George Harrison composed famous song in Appleton

12:30pm Monday 24th November 2008

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WHILE Beatles fans celebrate the 40th anniversary of The White Album, Warrington can lay claim to a small part in the making of the legendary record.

George Harrison's sublime 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' - complete with a solo by Eric Clapton - is one of the album's highlights.

But it is not so widely known that George composed the song in Appleton.

At the time he was staying at his parents' home, Sevenoaks, a bungalow on Old Pewterspear Lane. He had bought the property in the mid-Sixties for mum and dad Harry and Louise as an escape from eager fans who had turned their Liverpool home into a shrine.

George was a regular visitor to Sevenoaks with wife Patti Boyd (who inspired Harrison's Something and later married Clapton, whom she inspired to pen Layla).

The Beatle was often to be seen in Stockton Heath, and frequently visited his brother, Peter, who lived at Penketh.

In 1968, he took a book down from his parents' bookshelf and, upon opening it, the first words he read were 'gently weeps'. He then turned this inspiration into the now-famous song.

* Do you remember seeing George around Appleton, Stockton Heath and Warrington? Post your comments here.