THIS morning's Echo Memories proves beyond reasonable doubt that the Beatles stayed at the Eden Arms in Rushyford on the night of November 22, 1963 - the night after they'd famously played the Globe Theatre at Stockton.

The night, also, that JFK was assassinated. Echo Memories' detective work establishing the whereabouts of the Beatles on the night in question debunks the the conspiracy theory that it was the Fab Four who assassinated JFK!

Echo Memories last visited the Eden Arms in any depth in 1999 when we discovered a drinker of great experience and admirable perseverance. Here's the story:

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ALTHOUGH the Great North Road flies by Rushyford, the hamlet has had to move very quickly to keep up with the changing pace of the centuries. But, to the eye, it remains largely unchanged: two rows of buildings forming a right angle, with a huddle of homes behind on the slight hill.

As ever, Rushyford is still most readily identified by its large hotel. Now called the Eden Arms, and occupying the entire row facing the main road, it was originally confined to the northern end of the row, and was called the Wheatsheaf. It was a coaching inn dating from the 17th Century. Thirty horses were stabled there, although its most regular caller was John Scott (1751-1838), who became Baron Eldon.

The son of a Newcastle coal merchant, Eldon was a barrister who entered Parliament in 1783, became Attorney-General in 1793 and Lord Chancellor in 1801, serving under four Prime Ministers until 1827. Adored by King George III, Eldon was loathed by Liberals and came to symbolise right-wing extremism. He was, however, extremely conscientious and intelligent, and very good company - particularly when he had indulged in a drop of port.

Eldon holidayed for many years at Rushyford, staying at the Wheatsheaf, where the landlord Mr Holt was a "boon companion". This friendship may have had something to do with Holt's cellar, which was extremely well-stocked with Carbonell's Fine Old Military Port.

"Although they were decidedly not military, he and his host used to drink seven bottles a day between them, valiant topers that they were," wrote a historian. "On Saturdays they drank eight bottles; the extra one being to fortify themselves against Sunday morning's church service."

A couple of years after Eldon's death, progress came calling on Rushyford. The Darlington to Newcastle railway opened and horsepower became yesterday's mode of transport.

The Wheatsheaf, though, clung on until the next transport era dawned and the internal combustion engine brought more travellers to its door. The Eden family, of nearby Windlestone Hall, were the first in the area to own cars - they painted them yellow with black lines and wheels. But when the first one pulled into the Wheatsheaf it so frightened a horse belonging to a draper that it had to be stabled overnight in the hotel's courtyard.

The draper, poor fellow, had to walk home.

In 1931, the problem was solved, when the Great North Road was re-routed away from the hotel's front door.

A second re-direction in 1967 means that you now have to cross a little bridge over the Black Beck to reach the hotel from the A167.

But 1936 brought the greatest upheaval, when the 4,000 acre Windlestone estate was sold. The Edens had fallen upon hard times. Sir William Eden, the 7th Baronet of West Auckland, had died in 1915, quickly followed by two of his sons. Taxes and death duties bore down on the Edens, who had lived at Windlestone for over 400 years, and Sir Timothy, the 8th Baronet, was forced to sell. (Sir Timothy's brother, Anthony, was Foreign Secretary at the time en route to No 10). The sale took place at the King's Head Hotel, Darlington, on November 12, 1936. Twenty farms and 53 cottages and shops were sold, although at least 30 lots never came under the auctioneer's hammer, because Sir Timothy was keen for his tenants to be able to buy the homes and farms they rented from him. The cheapest lot went for £15 (two acres of wooded quarry); the average price for a 250 acre farm with buildings and cottages was £4,400.

The North Eastern Brewery Company paid £6,500 for the hotel and the rest of its row. The southern end of the row, where the Eden Arm's entrance is today, was originally the Manor House. It is known locally as the Dower House because, traditionally, it was where the dowager Lady Eden came to live when her husband, the baronet, died and her eldest son succeeded to Windlestone Hall.

The brewery amalgamated the Manor House with the Eden Arms to create the large hotel we see today, the large hotel we see today.