They finally got odd rolls of wallpaper right in home where Paul and I grew up

WHEN Mike McCartney first saw his brother Paul on TV, he could only think of one thing: Where had his thick accent come from?

- SANJEETA BAINS

"I could not believe how Scouse our kid sounded," Mike, 79, says. "I said to him after, 'What was that all about?' 

"He said he was putting it on so they would all sound more authentically Scouse. But only Ringo really had a strong accent, and George. We never did... Mum wouldn't allow it.

Matriarch Mary McCartney was very particular, setting high standards for herself, her children and her home.

The family's post-war council house - 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, south Liverpool would become the birthplace of the Beatles.

It was where Paul, his songwriting partner John Lennon and bandmate George Harrison would create the sound that changed music for ever. It was the only home on the street with a phone -Mary was a midwife and always on call.

It was also the only house in the area with a living room that had mismatched wallpaper, but wallpaper of the highest quality.

And it was here that Paul and John wrote I Saw Her Standing There in November 1962, a month after Love Me Do was released.

The story of the house is explored in new six-part BBC series, Hidden Treasures of the National Trust.

And the distinctive wallpaper around its fireplace quite literally provided the backdrop to one of the most significant cultural moments in history.

Months before and after that first TV appearance, the Beatles turned the room into a makeshift music studio and often rehearsed there, fuelled by cups of tea and bacon butties.

And Paul's younger brother Mike and his camera were there to capture it all.