Looking for an old photo? Perhaps it's in our archive:
Please note, the archived pictures are listed by the date we receive them, not when they were taken
The easiest way to get to Abbey Road is by taking a Jubilee Line train to St John's Wood Station on the London Underground system. When you exit the station cross over the main road immediately in front of the station and a comfortable 5 minute walk along Grove End Road will bring you to the junction with Abbey Road. At the junction bear right and you have reached the crossing and Abbey Road Studios. If you prefer to use the London bus network rather than the trains then bus numbers 82, 113 or 13 will get you to St John's Wood Station from where you can follow the same directions as above or alternatively the bus numbers 139 and 189 stop just outside the studios (if you are travelling north, ie away from the West End / centre of town) and just a minutes walk away if you are travelling in the opposite direction.
Who could ever have imagined that a simple street name and one very ordinary pedestrian crossing would come to mean so much to so many people. On 8th August 1966 I began my very first job working as an assistant at what was then simply called EMI Studios. Exactly three years later - on 8th August 1969 - photographer Iain Macmillan spent about ten minutes taking just six pictures of The Beatles walking across the pedestrian crossing situated to the left of the studio entrance. The result was the creation of the iconic image that became the Abbey Road album cover. It was also of course the reason that EMI Studios subsequently had a change of name and became the now infamous Abbey Road Studios. (If you take a close look at the picture the second car behind the police van is the little blue mini I had at the time!) It's hardly surprising that a pilgrimage to Abbey Road to see the Studios and the Crossing has become a must for any real Beatles fan visiting London. I have walked or driven along Abbey Road almost every day since '66 and yet - since the release of Abbey Road in September 1969 - I could probably count on one hand the number of times when someone hasn't - on what is a pretty busy London road - been risking life and limb trying to re-create Iain's fantastic photograph.
(Iain Macmillan at the Abbey Road Café)
From April 1999 to October 2006 I owned the Abbey Road Café at St John's Wood Station. Managed for me by Magno Garrido and some wonderful staff we sold official Beatles and Abbey Road Studios merchandise and had a brilliant time meeting thousands of tourists from all parts of the globe. It was an unexpected surprise when Iain Macmillan - pictured on the left - visited the Café, bringing along a framed print of one of the rarely seen 'out takes' from that famous photo shoot.
I hope you get as much pleasure sharing the memories of your visit to Abbey Road as we do from hosting this site - on which note I'd like to take the opportunity to thank my oldest son Martin for putting it together and making it all possible.
Jeff Jarratt
If you like this site you might like to check out our links to celebrated artist Jo Peel and to my youngest son, award winning designer, Chris Jarratt.
