Amazing retro photo shows rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly striding through Chesterfield in a coat he bought in town

Buddy and his band The Crickets were booked for concerts in Sheffield on March 4, 1958, when the bespectacled singer decided he wanted to stop off in Chesterfield en route.

This photo, posted by Michael Henry Fanshawe on Facebook, shows Buddy walking through the market square with Vi Petty, who was married to his manager Norman, followed by Crickets’ bass player Joe Mauldin in the black coat.

Andy B. Barker commented on the Old Chesterfield Pics page: “As far as I heard they travelled through Chesterfield on the train to Sheffield and Buddy had told his tour manager he wanted to visit after seeing the spire. Buddy and Joe are both wearing the same leather rain macs they bought in town from a well known men’s clothes shop in town as they liked them.”

John Cuttriss, who has the programme for Buddy’s show in Sheffield, said that the band had been playing in Florida in 90degF heat before landing in England. “They were ill prepared for the British winter and had to buy warm clothing,” he wrote.

John also believes Buddy and his entourage had tea at Masons cafe in Chesterfield which explains where they were heading when the photo was taken.

Gill Ashley posted: “An amazing piece of history captured in that photo.”

Less than a year later, Buddy was killed in a plane crash in Iowa, along with rock ‘n’ roll legends Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper J.P. Richardson and the pilot Roger Peterson.