Paul McCartney's concept sketch for the Abbey Road cover (1969)

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My last stop in London: Abbey Road

The well-graffiti'd sign for Abbey Road

I'd always wanted to stop by Abbey Road. I even remember the day the album came out. By the time The Beatles The Beatles album came out (a/k/a "The White Album"), I would usually try to go to the record store and buy it the first day.


The studio building today

On Saturday, I had my chance to see the street The Beatles made famous, and the studio where they'd recorded most of their albums.

I'd already bought an all day pass on the underground, and getting to Abbey Road Studios was just a matter of going to the Saint John's Wood subway stop and walking a couple of blocks.

I thought there would be tour buses, and maybe even some ancillary souvenir stands! No. But I wasn't the only one to drop by that famous studion and crosswalk. It wasn't a mob scene, but there was a steady stream of mostly American, French, and German tourists.

Abbey Road then:



Abbey Road now:



To get to Abbey Road, you exit the Underground at St. John's Wood Station (the Jubilee line), walk down to Grove End Road, and follow it for a couple of blocks. You'll come to a monument on a pedestal, and the famous crosswalk. It looks a little different now...the zig-zag lines and the lights on posts you see are to warn drivers there may be some clueless people blundering around the crosswalk.


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