It’s 55 years since The Beatles visited Bangor on 25th August 1967 to attend a conference at the Normal College (now Bangor University’s Management Centre) led by Maharishi Yogi, a guru in Transcendental Meditation.
The Beatles had met the Maharishi the pervious day in London, and decided to come to Bangor unbeknown to the conference organisers, also part of the entourage travelling with The Beatles to North Wales was Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful; such was the commotion boarding the train in London, John’s Lennon’s wife Cynthia, was mistaken for a fan by a police officer at Euston station, and not allowed to board the train, she later travelled to North Wales by car.
News of The Beatles pending arrival had already reached Bangor, and due to the huge crowd that had gathered at Bangor station, they considered staying on the train and travelling onto Anglesey.
Despite the screaming crowds and a welcoming committee including the world’s press, the band eventually made it to the university, where they were welcomed by even more young fans who had stripped college gardens of flowers to give to their heroes.
On the Friday evening the group, plus partners, Mick, Marianne and Hunter Davies, the group’s biographer, went to the Senior Chinese restaurant, the only such establishment open late in Bangor. At the end of the meal they realised they didn’t have enough money between them to pay the bill.
Hunter Davies said: “We went out to a Chinese restaurant in Bangor and ate on our own – just the Beatles, myself, maybe one or two others. When the bill came, we couldn’t pay.
“The Chinese waiter amazingly didn’t recognize them, and he was afraid we were going to do a runner. Suddenly, George put his bare foot on the table and opened the sole of his sandal, where he had hidden a £20 note.
“The Beatles were like the royal family. They didn’t have money, didn’t use money. But George had put this £20 note there just for this sort of situation.”
The Senior restaurant, which proudly advertised itself as the first Chinese restaurant in North Wales stood in the centre of Bangor alongside the clock tower. The site has been redeveloped and is now the Deiniol Shopping centre.
Not far from the site of the Senior is this plaque on the High Street commemorating the Beatles’ visit in 1967.
Hunter Davies added: “Reportedly the longest High Street in Wales it meant little during our visit when everything was closed and we couldn’t find anywhere to eat!”
During 1967 and 1968 Hunter Davies spent eighteen months with the Beatles at the peak of their powers as they defined a generation and rewrote popular music. As their only ever authorised biographer he had unparalleled access to the group, their family and friends.
Photos:
(1) The Beatles in Bangor
(2) Senior Chinese Restaurant (on the right of photo)
(3) Plaque on Bangor High Street
