In near pitch darkness, I am standing on a plank of wood above two feet of freezing cold water in the basement of what was once the Jacaranda club in Liverpool. The whole building is an empty derelict vessel. You can see up through four floors to the sky above. It’s mid-winter, I have been asked by the new owner, who is beginning to restore the whole building and turn it back into a nightclub, if I would take a look at the possible mural that runs across this long basement wall. It’s possibly a mural by John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe. I can’t help but imagine them as young art students in the late 1950’s laughing and joking in this subterranean space.

The torch light helps a little as I become accustomed to the dark. Gradually I begin to see details appearing through and around the fine veil of wet rot that covers everything. I can see possible faces, more ghoul-like than human. I can see slight variations in colour; possibly blue colouring. Very difficult to say how much of a mural there is, but various marks and faces can be vaguely seen across the long wall. It seems an art restorer has had a look and wasn’t interested because of the working conditions, even though this is reputed to be a late 1950’s mural by the famous two.

The owner, is pleased to be reassured that there is a mural there, but how much of one I can’t tell. “Would I undertake the restoration?” he asks. Curious, because this is a fascinating unearthing of forgotten Liverpool memorabilia in such an unloved dark dank basement, I said I would, but in stages, and I can’t be sure how much can be saved or restored. Firstly, they would have to drain the cellar and cure the flooding issue. Secondly, wait until it dries out. Thirdly, they must not touch the dry rot, it must stay intact. Fourthly, I would undertake some research to see if there were any images from that time showing the mural and confirmation that it was by them.

The research produced some fascinating images of the basement and the mural circa late 50’ early 60’s. The owner from that time, Alan Williams, was keen to help and assured me that Lennon and Sutcliffe had painted it. They were art students and hung around the Jac to listen to the Caribbean bands, also any opportunity for their band ‘The Quarry Men’ to play.

Months later I called at the Jac again. The building had a new roof and a team of workers were installing floors, stairways, and internal walls. The basement had been drained, partly dry, but the walls were still wet, which didn’t make sense, so I suggested they ask next door if they had a problem. For sure they had, and over the coming weeks, this was fixed, and the wall began to dry out. On my next visit, we set up several lights in the basement. I had asked them not to touch the veil of dry rot and it was still intact. Imagine a finely embroidered lace curtain being hung across the full length of the wall, and you begin to realise the task of exposing what was underneath. I was now able to see more of the mural below, but what was clear was that large areas of it were only held together by the wet rot, now dry, which was hanging in one piece just off the wall, as though being held along the top by a curtain rail.

It was clear that if the web of spores fell, most of the mural would be lost. I therefore began to carefully, painstakingly, apply tracing paper over the lace curtain of dry rot, and trace what I could see, making notes as I went along. Once this was done, I took a pair of scissors and carefully cut along the top of the curtain of dry rot. Like a ghost holding on tightly to a distant memory it slowly fell to the ground and became little more that dust.

I could now see what had been lost. From the right, at the front of the building where the rot developed, little was left until you reached the far left, where a large percentage was still intact. I took samples of the paint that had been used, and a chemistry lab found that it was just powder based water colour. The sort you might use in an art class, which would make sense as both Lennon and Sutcliffe where at Liverpool Art School at this time whilst beginning their musical careers.

Stabilising the mural that was left, took quite some time, and a plasterer built up the areas in between to create the base for the restored mural. Tracing paper was then placed across all the wall as the old mural was traced out onto the new surface. The colour range was white, black, powder blue, and this was carefully applied, creating the restored mural. However, I decided that this alone would not survive long in the steamy atmosphere of the new nightclub, and so a layer of water-based varnish was applied over all of it. It was striking, and if nothing else; unique and created by Lennon and Sutcliffe. I was pleased to be involved in restoring a fascinating piece of Liverpool cultural history. The press went wild as they do over anything about the Beatles, and I was across the media worldwide.

Some ten years later, I did call into the Jac to see how the mural was coping with the nightlife, and I am pleased to say my careful attention to detail, and its stability had paid off; that it was all intact. Sadly, in recent years, the new owners have not had the sensitivity to appreciate its originality and applied brighter colours to the ghouls. They have also added other murals around the basement, in a similar style. However, what is worse than this, is that the heavier layers (of whatI expect is polymer wall paint), has covered over the fascinating details I had left.

Truth is, that both Lennon and Sutcliffe made notes on the mural. It was as though they occasionally worked on it separately, leaving notes for each other. It will have taken them weeks to create the mural, fitting it in during lunch hours or when heading home. There were little quips or jokes which would make sense, it is Liverpool after all, and the Lennon we know did have a sharp, ironic, sarcastic sense of humour. As much as I could, I had left these little notes in the mural, intact. I have always liked to imbue an artwork with details, deeper levels – the less obvious. Hopefully, the occasional person who looked at the mural in greater detail might come across these finer details. Little notes like “bring sarnies John”, “You’re a crap artist Stu”, “Rubbish J”, “White here, not blue”, “Is this yer Dad?”, “Looks like that girl you were with last night”, “Rhubarb, Rhubarb!”. There were other areas of far longer text, I think by Lennon but difficult to read. 

Note: The next restoration was at St Peters Church (renamed St Peters Tavern) around the corner from the Jacarada where the Quarrymen and the Beatles played.