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John Lennon and Yoko Ono holiday hotel set for demolition

Gareth Wyn Williams
BBC News
Reporting fromTywyn
Alan Finlay John Lennon and Yoko Ono with John's six-year-old son Julian, and Ono's five-year-old daughter Kyoko Cox. In the black and white photo they are sat on sun loungers in the garden, with a large hedge behind them. Alan Finlay
A teenage Alan Finlay took this photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their stay at the Corbett Arms with their family in the summer of 1969

A hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a holiday as newly-weds when The Beatles were top of the charts with their final number one before splitting up is in danger of being demolished.

The Beatles star and his wife stayed at the Georgian Grade II listed Corbett Arms in the seaside town of Tywyn, Gwynedd, in the summer of 1969 during a turbulent time in the band's history

Lennon and Ono were pictured by 13-year-old Alan Finlay, who also washed the superstar's car, while sat in the hotel's garden.

The hotel has been shut for a decade, and after attempts to find the owner, the local council has applied for the 19th Century hotel to be knocked down as parts have already collapsed.

The run-down Corbett Arms, which dates back to the early 1800s, is now a far cry from being the landmark hotel which attracted stars like Lennon and Ono.

The Beatles were on a break during the recording of what would become Abbey Road - which includes songs like Come Together, Something and Here Comes The Sun - when Lennon visited north Wales.

It was just months after his marriage to Ono in March 1969 and the singer wanted to show his new wife special places that meant a lot to him.

Jeremy Bolwell | Geograph The hotel when it was still open in 2012. The imposing cream building has rows of large sash windows and a car park in the front, with a road running on the right hand side. Jeremy Bolwell | Geograph
Locals described the once grand Corbett Arms as a local landmark and the gateway into their seaside town

They arrived on the north-west Wales coast as The Beatles song about them, The Ballad of John and Yoko, was number one - the 17th time they had topped the UK singles charts.

Their visit to Tywyn was also between the recording of Lennon's first solo single Give Peace a Chance, which the pair recorded three weeks earlier in their second week-long anti-war bed-in in Montreal, and its release.

The Corbett Hotel's odd-job boy Alan Finlay, then 13, greeted the superstars as they arrived.

"Dad would tell us about this real fancy car pulling outside the hotel and John Lennon got out," remembered daughter Gaby, 26.

"He was a huge music fan and was like 'oh my god', he couldn't believe it.

Gaby Finlay Alan Finlay holding a Welsh flag by a swimming pool. He has short grey hair and a beard, and is wearing glasses and a navy t-shirt.Gaby Finlay
Alan Finlay's claim to fame was washing John Lennon's car and taking a picture of him and wife Yoko Ono on their visit to north Wales in 1969

"John Lennon then asked dad to clean his car. So he did with pride and couldn't believe it when John Lennon paid him, he said he'd have done it for free! But John paid dad quite a lot of money!"

According to local folklore they had been turned away from another hotel, the Trefeddian Hotel in nearby Aberdyfi, before spending the night in Tywyn.

Gaby's grandmother Jean also worked at the four-storey hotel and said the couple, accompanied by Lennon's six-year-old son Julian and Ono's five-year-old daughter Kyoko Cox, did not have a booking.

"They asked to book out the whole top two floors for privacy," added Gaby.

"After dad washed the car, he saw them as a family sitting out in the garden and asked them for a picture and they agreed."

Getty Images John Lennon and Yoko Ono, in Montreal in June 1969, pose in bed. He has his arm around her shoulder and is wearing striped pyjamas in the black and white photo. Plants and flowers can be seen on a surface behind them.Getty Images
Before their trip to north Wales, Lennon and Ono spent a week in bed in Montreal promoting the theme 'make love, not war'

Welsh rugby fan Alan went on to have three children, worked in the Royal Air Force and later as a mortgage advisor and taxi driver, and was a grandfather when he died aged 69 in 2022.

"That was dad's claim to fame, he loved telling people about that story," said Gaby.

After a brief pit stop in Wales, Lennon and Ono went on to his home-town of Liverpool and on holiday in Scotland in his white British Leyland Austin Maxi car.

"This was downtime for them in a very busy time and it was an attempt to be discreet," said Mark Lewisohn, a historian, biographer and well-respected authority on the Beatles.

"But everywhere they went, they were recognised because nobody on the planet looked like John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

"Yoko was John's new partner and she wasn't British so he wanted to show her places important and special to him."

Getty Images Lennon stands by a white car while Ono leans into the vehicle. A black dog can be seen on a patch of grass in front of the car while another person stands by the boot. A row of houses can be seen in the background. Getty Images
Lennon and Ono at home in Surrey getting ready for their road trip around the UK in 1969

"He had a life-long affinity to Wales after going there as a child and John Lennon's mother's family had a Welsh connection," Mr Lewisohn said.

"He told the South Wales Argus in 1965 that 'Wales seemed full of green grass, beautiful mountains and such friendly people' so he always had a feeling for Wales."

Following his UK road trip, Lennon returned to the studio with bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the July of 1969 to finish off Abbey Road in what proved to be their last recording session.

Lennon then quit what is widely-regarded as the UK's most famous and successful band in the September, days before Abbey Road's release.

Getty Images A billboard of the Beatles' famous Abbey Road album, where the four band members are crossing the road on a zebra crossing. Getty Images
John Lennon was in north Wales weeks before recording what was to become The Beatles' final recording session

"At no point when the picture in Tywyn was taken was John thinking The Beatles were going to break up," added Mr Lewisohn.

"But he wasn't adverse to it because what he thought about The Beatles and what we thought about The Beatles were two different things."

Lennon and Ono's visit to north Wales was just days before Prince Charles' investiture as the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in the north of the county.

The couple sent a postcard of the 20-year-old prince to Starr and his family to the Apple offices in London, containing the simple message: "Hello".

That postcard, bearing the postmark of Tywyn and dated 23 June 1969, was included in drummer's 2004 book Postcards From The Boys.

National Library of Wales An old photograph of the Corbett Arms. The grand building can be seen in sepia tones with fields and hills behind it. National Library of Wales
Businessman John Corbett bought the hotel, which was then called the Raven Arms, in 1878 and more than doubled the hotel's size

From hello, it could be goodbye to the Corbett Arms for good unless help is found to save the once grand building that was described by locals as the "gateway into the town".

It could be demolished within months because it is dilapidated and unsafe, with parts of it having already collapsed.

The Corbett Arms is considered one of the UK's most endangered buildings, according to conservation charity SAVE Britain's Heritage.

Work ongoing on the hotel including diggers on site and link fencing to the right hand side. The cream facade is looking shabby and ivy growing on the left of the building.
The once grand Corbett Arms is in a run-down state in the centre of Tywyn

Campaigners, including Catherine Evans who remembers Lennon's visit to her home-town, want this important part of Tywyn's history to be saved.

"The history is unbelievable, going back to the 1800s, and it's a shame it got to this state and pulled down when it could have been saved," added Ms Evans, whose parents both worked at the Corbett Arms.

The local authority has issued 11 notices to force repair works by the owner but emergency demolition now seems likely in order to protect public safety.

Catherine Evans standing on the road in front of the Corbett Arms Hotel. She has short grey hair and glasses and is wearing a black and white striped shirt with a blue gilet.
Catherine Evans says locals fear some of the town's history will be lost if the Corbett Arms is demolished

Scaffolding has been put up to secure the building with an application in place for listed building consent to carry out the demolition work.

"We understand the significance of this historic building and concerns of the local community," said Gareth Jones, of Cyngor Gwynedd.

"However, the condition of the building has deteriorated to a point where immediate action is now required to protect public health and safety. Sadly there is no other option."