Or the relocation that never happened. According to
this BBC news report from December 2010,
"The original zebra crossing, where the photograph was taken, was moved several metres for traffic management reasons more than 30 years ago, and no original features remain."
"A spokesman for Westminster City Council said: "The detail of exactly when and why the crossing was moved from its original location have been lost in the annals of time."
"But by comparing photographs with the Ordnance Survey maps, we believe that the crossing might have been further north nearer 3 Abbey Road, which was the front house of the EMI Studios, because the steps of Neville Court appear to the right of the crossing in original photographs of the crossing, whereas the present crossing is near the junction of Abbey Road and Grove End Road."
I beg to differ.
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| Click on the photo for a closer view |
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The famous Abbey Road zebra crossing was never relocated. I talked about it with Richard Porter on location a few months ago, and he showed me a mark in the pavement which was also clearly present in one of the original photos which he had brought along. Richard is famous for Beatles fans visiting London, having conducted his guided Beatles walks in the city since the eighties. Here's Richard depicted with a remaining old style Abbey Road wall sign. |
So it's clearly just a remark from a non-obsessive person who has seen too few
photos from the day misinterpreting the differences in perspective.
Anyway, it's a good opportunity for me to post a few more Abbey Road photos! And you can see that the various perspectives can fool the non-obsessive eye...
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| The Beatles' point of view |
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| With a blue beetle and before those annoying zig zag lines |
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| The black streetlight pole has been moved closer to the corner |
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| Back then it was grey, thicker and closer to the crossing. |
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| Margaret Thatcher, 1990 |
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| Paul McCartney, 1993 |
5 comments:
I remember reading an article in 1984 in The Observer magazine about Carol Bedford (Apple Scruff), and her book, which said the zebra crossing had been repainted further down the road. Maybe this unspeakable lie originated then? I also remember Carol said she didn't listen to The Beatles anymore, but Bob Dylan, whoever he is.
I created a webpage on this very topic myself a couple of years ago, with plenty of photographic proof that it hasn't moved. Here it is!
I was eventually able to convince the "higher ups" of the Wikipedia to remove the "fact" of the crossing's relocation from the Abbey Road page. Difficult to do, when it's your word against the BBC's!
My attempts though to get Westminster City Council to retract their statement went unanswered.
When I visited the site in June 1995, there were 2 crossings. The normal one, and one slightly further back a couple of hundred yards or so, on the other side of a junction. The cab driver who dropped us off, said the when the Council installed the new one, people got wind that they were planning on removing the Abbey Road one and kicked up a fuss so they left them both. No idea if the other crossing is still there but this might explain some of the stories.
alternatives covers http://www.freehotmusic.org/index.php/en/jokes/37-graphicals-jokes/76-the-best-alternatives-abbey-road-cover-album
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