THE cliche goes that if you can remember the sixties, you weren’t really there. Well, local man George Beale was and has fond memories of when Pink Floyd brought some much needed psychedelia to Grosmont.

The year was 1967. The date was Thursday, May 25, and out at Grosmont Wood Barn, there was a party going on, and the house band was called Pink Floyd.

Back in those more innocent times, the event was billed in the Chronicle as a “dance.”

It was reported that the “Nationally-known group, The Pink Floyd, has been booked by Abergavenny Entertainments Officer, Mr Eddie Tattersall, for a dance he is organising in aid of the Gwent Constabulary Widows, Orphans and Benevolent Fund.”

The Floyd were being supported by “popular” Newport group The Volume IV, and punters got a chance to see the late, great Syd Barrett (who the Chronicle called Sid) in action before he left the band to pursue a solo career and lose his mind.

Just a week earlier, the Floyd had started recording their iconic single ‘See Emily Play’, so they were definitely firing on all cylinders when they arrived in sleepy Monmouthshire.

Local lad George Beale remembers the gig well and told the Chronicle how a barn in Grosmont was the place to be for all the ‘local heads’ in the late sixties.

“The farmer would allow his barn to be used for a six-week window in the summer, and many top groups appeared there each year. I remember seeing Billy Fury and the New Vaudeville Band, to name but two,” explained George.

Recalling the night the Floyd came to town, George recalls, “For the Pink Floyd dance, the stage had a white backcloth and further white sheets covered the groups loudspeakers.

“At the back of the barn, there was a platform made of scaffolding that had several projectors facing the stage. They were equipped with transparent discs that were loaded with different colour oils that started to 'float' as the discs warmed up with the heat from the lamp - a little bit like the old lava lamps.

“As a result, the stage was filled with a multitude of psychedelic lighting effects that were revolutionary at the time but would look a bit dated now.”

When asked what sort of setlist the early Floyd performed, George drew a blank because “The noise from the speakers was so loud it was impossible to recognise what song was being performed. But it was one of those experiences that made the 60's that little bit different.”

Things continued to go from strength to strength in Grosmont’s halcyon days of flares, lava lamps, and jazz cigarettes, as George recalls, “The biggest event held there was, I believe, in 1969, when there was an all-night affair with six separate music groups on stage.

“The two headline acts were Fleetwood Mac and Jethro Tull. Approximately 3000 fans turned up, and as some of them had walked most of the way, they could be seen fast asleep under the mangers and so missed the performances. The following morning, people in Abergavenny were reporting that their milk bottles were missing from their doorsteps!”