A LETTER sent by world famous singer Paul Simon appealing for work from a Swindon folk club has surfaced.

The plea for a gig was sent to the Swindon Folk Singing Club in 1964 and has now been uncovered by the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.

Paul Simon, who achieved fame with Art Garfunkel as Simon and Garfunkel, wrote to the club, which started in 1960 in the basement of the Communist Party's Swindon branch in Bridge Street.

In it he wrote: "I record for Columbia Records in the states and will cut my first LP for Topic Records over here.

"I would appreciate any work that you could give me between the first week of August and the first week of September."

Ted Poole, who set up the club and still runs it at its current home in the Gorse Hill Club, remembers meeting a young Paul Simon in London.

"He wrote to us to ask if he could perform at the club then we happened to meet him at the Pinder of Wakefield Club.

"He was just a youth at that time and was just emerging onto the folk music scene.

"He was a nice enough guy but he went into the popular field with Art Garfunkel and that's when he really hit the high spot."

Ted offered him a gig at the club but the singer declined when he discovered that the club was in the basement of the Communist Party branch.

At that time the American government was compiling a black-list of those associated with communism and many were sent to prison as a result.

Ted said: "When I told him that he said 'no' because he didn't want to get on the list.

"It was during the Macarthur era in America which was a terrible time for the arts."

In his letter, the singer had asked for a payment of £7 for performing a gig at the club.

"It was quite a lot at that time," said Ted.

"The usual fee was about £5 or £6. But he was from the States so it was more expensive."

The letter is part of a new archive chronicling the history of the folk club that has been set up at the record office in Trow-bridge.

It was found among the archive material that was handed in by the club last November.

Wiltshire County Council archivist Steve Hobbs, said: "It is rare to find such a comprehensive archive from a provincial folk club.

"The archive is a fascinating piece of social history, which shows the links between folk music and protest.

"For example, the club staged benefits for both CND and the Support the Miners campaign in the 1980s."

The archive also contains a 1966 letter from Adge Cutler, whose backing band was The Wurzels.

Diana Milne