A hotel owner reminisces about the unforgettable night when she gave up her bed for the Beatles during their secretly come to stay at her family’s private members club.

A mere 14 years old, Gail Moss witnessed the momentous arrival of The Beatles at Holdsworth House in Bradford on October 9, 1964, during the early stages of their UK tour.
After converting their stately home into a club a year earlier, Her father Freddie Pearson had successfully convinced Brian Epstein, the band manager, to allow the band to stay that night.

After agreeing to the invitation, police roadblocks and diversions were set up around their Jacobean manor to ensure they were not disturbed during their visit.
Ms Moss recalled how Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Brian Epstein spent the night toasting John Lennon‘s birthday 24th birthday, before heading off to sleep in her room, which she’d been turfed out of.
And in the morning her mother, Rita Pearson, allowed her to visit the famous lads before they left, adding that Paul had offered her a cigarette which she declined.

Ms Moss said: ‘Obviously, every teenager in West Yorkshire was excited that The Beatles were playing their opening concert in Bradford.
‘And you can imagine how I felt when my father told me they were actually coming to stay with us. It was a hard secret to keep.
‘Paul, George, Ringo and Brian Epstein drank in the Long Bar until the early hours along with John who, despite his toothache, was still the life and soul of the party, told endless jokes and did a brilliant imitation of a pompous Yorkshire mill owner – he was a great mimic.’
‘I was up at 6.00am, terrified they might leave early and I’d miss them. But I needn’t have worried as they slept in and had breakfast in bed.’
Gail Moss, now the director of Holdsworth House Hotel, had been sworn to secrecy ahead of the visit by the band.
Their stay at the private members club, then called The Cavalier, was secured through her dad after they performed at the Bradford Gaumont Theatre.
They had been looking for somewhere they could be sure offered complete privacy.
Her mum feared their gardens would be awash with ‘thousands of screaming fans’, but traffic officers managed to stop Beatles devotees from finding out their location.

Ms Moss said: ‘At around 11 o’clock they arrived after what my father described as a “hairy drive”.

‘He travelled from the concert with them to give directions, they skirted the crowds and passed at speed through police roadblocks.

‘My mother had been desperately worried that the gardens would be trampled by thousands of screaming fans but, in the end, thanks to a police diversion their destination remained a secret.

‘Holdsworth House wasn’t a hotel at the time, so my family had to vacate our bedrooms for The Beatles to sleep.’

She added: ‘I did tell one close friend whom I trusted, Alison Butterworth, she is still a good friend today but I’m not sure that my other school friends have ever forgiven me!’

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