AUTHOR and former journalist Martin Creasy is putting together a book about the six UK tours of The Beatles between 1963 and the end of 1965.
He wanted to hear from Examiner readers who were at the ABC cinema in Market Street when John, Paul, George and Ringo arrived to perform on November 29, 1963.
And many eyewitnesses have contacted us to recall their own experiences.
Jenny Marsland (nee Mansfield) got second row tickets thanks to her dad Cyril, who knew the cinema manager.
Jenny, of Carr Street in Marsh, still has the receipt for the ticket, for which she paid 10s 6d, or roughly 55p.
She said: “I was 14 and I’d gone with a friend. The noise was deafening but it was a great time.
“We always used to try and sneak into the concerts there and if we were clever we could get in for five minutes before being caught.”
Marjorie Bryar (nee Brooke) was an 18-year-old student nurse at the old infirmary on Portland Street.
She and a few friends managed to get tickets – on the condition that they sold ice cream during the interval.
Marjorie, of New Mill Road in Honley, said: “We were in the circle and it was a bit hairy because people wouldn’t stay in their seats. The St John’s Ambulance were running up and down because of the hysteria.
“I remember carrying the ice creams and thinking someone would come toppling over on to me.
“If it wasn’t The Beatles you wouldn’t have thought much of it because you could hardly hear anything.
“I grew up in Honley and it was quite a rural upbringing. I’d never been to anything like it and everybody was so jealous.”
Susan Smith (nee Anderson) went with her friend Marie Brown (nee Walton).
They slept in a shop doorway to get tickets and persuaded their friend, Richard Doneagh, to provide them with a ready supply of coffee and hot water bottles.
Susan left the gig with a memory to treasure for life after Ringo Starr gave her a name-check.
She said: “The support act was on and I thought I’d go to the ladies’ before the Beatles came on stage.
Click below to view a picture gallery of Beatles images, including in Huddersfield and on stage at the Cavern.
“There was a group of security guards and as I walked by I heard a voice say ‘watch it love’ and I thought ‘that’s John Lennon.’
“The guard was trying to push me out of the way and I shouted to Ringo ‘Sing Boys for me’ and he said ‘what’s yer name?’ and I shouted back ‘it’s Sue.’
“Anyway, I got back to my friend and told her and she didn’t believe me but then during the concert Ringo said ‘this is for our friend Sue who I bumped into’ and he played Boys. It was brilliant.”
Not everyone was impressed by the Fab Four, however.
Jennifer Coupland, of Ayton Road in Longwood, said it was support act Peter Jay and the Jay Walkers she was most excited to see.
She was 14 at the time and said: “Everyone was screaming for the Beatles but it was the support act I was screaming for – they were brilliant.”
Raymond Sharpe, 77, of Ingfield Avenue in Dalton, was in charge of stage lighting at the cinema at the time. He said: “When I came out on the Thursday night when the tickets went on sale I remember them queuing all the way round the building.
“I arrived for the gig and I had to get a policeman to make his way through the crowd for me to get in.
“It was packed and they were very noisy. You couldn’t always hear what they were singing.
“As a lighting man you never had a rehearsal. You had a word with their boss, he gave you a few instructions and that was it. It was quite a hectic day but I enjoyed it.”
Margaret Rose, 73, of Marsh, was a police officer who had to try to keep the crowds at bay.
She said: “The night before they were queuing for tickets and I remember saying to them ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’”
When the gig came around Margaret was stationed by one of the doors to stop the crowds from getting in.
“I was in a little alcove and I was getting pushed so much I was frightened to death,” she said.
“There were some people inside who could see I was ready for passing out, so they managed to let me in.
“You couldn’t hear a word they were singing and some of the kids behaved like they were completely hysterical – they were taken up by the euphoria of it all.”
Melvin Smith, 80, of Lockwood Scar in Newsome, was a St John’s Ambulance sergeant and was pictured in the Examiner dealing with a young woman. “They were bringing them out like flies,” he said.
“This girl came out for a second time – she was screaming her head off and I slapped her face and told her she could go back in but if we had to fetch her out again that would be it.
“I didn’t see her after that.
“I have never experienced anything like it.”
Brian Senior from Fernside Avenue in Almondbury said: “My friend and I were offered two tickets by a mutual acquaintance for the gig which was the day after my 16th birthday.
“I think we paid 7/6 each – 15 shillings in total – for them which is 75p in today’s currency.
“We arrived early to join the queue which, as you can imagine, was manic.
“When the doors opened everyone was pushing and shoving trying to get in as quickly as possible.
“When we handed our tickets to the usherette she told us that we had, in fact, got only one ticket – the original and the counterfoil. We had been duped!
“But because of the crowd all around us she told us to go ahead into the cinema as there was no way we were going to get back out through the melee.
“We had to share our seat but as soon as the show began everyone was up on their feet anyway.’’
But that was where Brian’s luck ran out.
He added: “At the time I was a hairdressing apprentice at Deighton.
“One of our regular customers was a police constable who lived in the area and when he called in the following week he told me that he had been on duty in the Beatles’ dressing rooms and had he known that I was a fan he would have got me their autographs!’’
