5:10pm Tuesday 17th November 2009
By David Connop Price
A TEACHING assistant from Hook is in the money after a little Help! from The Beatles.
When she was 14, Gwyn Blanchard trekked two miles across Salisbury Plain in the rain to catch sight of her pop idols and was rewarded by John, Paul, George and Ringo posing for pictures and signing autographs while taking a break from shooting their feature film Help!
Now, 44 years later, the memorabilia has netted the grandmother, who works at Long Sutton Primary School, in excess of £2,500 at auction.
When Mrs Blanchard was a teenager, she and two friends walked the half-mile from her home in Larkhill, Wiltshire, to the area where it was known The Beatles were filming.
In dripping wet school uniform, they approached the group’s caravan.
Their road manager opened the door and invited the youngsters to squeeze into the caravan with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Gwyn handed her autograph book to John Lennon who signed it and it was turned around as it was passed to Ringo, leaving John’s signature the wrong way up.
Despite the paper becoming so damp, she collected all four autographs and later captured The Beatles on her camera as they sat on the grass during a break in making their movie.
Cameo Auctioneers, of Midgham, near Reading, auctioned the memorabilia. Administrator Glenn Norcliff said the originality of the pictures and their unstaged nature had made them special – and the story behind them had helped the sale.
“They’re original pictures – there’s nothing else like them,” he said.
“Gwyn was absolutely delighted with what went on and the auction created a nice atmosphere in the full room.”
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