THE sounds of long-forgotten memories were unearthed after a former radio engineer came across old audio reels of the Park Hall Ballroom in Wormelow.

Philip Arkell discovered the reels, along with the old recorder, while he was clearing out his garage, 30 years after he made five recordings of Park Hall's resident group - the Russ Allen Band.

Mr Arkell and his wife were keen ballroom dancers during the 60s and 70s and Park Hall was one of their favourite venues.

Up to 1,000 dancers including many from Cardiff, Bristol, Gloucester, and the Forest of Dean every Saturday night to hear the bands of Joe Loss, Victor Silvester and Russ Allen, supported by John Williams on the organ.

Mr Arkell was so impressed with the Russ Allen Band that he asked the leader, John Sidwell, if he could record some of the performance.

He agreed and over the next few years Mr Arkell made five. The forgotten reels stayed in his garage for the next 30 decades until he had a long-overdue tidy up.

"A few months ago I played the first tape and, to my amazement, the recordings had stayed good for all these years," said Mr Arkell, of Cheltenham. "Then I began to wonder if any members of the Russ Allen Band were still around. The problem I had was that John Sidwell died in 1972."

Another name sprang to mind - pianist Ambrose Emerson. Mr Arkell traced him through the internet and sent him a copy of the tunes.

"He was delighted to hear the band again. After John Sidwell, Ambrose kept the band running for another 10 years. When they decided to finish there were no recordings made, and they had forgotten mine."

Mr Arkell also traced Neil Hirst, who played the double bass. Neil has written a book about the Russ Allen Band called Thirty bob and Transport.

One of the recordings, Wheels Cha Cha, has been played on a local radio station and Mr Arkell has set up a website www.parkhall wormelow.org.uk and has invited anyone with memories of Park Hall and the Russ Allen Band to share them.