At one point during the planning for the ‘Get Back’ project – before the Beatles decided they would perform on the roof of the Apple offices in Savile Row – one idea was to set up a stage on Primrose Hill, which is where I’ve been living for the past five months.
For those who are unfamiliar with this part of London, it is at the northern edge of Regents Park, near London Zoo. The views across to the south and east of London are impressive, taking in most of today’s major landmarks, such as the Shard and the London Eye, plus a few of the older ones, like St. Paul’s Cathedral – completed in 1700 and now dwarfed by the new 21st Century glass and steel towers.
As you can see from this black and white photo from 1969 and the colour photo below from 2021, the London skyline has changed quite a bit in 50 years. The Post Office (or GPO) Tower is still prominent on the right, with the London Eye to its right. St Paul’s is also still visible on the far left, the Shard towering to its right. Though the Shard is further along the River Thames, it appears to the right of St. Paul’s because of the way the river snakes around south east London.
I live in New Zealand mostly now, but London is still my home town. One of the treats about Peter Jackson’s ‘Get Back’ documentary is seeing various parts of London, the cars and the fashions as they were in 1969. For me, there’s also the fact some of the key locations have touched my own life.
For example, around 1990 I worked in the office block right across the road from the Apple office on Savile Row where some of the cameras were situated for the rooftop filming.
And in 1991 I moved into the red brick apartment block right across the road from the EMI recording studios on Abbey Road in St. John’s Wood. It’s where I met my wife!
In the background is Neville Court on Abbey Road, where I lived in 1991 and 1992
Richard Newell 