HISTORIANS who are researching the early days of the Beatles – as the half-century anniversary of the beginning of their story comes around – have unearthed a fascinating fact: Lydney could be owed another Beatles gig!

According to several books that detail the earliest days of the Fab Four, the Lydney gig was held on Friday August 31 1962. It was billed as being held in Lydney Council Chambers, with the band travelling to Stroud Subscription Rooms for the following evening performance on September 1. But intriguingly, the company who booked the band to play here in the Forest, Jay Dee Concerts, seemed to have booked them to play two concerts: but the second date never materialised. This was probably because the Tuesday after they appeared at Lydney, they flew from Liverpool to London to attend Abbey Road Recording Studios in St Johns Wood, there to meet with the man allocated to them as their producer, George Martin, who took them on to international fame and fortune.

Those early concert performances in 1962 were performed with the bands new drummer, Ringo Starr, who had previously played with another Liverpool band, Rory Storm And The Hurricanes, and who was brought in to replace their original drummer Pete Best. But for the recording at Abbey Road, a session drummer was brought in – with Ringo reduced to tapping a tambourine.

But as the Review began to research the idea that Lydney could be owed a return performance – at least from the surviving pair of Paul McCartney and Ringo, another astonishing fact began to emerge. Attending the Lydney gig all those years ago was a music fan from Coleford. She wishes to remain anonymous, but told us that she clearly recalls the concert – and that the drummer that hot August night was definitely not Ringo, but was the original drummer, Pete Best.

Amateur Beatles historian and archivist Julian O'Neal told the Review: "To have one new fact emerging after all these years is one thing, but the question of who the drummer was that night will have the bands websites jangling for weeks and months to come. here are so many books and articles on the Beatles that new facts emerging are very rare indeed."

He added: "Quite a few 'double date' bookings were left behind in the wake of their success – but in this instance we don't know if jay Dee Concerts were ever reimbursed for the second date the band did not play. Perhaps there is a contract lying in a drawer somewhere that promises a second date in the town."

However, after half a century, he did not expect that Macca and Ringo would be honourable and return to play the missing date.

"Not likely! Their rise to fame was phenomenally fast. The day before the Lydney concert they played two dates in one day – the first a lunchtime gig at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, and then in the evening they played in Chester. The next two days they were in Gloucestershire and then the next week they had their first date with Abbey Road. But it was only a year after that the band were playing at the London Palladium at the Royal Command Variety Performance. They were literally rocketing to success."

As for the identity of the drummer that night, he told us: "That is fascinating indeed. The fact is that Pete Best was not exactly pleased to be kicked out of the band, so it seems unlikely he would agree to play with them after Ringo got the job. But then again, they were just kids, and everything was fun and mad. It could be that Ringo still had dates to honour with Rory Storm and that Pete came back to fill in."

The Review would love to hear from anyone with more details of that infamous concert at Lydney: ticket stubs, photos or a programme would also be very welcome...