The Beatles live: Tower Ballroom, New Brighton, Wallasey

This was The Beatles’ 21st show at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton, Wallasey.

The show was promoted by Sam Leach, a number of whose events The Beatles played at during the early 1960s. This was billed as “Operation Big Beat V”, and featured six groups, headlined by The Beatles, and lasted for five and a half hours.

Tower Ballroom was on the New Brighton promenade, and was capable of holding up to 5,000 people. The New Brighton Tower opened in 1900, and at 567ft was taller than Blackpool Tower. A 1,000 tonne lattice-steel observation tower overlooking the Wirral Peninsula, it was the tallest building in Britain when it was completed.

It was short-lived, however. Following closure during World War One, its structure began to decay and the tower was dismantled between 1919 and 1921.

The ballroom underneath fared better, however, and was used for nearly 50 years. However, the building was destroyed by fire in 1969. The area was later redeveloped as River View Park.

The Beatles played at the Tower Ballroom on 27 occasions. The other dates were 10 and 24 November; 1, 8, 15 and 26 December 1961; 12, 19 and 26 January; 15, 16 and 23 February; 2 March; 6 April; 21 and 29 June; 13, 21 and 27 July; 17 August; 21 September; 12 October; 23 November; 1 and 7 December 1962; and 14 June 1963.