A WREXHAM woman looks set to be a few thousand pounds richer when her autographs from an ‘unknown’ band go up for auction next month.

The 72-year-old who preferred to remain anonymous, attended one of the Beatles’ earliest performances in 1963 at a less than packed Whitchurch Town Hall Ballroom.

The lucky autograph owner met the band at the gig in Whitchurch on the very night they appeared on a Saturday night TV show which changed their fortunes.

Please Please Me had just been released and soon hit the number one spot in the UK charts.

Fame and fortune beckoned but just before ‘Beatles-mania’ exploded they performed at a gig which hardly anyone turned up to.

The signatures and kisses penned by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr more than half a century ago are set to go into Hanson’s Auctioneers’ music memorabilia sale in October with an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.

“I went to see them on a bitterly cold night - January 19, 1963,” said the woman. “I was only 16 and still at school but I was allowed out with a group of friends as we knew the backing group.

“The Beatles were playing at the Town Hall Ballroom in Whitchurch, Shropshire. But hardly anyone was there.

“The room was pretty empty. There was no atmosphere. I’d heard of The Beatles but they weren’t well known at the time.

“I think the cold kept people away too. There was snow on the ground and the temperatures were sub-zero.

The Leader:

The autographs from the Beatles signed at Whitchurch gig in 1963

“Because there was so few people there, it was quite relaxed and we got to chat to The Beatles and ask for autographs.

“We spent about 15 minutes with them. I remember John Lennon plonking away on the piano after the gig.

“At the time I didn’t even know Ringo Starr’s name. The Beatles were really nice to us.

“I asked Paul McCartney for his autograph and, as he wrote it, he said out loud, ‘to the most beautiful girl in the world, with all my love and affection’.

“I expect he said that to all the girls. He was only joking but it’s been my claim to fame ever since!

“It was just before The Beatles made it big. On the same day they performed Please Please Me on ITV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars.

“I saw them perform later on in the 60s but by then they were huge.”

The anonymous owner kept the autographs hidden away for more than 50 years for fear of them getting damaged.

“I framed the autographs but then put them away in a cupboard for 56 years,” she said. “I was worried it would fade if I left it in the light.

“I wasn’t sure how much it was worth. I thought it might go down in value the longer I kept it.”

Claire Howell, music memorabilia specialist at Hanson’s, said: “It’s unusual to see an authentic set of full Beatles autographs from their early days.

“Ringo Starr only joined the band in 1962 following their formation in Liverpool in 1960.

“Our vendor got to see the band just before they became worldwide hot property. Their single Please Please Me was released in the UK on January 11, 1963 during one of the worst winters in British history.

“On January 19 – the day of the Whitchurch gig – most of the population were snowed-in at home watching the Beatles perform on Thank Your Lucky Stars.”

The Beatles autographs from 1963 will be sold at Hanson’s Auctioneers in Derbyshire on October 22.