JOHN´S GYPSY CARAVAN REDISCOVERED IN ASCOT HOUSE

A key piece of Beatles memorabilia has been discovered in the garage of an Ascot house.

John Lennon's 1967 Sgt Pepper's Gypsy Caravan has been hidden from public view for more than 40 years.

But the Ascot News can exclusively reveal that the remains of the legendary caravan - which was bought by Lennon in 1967 for his then, four year-old son Julian's birthday - has been acquired by Alan Carr, a well-known Ascot resident and charity fundraiser.  

He is hoping the caravan can be restored to its former glory.

Mr Carr has been made the charitable guardian of the remains of the caravan, which is in a considerable state of disrepair, to sell it to raise money for the charities supported by the Ascot Lawyers' Foundation, of which he is fundraising director.

He said: "This caravan is a piece of rock 'n' roll history and represents the spirit of its time. Ideally, I would like to see it take pride of place in a cultural museum in Liverpool - the Beatles' birthplace - where experts can decide if it should be returned to its original Sgt Pepper's glory, but for charities' sake, I will have to balance any interest very carefully."

Originally called a Showman or Burton caravan, it was repainted at a garage in Chertsey to the specific designs of John Lennon and transported on the July 24, 1967, to Tittenhurst Park, Sunninghill, where Lennon lived with first wife Cynthia and son Julian.

After a sojourn in Ireland, where Lennon bought an island with second wife Yoko Ono, it returned to Ascot to stand in the garden of Tittenhurst Park until John Lennon's murder in New York in 1980. Fellow former Beatle Ringo Starr then acquired the caravan as part of the late Beatle's estate in 1982 and called in Cookham-based, vintage caravan restorer John Pockett to restore it.

It took almost a year and by September 1983 was returned, in its full glory, from Pockett's Cookham workshop, to be placed beside Ringo's swimming pool. 

That Hippie Penny Lane