Mike Edwards has led a secret life. Not in a mischievious way, you understand, but the man who is widely known around the county for his involvement in sport is not just a one-trick pony.

“Not at all,” he laughed. “Everybody knows I love sport but I’ve got many more interests other than racing, rugby and cricket.”

Indeed he has. Back in the day the now 71-year-old was big into the music scene and as such was a regular at the Blue Moon club, the vibrant Cheltenham nightspot in the Swinging Sixties where the great and good gathered to sing, dance and have fun with a capital ‘F’.

“It was a great place,” said Edwards of the venue that hosted live music as well as being ‘home’ for a team DJs on other nights. “It was located above Burtons in the High Street and it later went on to become the Spa Lounge and then the Night Owl. The building is empty now.

“It was known as the Blue Moon for just under two years and we’ve just held a 50th anniversary reunion which was a big success

“I saw people I hadn’t seen for years and years. Some of them had put on a bit of weight and some of the blokes had a lot less hair but some people still looked quite good. There was a good deal of nostalgia.”

Indeed there was and the evening was made all the more special because one of the DJs from the club half a century ago – Ian Rodger – flew in from his home near Dallas in Texas to spin the vinyl and make sure the party went with a swing.

That reunion was held at Hillview Community Centre in Hatherley and attracted 150 people only too happy to rock and roll back the years.

What made the Blue Moon so special for so many was the host of up and coming artists who played there and went on to become household names.

Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Elton John, Eric Clapton, The Small Faces, Fleetwood Mac and many, many more. The list was endless.

“Rod Stewart used to play there all the time,” remembers Edwards. “David Bowie came when he was 17 or 18 and played under the name Davy Jones and The Lower Third.

“I also remember seeing Bluesology. Their organist was Reg Dwight who was later known as Elton John. I even saw Screaming Lord Sutch perform there!”

So what made a small club in Cheltenham – one where there were no drinks, only soft drinks and coffee, that was frequented by soon-to-be top Flat jockeys Pat Eddery and Tony Murray – so attractive to so many artists who went on to become such big names all around the globe?

“The guys who ran it were London people,” explained Edwards. “They just transported the London scene down to Cheltenham.

“One of the guys was a chap named Bill Reid and he was a musician of some note. He could play the bass and was a good jazz player.”

Edwards became good friends with Reid and it was this friendship that gave Edwards the opportunity to enjoy one of those moments that you cherish for the rest of your life.

Edwards told The Local Answer: “It was 11th February 1967 and it was the night that Jimi Hendrix played at the club.

“I was there just as a member when Bill asked me if I’d give Hendrix a lift to the railway station.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was just a stable lad for Chris Taylor at Bishop’s Cleeve and here I was giving Jimi Hendrix a lift in my Mk I Land Rover which had a canvas roof with a hole in it!”

Hendrix was just starting to make a name for himself in the world of music and his single Hey Joe was just breaking into the top 10 when he turned up at the Blue Moon.

Edwards’ friend Mick Williams, another Blue Moon regular who like Edwards played cricket for Cheltenham King George, added: “He’d already been booked to play at the club before Hey Joe made it into the top 10. Once that happened we thought he wouldn’t come.

“He did come but then we thought he’d want more money… he didn’t. He played for £60 and it cost us six shillings (30p) to see the gig.”

Although £60 was still a decent amount of cash in those days – you could get a pint of beer for less than 10p in 1967 – Hendrix obviously deserves great credit for not holding the club owners to ransom.

And Edwards certainly found him very agreeable to deal with too.

“I remember putting all his stuff in the back of my Land Rover and driving to the station,” said Edwards. “He was going back to London but when we got there his train was half-an-hour late!

“At least it gave me a chance to chat to him. He was very articulate and belied his wild look.”

While Edwards certainly enjoyed his 60 minutes-plus of fame in the company of one of the greatest electric guitarists of all time, he wasn’t alone as Hendrix treated the Blue Moon faithful to the type of performance that was to become his hallmark in the years to come.

“The place was hopping,” said Edwards. “The club officially held 150 people but I think there were 250 squeezed in that night. There was so much condensation that water was dripping off the ceiling!”

Dave Jackson is another who has great memories of the Blue Moon.

He also played cricket at Cheltenham King George, but while he loved the sound of leather on willow it was the sounds emanating from the Blue Moon that hit him for six.

“It was only open for 22 months – from July 65 to May 67,” he said, “but the thing that made it stand out was that about 100 bands – and they were good bands – played there, sometimes two a week.

“It was a time when the mod culture came to Cheltenham and the Blue Moon was the hottest place in town, the centre of our universe.

“It was the first time that soul music was ever played in the town and the first time that the word ‘discotheque’ was ever used in Cheltenham!

“It was a moment in life. The people who ran the club were well connected and they put on the Beatles four times – one of those being at Stroud Sub Rooms.”

Jackson is among a small group of people trying to ensure the memories of the Blue Moon live on – they are trying to get permission to put up a blue plaque on the wall next to the entrance of what was once the Blue Moon.

“People walk past where the Blue Moon was and don’t know what happened there,” he said. “It’s an empty room these days, just a shell.”

But while the venue bears no resemblance to all those years ago, the memories live on and Jackson was delighted that DJ Ian Rodger was at the Blue Moon reunion.

“He’s a football fan and flew over to watch Celtic and then came down to Cheltenham,” he said. “He was known as Rocky and was part of a team of DJs.

“He used to know Elton John quite well and even in those days Elton had the same two passions that he’s got today – football and music. He used to tell Rocky that he was very proud of his brother Roy Dwight who played professional football for Nottingham Forest.

“He was famous for playing in an FA Cup final and breaking his leg.”

And although Rocky is still very much part of the Blue Moon legend, Jackson says they have not been able to track down Dave Bennett, who was the first DJ at the club.

“The last I heard he was living in LA,” said Jackson.

Edwards, meanwhile was living in Cambray in Cheltenham at the time, which was just a hop, skip and jump from the Blue Moon.

Not that his walks home were always a pleasant experience however.

“I was a proper mod,” he said. “I used to wear the long coats almost to the floor, I had the hairstyle and I was into all the fashion. The problem was that I lived opposite a cafe called the Gimmicks and that was a rockers’ place! They’d chase me home more than once!”

Meeting Mike Edwards these days, it’s hard to believe that he was once a mod.

After his days as a stable lad – “My dad nearly fell on the floor when I told him that was what I wanted to do,” he laughed – he moved into the sports travel agents business and worked closely with ex-Gloucester, England and British Lions rugby star Mike Burton for many years before branching out on his own.

One of his jobs involved him giving a lift to one-time England rugby superstar Lawrence Dallaglio.

“I remember saying to him that I’d only given a lift to one other famous person before,” laughed Edwards. “I told him it was Jimi Hendrix and Dallaglio replied, ‘I’m not in his league, I can’t compete with him!’”

These days Edwards still does some work in the sports travel business, and he was organising a trip for an Australian netball team who are playing Bishop’s Cleeve at the recreation centre in Cheltenham next month when he spoke to The Local Answer.

And he’s still very much involved in the world of sport, of course.

“I’m a life member of Cheltenham Rugby Club and I’m also a life member of the Cheltenham Rugby Combination,” he said with pride. “I was chairman of the Gloucestershire Cricket Association for five years and I’m still heavily involved with the family-owned racehorse Boher Lad.”

And that’s not all because Edwards, who lives in Guiting Power, has another side to his life that keeps him fully occupied these days.

“Not many people know that I’m also vice-chairman of a Scottish Literary Society,” he enthused. “It’s the John Buchan Society. He wrote extensively and his work included The Thirty-Nine Steps. My role enabled me to shake hands with the Queen at a museum in Peebles 18 months ago.”

From Hendrix to the Queen… as Hendrix might say, Edwards is certainly an Ezy Rider!