Magical History Tour

The National Trust is best known for preserving imposing historical buildings such as the Elizabethan stately home Hardwick House, which featured in the opening episode of restoration series Hidden Treasures of the National Trust.

- HANNAH DAVIES, IAN MACEWAN

FACTUAL Hidden Treasures of the National Trust Friday, 9pm, BBC2

But the conservation charity also looks after humbler abodes, including 20 Forthlin Road, an ordinary-looking former council house in Liverpool, which features in the third episode of the series.

Music fans will recognise the address as the childhood home of Sir Paul McCartney - dubbed the birthplace of The Beatles.

That's why the Trust made the then controversial decision to purchase the house in the 1990s and restore it to its original condition.

'The house was built in 1952, says Peter Grant, the Liverpool Echo's Beatles correspondent, who works as a tour guide at the house.

"The McCartneys arrived in 1956, and left in 1964.