Paul Mccartney repaid ‘debt ’ over blanket years later, letter reveals

A letter in which Paul Mccartney settled a long-standing "debt" from before he achieved worldwide fame with The Beatles is to be auctioned.

In 1958, Mccartney and George Harrison went on a hitchhiking holiday and visited the seaside resort of Harlech, in Gwynedd, North Wales, known for its castle and the song Men Of Harlech.

They knocked on the door of a farmhouse belonging to the Brierley family and were allowed to pitch their tent in the field at the rear of their bungalow.

After a downpour on their first night, the pair sought refuge in the farmhouse and ended up staying the week.

Mccartney and Harrison became friendly with the young John Brierley, a musician himself, and later sat in with his local skiffle group The Vikings during a performance at the Queen's Hotel pub in the village.

The pair enjoyed themselves so much they returned to the Brierleys' home the following year and later made off with one of the family's blankets.

That stuck in the memory of Mr Brierley's mother, Irene, long after Beatlemania swept the globe and years later in the 1980s she wrote to Mccartney to jokingly remind him she was still a blanket short.

Mccartney responded graciously as he wrote back: "Dear Mrs Brierley (Irene), Your letter reached me eventually and I was sorry to hear about my 'debt'. I remember well the fun we had in Harlech and hope the enclosed cheque will settle our money differences!”

The letter has a starting price of £3,000 and is being auctioned at www.tracks.co.uk.