Heathfield's answer to the Sex Pistols were Steve Payne (vocals), Paul Wickens (guitar), Malcolm Baker (bass), Terry O'Meara (guitar) and Steve Smith (drums). Named in rather poor taste after the unfortunate schoolboy Lester Chapman who went missing from home and whose body was later found in a swamp, the Swampies covered songs by The Damned, The Clash, The Police, the Sex Pistols with a smattering of originals.

Malcolm recalls:

"We were grunge punks at heart. Steve Payne looked the part up front with his patched jeans and peroxide head while Steve Smith powered from behind his drums. We were a bit crap but we had a laugh. Getting pissed and stoned were the most important elements of our sets.

Gigs were fairly numerous and usually disastrous. I remember one gig at the Cross-in-Hand Hall where we smoked some HUGELY fierce grass before going on and then all got lost in our own little worlds and actually played different songs at the same time! I don't think the crowd noticed... Another gig at the Dunn Village Hall, Rushlake Green had us under such bright spotlights that we were unaware that the audience had in fact ALL left to go to the Horse and Groom pub (known as the Remorse and Gloom) after just a few bars of our first number. But who cared? We were happy. One fan/friend, Andy Groombridge even took the trouble to spit at us while we played which was an honour indeed in the heady days of the late 70's early 80's."

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