The Mad Day Out: location two

The second location in The Beatles’ Mad Day Out photography extravaganza took place at the Mercury Theatre at 2 Ladbroke Road in Notting Hill, London.

The building was originally a church hall dating from 1848, and is now a private home. The Beatles’ car was parked near the Horbury Chapel, now Kensington Temple, and they waited in the theatre until a parrot handler arrived.

The group posed with the parrot in a number of shots near a theatre exit. They took to the stage for several pictures, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney alternating as the main figure. The Beatles then began a jam session around a piano, with McCartney playing the instrument with the parrot perched on his left shoulder.

We found ourselves in a strange community hall somewhere in the East End. Somebody produced a parrot. The light was terrible and I was struggling with reloading my cameras. There was an old upright piano and they started fooling around with it.

At around 4.30pm McCartney and George Harrison had a snack at the bar while Lennon and Ringo Starr posed for pictures. Lennon wore a silver jacket previously worn by McCartney, while Starr sat at a table.

Upon discovering a large sign saying ‘International Theatre Club’, all four Beatles carried it outside the theatre and were photographed holding it. They were then driven to their next location, Highgate Cemetery in north London.