If 2020 was the year many of us would like to forget, 2021 is turning out to be one to remember.

In the last few weeks I have attended my son’s wedding and graduation, and the hat-trick of unforgettable days came last Sunday.

I have always had a deep sense of heritage, and sometimes the only way to satisfy it is to visit historical places.

So when I heard that talks on the history of Abbey Road Studios were actually being delivered in Studio Two, where 90 per cent of The Beatles’ masterpieces were recorded, I just had to book a ticket.

Because it is still a busy working studio, the public rarely get a chance to go in there - and nothing beats standing on the precise spot where history was made.

I have stood on many such spots.

Only the other week I was at Epsom racecourse, which has been the home of the Derby since 1780, so isn’t short on history.

But I found myself drawn to one particular point on the course - the corner where heroic suffragette Emily Davison fatally ran out in front of the King’s horse in 1913.

If you think about it, it’s not the same grass that Emily fell on, all but one of the stands on the course are obviously modern, and although the rails look the same as they do in the film of the tragedy, they must have been replaced over the years.

It only works - to quote a very wise man - when you imagine.

Far less imagination is required at Abbey Road Studios.

Although the upstairs control room has obviously evolved with changing technology, the recording space, which is about the size of a tennis court, is almost exactly as it was in the 1960s.

And here’s the thing: all of Abbey Road’s vibes are good.

The Beatles ultimately did it for their profound love of music, not the fame, nor the money.

So although cynics might call it corny, when they sang All You Need is Love at Abbey Road Studios, I really believe they meant it.

And if ever a place made me believe that buildings are able to retain something from events that happened there, Studio Two is it.

Many of the other historic places I have visited have associations with suffering and death, including numerous bloody battlefields.

And having once stood, with tears in my eyes, in a room in which thousands of Jews were gassed to death (at Auschwitz), how wonderful it was to stand in another one where four creative geniuses - five if you include producer George Martin - conjured immeasurable joy out of thin air for millions of people around the world.

This enormous potential for buildings to provide these reference points in our lives should never be underestimated. They are not just bricks and mortar.

Not even in Swindon, where some people would let them rot or tear them down, happy to see the good vibes inside their walls be lost forever.