This week my walk down memory lane is a musical one, and recalls the wondrous days of the 1960's, when Britain snatched the rock 'n’ roll crown from the US and were ruling the pop world with the Stones and the Beatles leading the way.

Milford had been rocking to the likes of the home-grown Rebels, but it was another local band, the Wayfarers, who grabbed the nettle and headed for the "bright light cities," seeking fame and fortune in an alien world where many, their dreams in shatters, had stumbled and fallen by the wayside.

The Wayfarers were: Phil Davies; Billy Jenkins; Andrew (Chuffo) James; Mac Wootton and Roger Arnold.

I knew all the boys well, and 10 years or so ago, for another local paper, Roger, who collaborated with me on so many local charity fundraising shows, wanted to tell me the no holds barred tale of the Wayfarer's band-on-the-run adventures and experiences.

Inevitably, these turned out to be far more hair-raising than their earlier days, when they were known as The Vampires, and were the resident group at the Pill Social Centre.

Pill were attracting many of the "big" names at that time, and it was one of them, Dave Dee (13 Top 30 hits), who suggested they should "turn pro"… and a showcase for an agency in Maesteg went well... except for their name... The Vampires.

After toying with a few alternatives, they finally opted for The Wayfarers.

And so the die was cast, and the "not-so-famous-five" bravely waved farewell to the home comforts of playing gigs in Pembrokeshire, and headed for the Smoke, and these were the personal recollections of my good friend, their drummer, the late Roger Arnold.

"We drove into Paddington to find some cheap digs, and a group from Merseyside, called the Mojos (3 Top 30 hits), put a good word in for us with Peggy, the manageress, who found us a room right at the top, in the roof.

The other roof space was taken up by another group called The Mindbenders. Their leader Wayne Fontana (5 Top 30 hits) had a room of his own. On the floor below were the Mojos, the Isley Bros (10 Top 30 hits), Charlie and Inez Fox (2 Top 40 hits) and Big Dee Irwin (1 Top 10 hit), all of whom we met at breakfast the next morning. Most of them were part of the Rolling Stones 64/65 Package Tour.

We went down to the Gaumont in Southampton with the Mojos and went backstage to watch the show. All we could hear was the audience screaming for the Stones.

Due to lack of finances we left the hotel after a couple of weeks and found two bedsits owned by a Chinese family, of which only the teenage daughter could speak English… She was tickled pink to have a pop group as tenants… which was just as well, as in the second week we were nearly thrown out and threatened with the police for robbing the electric meter. We hadn't. But Phil had noticed that there were no locks on the cash meter drawer, so was able to put the same coin through time and time again!  The police idea was dropped, but we were still asked to leave. Mind you, we nearly did get arrested by the Met. Our van had trouble starting, so we parked it around the corner, on a hill. One morning we had to go into the city to get cash off our agent, after which we bought chips

(our daily diet) and mooched around Tin Pan Alley "star" spotting.

Back at the house we were surrounded by the "boys in blue" and charged with theft. It turned out that instead of our van, we'd mistakenly taken a similar van owned by The Kinks! 

We found a flat in Barnes, the posh part of London… it was £85 a week, but felt we could afford it.  We were getting regular gigs by now, with return bookings to most of the venues, but we still weren't making a lot of money.

We came home for a short Xmas break, which turned into a nightmare.

On Boxing Day we were travelling back to Bletchley, Bucks. for a gig. We left in good time, but our van broke down in Brecon, the engine badly damaged.

We couldn't continue our journey and couldn't hire a van because of the Xmas hols. The Bletchely gig was a personal venue for Ron King, the boss of Galaxy Entertainments, who'd signed us up. We contacted his partner Alan Isenberg who warned us: "Ron wants your guts for garters!" A week later, at the agency we were told that the £1,500 Ron had earmarked to promote us had now gone on

promoting another unknown group called The Swinging Blue Jeans (4 Top 33 hits).

Alan Iselberg then joined NEMS Enterprises, and took us with him, even managed to get us in the New Musical Express. We got bookings the length and breadth of England and N. Wales, then relocated to the Midlands… but neglected to tell our Barnes landlady, who was owed around £800! 

Gigs were going well and we were still living the dream. We once called into NEMS for our cash and a skinny young redhead was in reception to see Mr Epstein. I knew she was a singer… Cilla Black had the legs of a linnet!

Despite gigging all around the country our lack of funds was taking its toll.

The final straw came at what was to be a lucrative double booking in Keswick and Carlisle. We got there early and after talking money to the promoter we suddenly realised that Alan Isenberg had been ripping us off. He denied everything so we left the agency. We had contacts personally with the agents around Stoke, but all of a sudden nobody wanted to know us.

After evaluating our financial position we calculated that The Wayfarers were £1,500 in debt, down to equipment, van repairs and rent arrears… and with our gigs dried up, in Sept 1965, we finally admitted defeat and came home."

I was one of the hundreds who were in Milford's Masonic Hall for The Wayfarer's welcome home gig, and although poorer in pocket, their time away had honed them into a slick, highly professional, superb musical band.

And over a cup of coffee in the Torch Theatre, when these memories were first given to me, Roger, Billy and Andrew added that after their return home, they'd played locally for decent money, and within eleven months The Wayfarers had cleared all their debts.

Their story may not have had a fairy tale ending, but they'd "had a blast," learnt much about the dark side of some agents, had wholeheartedly given it their best shot and could walk away with their heads held high. 

Sadly, the three of them are no longer with us, but without doubt, especially to those of us from that era, The Wayfarers will never be forgotten, and here's a pic of the band in their heyday.

That's just about enough from me, except for these words from Leslie Bricusse: "I try to make each day a miniature lifetime in which I achieve something, and I enjoy something."

Take care, please stay safe.