Beatles fan spends £10,000 turning garage into a replica of the Cavern Club

A Beatles-mad pensioner has splashed out £10,000 recreating the iconic Cavern Club in his own garage full of memorabilia dedicated to the Fab Four.

Derek Oldfield, 65, has spent the last five years creating the man-cave after being inspired by a trip to Liverpool.

His garage at his home in Allenton, Derby, is now filled with hundreds of pieces of Beatles memorabilia including: limited edition records, toy figures of the four, CDs, calendars, magazines and picture frames.

The collection also includes the dad-of-three’s most prized possession – a Yellow Submarine Jukebox which plays famous Beatles tracks as well as a copy of the Cavern Club wall.

Derek said: “I think I’ve spent around £10,000 – it was like £10 here and £20 there and it just added up.

“The most I’ve spent would be on the Jukebox which was £3,500 and I got it from a friend of a friend who collected 60s memorabilia. It still works we listen to it everyday.

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“I’ve got to a point where I can’t extend it anymore, there is one more thing I need which is a brick from the Cavern Club which was knocked off in the 80s. They cost about £400 -500 – but it would the icing on the cake.

“I love the Jukebox but my pride and joy is the Cavern Club wall, you can replace the jukebox but not the wall, I don’t think there is another copy in the country. I truly believe it is the best Beatles bar in England and maybe even the world.”

Derek, a retired Derby County FC office worker, listened to his first Beatles record – ‘Love Me Do’ – when he was 10.

He said he started collecting beers and ales first, converting his garage into a bar in 2001, and after a visit to Liverpool with wife Linda, decided to turn it into a Beatles-themed bar.

“I love the Cavern Club and I thought why not make the garage into a Beatles-themed bar,” he added.

“On every trip to Liverpool I would just buy memorabilia from the shops and put it into the garage.

“I just escalated from there really, it’s been over the past five years where I pushed on with it, since being retired, I’ve had more time to visit Liverpool.

“I got the Yellow Submarine Jukebox about five years ago, along with limited edition records, and I was lucky enough to get a copy of the iconic wall behind the stage of the Cavern Club.

“I’ve probably been to the Cavern club about 18 or 20 times, it’s just great really and all my mates love it, they can’t believe what they are walking into.”