Future Hollies star among young skiffle group

1:51pm Thursday 13th March 2008

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MEET Les Skifflettes, a rhythm group from Nelson, which had a certain Tony Hicks in its ranks.

The young men grew to be one of the most popular bands in the area.

And one of their achievements was an appearance on television, on the Carrol Levis discoveries show.

The leader of the group was guitarist Russ D'Lacy, otherwise known as Harold Russell, who is on the left of this old photograph.

An old boy of Nelson Grammar School, he bought his first instrument, a £5 model, out of his pocket money when he was 11.

Russ turned professional in 1961 and later formed another group called the Manhattan Three, with Alan Dickenson and John Beckett, who also came from Nelson. Who's spotted a young Tony Hicks, who went on to join The Hollies?

He's third from the right.