Over the weekend of 28/29 May 2023, sadly Jim Dyer passed away.  Our condolences to Ted and the rest of Jim's family.

Jim was the older brother of Ted, one of our drummers.  Back in the 60s he was a drummer himself, playing in local bands and was also instrumental in setting Chris Sharley on the path to being a pro drummer.  Chris, incidentally, has played with us many times since our reunion.  

Jim helped me a lot when writing Birth to Reunion, back in 2013. He sent me stuff he had written for the South Wales Argus and provided many other memories. 
 
Through his contacts on local papers, we managed to get publicity both for our reunion gig and other gigs, right up to our ‘Last Fling’ tour.
 
I think the only time I actually met him was when the band auditioned drummers, back in 1966, but we had many ‘digital’ and analogue conversations.
 
BTW, the successful auditionee in 1966, was in fact his younger brother Ted, who still plays with us today. 
 
Rest in Peace Jim

RIP Jim Dyer
1948 - 2023

Jim was Newport born and bred and retired from a senior job in Newport Council. He had written many published articles and was well known as a local historian particularly about maritime subjects. He had travelled extensively and served periods with the UN in Cambodia and the Balkans helping with elections.

He gave me permission to include material from an article about Newport's Majestic Ballroom, that was first published in the South Wales Argus on 30th May 1986.

Jim at work on one of his articles, maybe even the one about the Majestic Ballroom.