The Beatles were alerted to their manager Brian Epstein’s sudden death by a phone call from their London offices to a student hostel in Bangor on August 27, 1967.

It is 50 years since the Fab Four visited Bangor to attend a 10-day conference on transcendental meditation led by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Normal College, now part of Bangor University.

The telephone was located in a small kiosk just inside the main doorway of the Môn hostel where some of the Beatles entourage were staying.

The Beatles Pop Group Aug 1967 John Lennon Ringo Starr and George Harrison at Bangor ©Mirrorpix ©Mirrorpix
Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon in Bangor

It was normally used by students to make calls home and was a feature of the halls of residence.

The Beatles themselves, and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, were staying in the Dyfrdwy hostel opposite and one of their group rushed across the quad to break the tragic news.

One of the first to find out that Epstein had died was Dave Jones, who now lives in France.

He had been at the lecture on the Saturday attended by the Beatles and on the following day had a long chat with John Lennon.

The Beatles Pop Group Aug 1967 John Lennon Ringo Starr and George Harrison at Bangor. ©Mirrorpix
The Beatles were in Bangor to attend a conference on transcendental meditation

“Later I was sent for rice for dinner and, as I knew the Peninsula (a Chinese restaurant near the town clock) was open, I went in their Rolls, much to the annoyance of all those photographers who pressed their cameras against the car window,” he said.

“However, when I came back, John told me that Brian Epstein had died and they were all leaving.

“The rice unfortunately was never eaten and for me my planned peaceful weekend learning about transcendental meditation ended, but what a weekend.”

A post mortem examination later showed Brian Epstein had died of an overdose of sleeping pills. The death was officially ruled as accidental.

Before leaving Bangor, the Beatles gave an interview to veteran journalist Derek Bellis, who was working for ITN.

“I was asked to go to the Normal College by ITN and arrived in Bangor and found huge crowds in front of the hall of residence,” said Mr Bellis, who is now 84.

“It was quite a surreal experience.

“Then a path was cleared and they came out. Paul wasn’t there, he had already left for London and John Lennon did all the talking.

“One reporter asked them if they liked Bangor.”

Mr Bellis asked them about their feelings, and of the counselling they’d received from the Maharishi.

“They were a pretty friendly bunch,” he said.

“They seemed a little nonplussed, obviously, by what had happened because they were very close to their manager.”

That interview went around the world and Mr Bellis received the sum of £10 for his work.

Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, had been a constant presence in the group’s lives and had intended to join them in Bangor on the Monday.

Described by both Paul McCartney and producer George Martin as “the fifth Beatle”, he is credited with much of the group’s success, having changed their image and got them their first major record deal.

Prof Chris Collins, head of music at Bangor University, said: “Epstein’s death marked the beginning of the group’s dissolution.

“As both an experienced businessman and an artistic mentor, he had been the anchor that had steadied the Beatles’ ship through many storms.

“Without him, the Beatles began to lose their common purpose, ultimately separating to follow their own individual interests.”