Beatles furniture was set for the dump after being left in skip

A set of furniture that was nearly lost to a skip has been put on display at a museum after its Beatles connection was spotted by an eagle-eyed passer-by. The green wicker table and chairs, which once graced the dressing room of Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight, Wirral, were revealed as the newest additions to the Liverpool Beatles Museum on Thursday.

The iconic band had their first official gig with Ringo Starr on drums at this venue in August 1962 and also conducted their initial radio interview there within the same year. That historic broadcast, carried out by Monty Lister for Radio Clatterbridge, took place right in the dressing room where this furniture stood, and it even features in a photograph of the group from the interview.

In the image, the Fab Four are seen huddled around one of the chairs, with Sir Paul McCartney casually resting his foot on it while speaking into a microphone, as John Lennon and George Harrison lean on the chair, gazing towards the lens. Roag Best, who owns the museum, shared with PA news agency how the pieces were almost discarded. He said: "Hulme Hall was having a restoration last year and they were throwing all this stuff into a skip when someone walked past and thought, ‘I’m sure that’s the stuff from the dressing room’ so he dragged it all out of the skip."

READ MORE: Two Beatles albums are in the UK charts right now

READ MORE: Beatles legend John Lennon's velvet jacket going up for auction in Liverpool

The individual who rescued the items then reached out to the auction site Tracks, which initially sold the table and chairs to a buyer in the United States. As per the online listing, the trio of furniture fetched £750.

The sale of a significant lot of Beatles memorabilia was initially set to go overseas, but when the buyer baulked at the transport costs, the collection found its way to a museum instead. Mr Best, brother to Pete Best—the original drummer for the Beatles before Ringo Starr took over—remarked on the historical significance of the furniture, saying: "It’s involved with Ringo’s first performance as a member of the Beatles and it’s also iconic because it’s tied to the Beatles’ first radio broadcast with Monty Lister, who was way, way ahead of his time."

The Mathew Street museum showcased the set, with radio presenter Billy Butler, a former colleague of Monty Lister at Radio Merseyside, doing the honours.

A recording of Lister's interview was played, where he introduced the Beatles as an "up and coming Merseyside group". In the interview, Starr recounts joining the band nine weeks prior, while Sir Paul refers to Lennon as the "leader of the group".

They also discuss their performances in Hamburg, Germany, and the songwriting process behind hits like PS I Love You and Love Me Do.