Former 1960s DJ Colin Judge is writing his memoirs.

But though he well remembered working the turntables at the opening night of the G-Ranch nightclub in Maidstone on September 1, 1967, - where local group Factory also performed - he is having trouble finding details of another nightclub that preceded it - The Rat Trap.

Mr Judge, now 75 and living in St Mary's Bay on Romney Marsh, said: "It was a tiny place at the far end of King Street in the basement beneath a coffee bar."

Fellow musician Rob King was of little help.

He said: "I remember the Rat Trap only vaguely, but I knew Colin very well as resident DJ at the G Ranch on the corner of Earl Street and Rose Yard.

"I was the singer in a local group called The Poor Boys Soul Band and we performed regularly at the G Ranch.

"As I recall, Colin's opening line was always 'This is your DJ, CJ.'

"I also know Tony Bathurst, the lead singer with Factory, and have performed in a band with him until quite recently.

"Tony is a great singer with a rich, deep voice, and in those days performed regularly at the London Tavern in Week Street (now Mu Mu) with a repertoire of jazz and blues standards. Ah! Those were the days."

The Poor Boys Soul Band was founded by four 16-year-old pupils from Maidstone Technical High School, Richard Naylor, Bob Lamb, Mark Pentecost and Malcolm Bray.

In the following years to the band expanded to a six-piece, and a changing line-up included Rob King, Dave Hills and Nigel Archer, with Malcom Bray leaving the group.

Their claim to fame was being the support act to Status Quo when in 1968 Quo played at the Royal Star Ballroom in Maidstone High Street.

Sadly the Poor Boys Soul Band split up the following year.

Eric Porter remembers another Maidstone music venue from the 1950s and '60s - Highfield House on the London Road opposite the old Stones football ground.

He said: "I used to go there between 1958 and 1960, when my family moved from Maidstone to Hull.

"It was run by Julia Edwards who was affectionately known as Miss E. (Miss Edwards died in a car crash in 1963).

"She was a real trooper. She could be stern when the occasion called for it and kept everything in order, but she was always good to me and I enjoyed talking to her."

"My sister Patricia and her friend Alex even had an apparent within Highfield House for a while.

The bands I remember seeing there are Monty Sunshine, Acker Bilk and Pete Fountain, but there were many more I can't recall.

"The atmosphere on the jazz nights was electric. The place was packed to the rafters with everyone dancing, smoking and drinking.

"On many occasions people would drive up to London after it closed, in order to dance the night away there."

Mr Porter said: "I remember all the nights listening to some of the finest jazz in England."

"Miss E had her special bar off one of the other bars, and no-one could enter without a personal invitation from Miss E.

"The Scottish Association held many a wild night there. On those occasions the place would be full of big hairy men in kilts, sweating profusely with a waft of scotch on their breath.

"What fun it was, with the whole place vibrating with the sound of Jimmy Shands Music turned way up on the record player!"

Mr Porter now lives in British Columbia, as by coincidence does another Highfield House fan Chris Lovelidge.

Mr Lovelidge said: "I was a regular patron of the Highfield House Jazz Club. I still have my membership card somewhere."

"I lived on Palmar Road, about 10 minutes' walk away. I joined the club about 1960 and remember seeing bands like Chris Barber, Acker Bilk and Alex Welsh.

"There was quite a well stocked bar, like a pub and seats in the same room. The bands played in a separate room where there was a small dance floor.

"Miss Edwards kept a keen eye on alcohol consumption, anyone showing signs of inebriation was barred from the bar and even removed from the club. There was a big bouncer present every Saturday.

"The club held about 100 people. The building was Edwardian and quite large, three stories high I think. On one side there was a number of flats with 12 or so tenants. I can't remember the entrance fee, maybe a couple of quid."

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