns, and snaps of Starr with a cigarette in his hand.
The teenage fan had two paper rounds in her home town of Reading, Berkshire, to be able to afford to travel by train to meet her heroes.
She often took her five-year-old brother Phillip who is also in some of the photographs.
Phillip was about the same age as Lennon's son Julian and sometimes the pair would play together while Mrs Baker spoke with the legendary singer-songwriter at his home in Weybridge, Surrey.
Mrs Baker added: 'After a while the people who lived near John hired security because there were so many of us.
'They picked me and a friend up once and we insisted we were visiting John and he was expecting us.
'They knocked on his door and when he came out he said we were right and he was expecting us and never to stop people from knocking on his door again.
'Because I delivered newspapers to pay for my trips to see them I would read the news and anything that mentioned the Beatles.
'I put all the cuttings and the photographs in a box and it has been in the attic for years. I have been thinking about selling them for some time.
'I kept up the visiting for about two years during 1965, 1966 and 1967.
'I just hope someone gets enjoyment out of them. They bring back great memories for me.'
The sale at Cameo auctioneers in Reading takes places on August 3.
Spokesman Alan Pritchard said: 'This is a wonderful collection of unseen photographs and memorabilia.
'There are a lot of Beatles fans across the world and I'm sure they'd all love this unique archive.
'Already there has been a lot of interest as there always is with good Beatles memorabilia.'