If you were a regular at one of Shropshire's top nightspots in the 1960s - this was the band
They were The Van-Dels, and if you were a regular at one of Shropshire's top nightspots in the 1960s, they offered a smashing evening of entertainment.
![](https://www.shropshirestar.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fcontentstore.nationalworld.com%2Fimages%2F0d22c93e-1058-46d5-bc3c-b881e2cd4105.jpg?auth=d8e8ed45fbc5a126cb71f78606ecd4293cefb4936026de72133817d4eb79d29f&width=300)
![](https://www.shropshirestar.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fcontentstore.nationalworld.com%2Fimages%2Fabf316c6-35f0-4710-8854-a731e80db9f4.jpg?auth=492332db64dc1bfafd103287b94b46c471912af88c5aa901bdef1d2ea4a9d6e8&width=300)
The Van-Dels were the resident band every Saturday night down at Terry Heath's Town House, which will be fondly remembered by with-it Wellingtonians of a certain age.
And they were fronted by a talented local schoolgirl who was barely in her teens.
Our publicity photo of the band dates from the end of 1964, at a time when the popularity of The Beatles had spurred a beat group explosion, with The Van-Dels just one of a large number of groups across the county.
![](https://www.shropshirestar.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fcontentstore.nationalworld.com%2Fimages%2F904cb4e0-c48a-4c03-b8fe-270576a6c4c9.jpg?auth=d6f078ebce7d51bf238ea96ff3dbff05daa970a98a3c9a9f1db7cdca167afbf2&width=300)
And we carried it in March 1965 with a story from our pop correspondent which read: "If you need fans to break into big time showbusiness then Wellington's Leslie (sic) and the Van-Dels are halfway there.
"For I received so many letters from readers asking for more news about the group that it appears a properly organised fan club is called for. And so – even though Leslie has been featured before on this page – here is another picture of the four lads and 13-year-old schoolgirl Leslie Whitehouse from Rosegrove, Wellington.