THE first thing many people think of when the city of Bangor is mentioned is the 1979 hit song by folk band Fiddler's Dram.

Day Trip to Bangor (Didn't We Have a Lovely Time) is still remembered fondly by residents in the city and further afield, with the song reaching number three in the charts back in January 1980.

The song was written by Debbie Cook and sung by Fiddler’s Dram lead singer Cathy Lesurf and BBC Radio 4 have decided to produce a programme, reuniting the two of them, on Bangor Pier.

Last week the programme was recorded, where Ms Cook and Ms Lesurf were joined by renowned presenter and journalist Jonathan Maitland, together with staunch Bangorians Glenys Tematema, Cllr Eddie Dogan, and the current mayor of the city, Cllr Huw Williams.

Ms Lesurf performed the song in the tourism kiosk for the programme which is set to be broadcast in late September or early October.

“Singing the song again was like opening a little box inside me,” she told Mr Maitland.

“It’s lovely to bring it home to Bangor and it’s such a fun song too.”

Mrs Tematema said: “People who visit the kiosk talk about the song all the time when the visit the pier, it’s  the one thing they associate Bangor with the most.”

Cllr Williams said the first time he had heard the song was when he was a milkman in Bangor, and was something that had stayed with him ever since.

Cllr Dogan added: “I remember a big concert was arranged in Theatr Gwynedd and we were delighted when the group started singing this song, everyone was singing it with them.”

One area of controversy over the song was whether or not  it was inspired after a day trip to Rhyl.

It was alleged the lyrics were changed to Bangor because it had an extra syllable and slipped off the tongue easier than Rhyl.

This apparently caused an outcry in the Denbighshire town among businesses and councillors.

But Ms Cook said these rumours are totally unfounded.

“It was always Bangor,” she said.

“It’s so nice to be back on the pier here and I’m amazed because Cathy’s voice is as good as it ever was.”

Mr Maitland asked her what became of the characters the song, namely Jack, Elsie and Flo.

Ms Cook,  who went on to write scripts for The Archers and EastEnders, told him of their fates, but readers will have to wait until the autumn to find out!