After 47 Years, Man Returns Penny Lane Sign to Liverpool

Sign stolen by drunk students is now in Beatles museum
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 28, 2023 2:55 PM CST
'Penny Lane' Sign Stolen by Drunk Students Returned After 47 Years
As schoolchildren, Beatles members often traveled down Penny Lane.   (Getty Images/chrisdorney)

A piece of Liverpool history is now in the city's Beatles Story museum almost half a century after it was stolen by a group of drunk university students. The museum says a Penny Lane street sign was sent to the museum by a man who admitted he was part of a group of "worse for wear" students who stole it in 1976, nine years after the Beatles song came out, the Liverpool Echo reports. "Because I am getting on a bit now, I want to return it to the Pool, where I spent six very happy years as a student, undergrad then postgrad, including meeting my wife of 44 years," the man said in an email to the museum. "Obviously, Liverpool is where the sign should now spend the rest of its days."

The man described the sign as "totally pristine," the Guardian reports. Museum manager Mary Chadwick says the museum agreed to accept the sign on behalf of the city and they are now working with the city council to "understand its history and possible value." She says other signs have been stolen from the street in south Liverpool but this is the oldest one ever to be returned.

Dan Barrington, the city council's cabinet minister for transport, referred to other Beatles songs in a statement on the sign's return. "The removal of street signs is a criminal offence which can lead to a prison sentence," he said. "However, given the history of this case and the fact this Penny Lane has got back to where it belongs after what looks like a long and winding journey, then I think we can all agree to just let it be." (More Liverpool stories.)

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