The Beatles were short of any new idea for their new LP cover on that sunny August morning in 1969, so they accepted that of celebrated photographer Ian MacMillan, who suggested they should simply walk across Abbey Road, a few steps from their studios. No one would have thought at the time that zebra crossing might be part of the British heritage one day. Yet it has been so since December 2010, following a decision made by Westminster City Council. The most famous zebra crossing in the world was listed Grade II by the Department of National Heritage, whose classification ranges from Grade II, the lowest, through Grade II* up to Grade I, which is normally reserved for historic monuments. Grade II definition reads : These are buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them.
Apart from the fact that Ian MacMillan, who originated that brilliant idea, is no longer around since he died of cancer in 2008, there are only two Beatles left to enjoy that promotion, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. But the obvious aim of that decision was to crown a touristic option which has become a real place of pilgrimage, as that zebra crossing, recently listed Grade II, attracts an endless bunch of visitors every day. The underground route is simple from central London. Leave the Piccadilly line at Green Park and it takes about ten minutes up to St John’s Wood through the Jubilee Line. Once there, groupies can immediately realize they are in the right place, since they come across a small Beatles souvenir shop at the exit of the tube station. Then they have to walk along Grove End Road over about a hundred yards and the zebra crossing is there at the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road.
What a vast majority of tourists, from all over the world who go there to take recollection photos, do not know is the fact that, in spite of a baffling ressemblance with the 1969 photo, the zebra crossing was further away in the street facing number 3, where EMI studios were. And it no longer exists as BBC News website recalled on December 22nd 2010. As a matter of fact, either at the BBC or at Westminster City Council nobody can remember where exactly the crossing was. A spokesperson from the Council made that cautious statement : ‘The details of exactly when and why the crossing was moved from its original location have been lost in the annals of time’.
Nevertheless it takes more to discourage groupies in case they knew, which is most unlikely, because firstly it is Abbey Road NW8 and secondly the zebra crossing is just in front of Abbey Road Studios, which is enough to get intoxicated by the power of nostalgia. Furthermore in front of the mentioned studios there is a camera which shoots the crossing around the clock, and things often get out of hand, as pictures show on that site. That being said, people from the luxurious houses of those posh surroundings and motorists passing by consider that continuous hustle and bustle in various and different ways.
Abbey Road residents, likewise motorists who drive along that now historic street, particularly bus and taxi drivers, have become very edgy, as The Telegraph reported on August 2009. And the legendary British calmness has reached its end. Since 2000 there have been 22 accidents in Abbey Road, fortunately none of which was fatal. The reason is the many tourists never hesitate to linger on while being photographed in poses identical to the Fab Four’s forty two years ago and then waste motorists’s patience away. Some other people of the area are cooler and do not mind all those visits they see as a mark of esteem towards the United Kingdom and London. The elderly are even keen on telling anecdotes. The last word will be left to the incredible Sir Paul, who has gone astray from simple speech and who hailed the decision as ‘the icing on the cake’. One might also think about another expression : ‘it takes the cake !’…
Photo PA