John Lennon’s school desk goes on display at Beatles Museum in Liverpool

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/18/john-lennon-school-desk-beatles-museum-liverpool

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Desk from Quarry Bank high school had been hidden by staff as teachers considered Lennon a ‘nuisance’

A desk used by John Lennon has gone on display after being found in the attic of his former school, where teachers had not wanted to remember the musician because he was a “nuisance”.

Lennon attended Quarry Bank high school in Liverpool between 1952 and 1957, and the name of the Quarrymen, the band that would become the Beatles in their formative years, was inspired by the school’s name.

His desk was rumoured to be somewhere in the school for decades, with a common tale detailing that staff had hidden it after Lennon shot to fame with the Beatles as his former teachers had found him a “nuisance” and did not want the school to be associated with him.

Tom Barry, a teacher at what is now Calderstones school, said the former headteacher had led the plan.

“The story is that the headmaster, Bill Pobjoy, when John had made some sort of fame with the Beatles, we think in about 1963 or 1964, he asked the caretaker, known as Yozzer, to unscrew John’s old school desk from the history room and put it into storage,” Barry said. “That’s been locked away for years and they lost the key so we had to beat the door down to get to it.

“The rumour had circulated through the school and we weren’t quite sure if it was actually the desk belonging to John, but we’ve now found a document from the headmaster’s PA which notes down the task for the caretaker, so we have written proof.”

Barry said the school had long refused to acknowledge its famous former student, who is known to have been disruptive during his school days, even turning away fans who would turn up at the gates.

But it has now embraced Lennon’s time there, offering tours to fans that will include sights such as the stage where Lennon performed with Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

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“When John left, he was that much of a nuisance and a bully and that much of a poor student the school staff didn’t want to acknowledge that he ever went to the school, and removed any trace of him,” Barry said. “He was never spoken about, he was never acknowledged through Beatlemania.”

Lennon’s desk, along with an enrolment ledger signed by his aunt Mimi and other pieces from his school days such as uniforms and school signs, are the latest additions to the Beatles Museum on Mathew Street, where the Cavern Club that the band played in their early years is also located.