The Les Piggin archive

In 2024 I was lucky enough to be contacted by Les Piggin who had played on the same bill as Jayne when she performed at her concert at Leeds Prison.

Les’s full story is available on the Leeds page, but as well providing his memories of the day he also very kindly sent over some scans of items from his personal collection relating to Jayne’s time in Leeds and Yorkshire. As some of these items are unique I feel it is only right to feature them all on a separate page to give Les the credit he is due.

Below are the items presented with some words from Les.

Jayne’s autograph

“I only met Jayne briefly to get her autograph (note the large loops!), but my impression (I was only 21) was of a very  charming woman. Jayne’s autograph is written on a page from our bookings diary, the only paper available. I still have that diary, it’s easy to see where the page was torn out.”

Letter of confirmation of concert at Leeds Prison

Letter confirming the appearance of Jayne at Armley Prison (copyright Les Piggin)
“..the concert at Leeds Armley Prison on 30th April 1967 was not arranged specifically for Jayne, it was one of the concerts organised periodically by the prison Chaplain, Capt. Derek G. Dalton. I have his original letter dated 28th April 1967 confirming my group’s appearance.”

Carl Gresham

“Jayne with Carl Gresham – the Gresh.”

Jayne and her dogs

“3 photos of Jayne with dogs.”

Radio Times

“Clipping from Radio Times re BBC radio programme about Jayne, 2011.”

Trevor Simpson

“Extract from Trevor Simpson’s 2007 book Small Town Saturday Night. Sadly Trevor Simpson died a few months ago (2024), his books are a wonderful treasure chest of pop history and he was employed by Elvis’s estate to document parts of his life.”

Trevor Simpson and Paula McGinley

“Photo of Trevor Simpson (right) and myself with Paula McGinley at Holdsworth house, 2011.  At the time of writing (2024) Paula McGinley is now producing Desert Island Discs on Radio 4.”

Gyles Brandreth

“Gyles Brandreth doing his piece to camera at Batley Club 2012.”
“Gyles and me, 2012.”

Many thanks to Les for allowing the use of his images on this site.