The Rod Stewart & Beaulieu Story – Beaulieu Village Hall – Golden Jubilee Concert and Curry Event Sat Oct 3rd
Beaulieu Village Hall Golden Jubilee Concert 50th Anniversary Event. One night only, Some Guys Have All the Luck – The Rod Stewart Concert / Story. Beaulieu Village Hall’s Golden Jubilee Concert and Curry Night, Sat 3 Oct 2026. Live concert by Paul Metcalfe in ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck – The Rod Stewart Story’, endorsed by Rod’s family. Doors 6:30pm, curry included. Tickets £20 standing / £25 stalls / £30 front row. Food then two 45 min sets with a half hour-ish interval
Rod Stewart and Beaulieu – The Story
Sir Rod Stewart and Beaulieu Village go way back. That story is even older than the Beaulieu Village Hall .
1961 Rod Stewart sweet 16 year old school boy
The Rod Stewart / Beaulieu story starts in the1960’s . The then Lord Montagu (Edward Montagu) loved a party and loved Jazz. He started a Jazz Festival in the gardens of Palace House, his ancestral home, in Beaulieu , New Forest, Hampshire.
It was at one of these Jazz Festivals that, as young schoolboy, Rod Stewart turned up for a fun few days and great , inspirational, music.
Teenage Rod Stewart in 1961 on his way to Beaulieu Village Jazz Festival
1971 Rod Stewart’s Auto-biographical Hit Single Reveals All
He wrote a song. You remember his famous Rod Stewart song from the 1970’s? Maggie May?
He starts by admitting it’s September and he should be back at school ( not at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival)
The opening verses set the scene with an admission a schoolboy telling an older woman he really ought to be getting back to school, torn between guilt and being smitten. Later verses turn more pointed — the relationship having very much moved past a “friend lending a guiding hand,” in Rod’s own words, a lover , wearing him out in more ways than one. (Well , poor lad was only 16!)
And then comes the clue to his dream — or “master plan”: rather than going back to his books, he muses about picking up his dad’s snooker cue for a living, or joining a rock and roll band that needs a helping hand. Rod, of course, chose door number three.
The amazing Mandolin playing on the track is played by Ray Jackson from UK rock-folk band Lindisfarne.
Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Martin Quittenton / Rod Stewart – Maggie May lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc .
People Realise the Link Between the Song and Beaulieu
Yes, Rod Stewart was still at school, he met an older woman in the beer tent at Beaulieu Jazz Festival. She took a fancy to him and then “on a secluded grassy spot just off the Beaulieu Village High Street” (where quite possibly the Beaulieu Village Hall was built on in 1976) he got to know her even better. (“But you turned into a lover, and mother, what a lover, you wore me out“) The only Rod Stewart Song that is arguably a bigger hit than Maggie May is “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (1978) which went global and topped many charts worldwide.
2019 Was Rod Stewart Searching for That Quiet Secluded Spot?
Rod Stewart now lives with Penny Lancaster in Durrington House near Harlow Essex. A Grade II-listed building with swimming pool and football pitch. He occasionally visits Beaulieu. The last documented visit that Rod Stewart made to Beaulieu Village was in 2019 just before Covid. He is seen wandering the streets of Beaulieu Village in a quizzical nostalgia filled pondering sort of a way.
Maybe he was looking for that “Quiet secluded grassy spot just off the Beaulieu Village high street” where his life changed forever, now unreconisable because 15 years later in 1976 a Village Hall had been built on the site.
Maybe he was just looking for a cup of coffee (but that’s a much easier task as there’s 6 places that serve coffee in Beaulieu Village High Street) Beaulieu Village Hall favours the first scenario.
2026 No Beer Sold in Gardens of Lord Montagu’s House for 65 years
No beer had been sold in the Palace House gardens since that 1961 Beer tent at the Beaulieu Jazz festival until the 2026 Beaulieu Village Fete when Vibrant Forest Brewery brewed a special cask of Golden Ale to celebrate Beaulieu Village Hall’s Golden Jubilee 50th Anniversary. The beer was in turn given to the Beaulieu Fete to raise funds for the Beaulieu Common Good Foundation.
2026 also heralds some key Rod Stewart Anniversaries to celebrate along with The Beaulieu Village Hall Golden Jublilee
2026 Rod Stewart / Beaulieu Shared Anniversaries
- 65th Anniversary – Rod Stewart’s right of passage to adulthood on the “quite, secluded, grassy spot just off the Beaulieu village high street” following meeting his new love in the beer tent at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival in 1961
- 55th Anniversary – The release of Rod Stewarts single Maggie May in 1971 and the thus public autobiographical account of that Beaulieu encounter back in 1961. Maggie May was arguably his next biggest hit after “Do ya think I’m Sexy” which went global
- 50th Anniversary The release of Rod Stewart’s Album “A night on the town” and single “Tonights the night” in 1976
- 50th Anniversary The Beaulieu Village Hall being built and opened, possibly on the site where Rod Stewart “became a lover”
Many Excuses for a Beaulieu Village Hall / Rod Stewart Joint Celebration Concert
Anyway, so , to cut an even longer story short, it seemed fair and fitting that The Beaulieu Village Hall should celebrate it’s Golden Jubilee with with a tribute to Sir Rod Stewart , his music and the intricate tapestry that links him not just to Beaulieu Village but possibly even the site that The Beaulieu Village Hall was built on in 1976. (You can just imagine the builders hammering along to Rod Stewart’s golden 1979 hits with BBC Radio1’s top DJs, Dave Lee Travis, Simon Bates, Tony Blackburn and Noel Edmondson (the guy that brought Mr Blobby to our screens)
As Rod’s been known for being fond of a curry The Beaulieu Village Hall has added a Golden Jubilee Golden Curry and sides into the evening concert mix (served canape style)
Join Us, Celebrate Beaulieu Village Hall and Rod Stewart
Anyway on Sat 3rd of October “Tonights The Night!” – for one night only, limited seats as we are a modest village hall not the Mayflower Theatre, first come first served, don’t delay, get your tickets from Eventbrite now – Book now, Link below
Links