Discovering your old teenage diary is often a cringe-inducing affair.

When you're as cool as Ronnie Wood though, that's not the case - in fact the Rolling Stones guitarist has chosen to share his teenage diary with the world.

Originally penned in 1965 - a decade before he joined The Rolling Stones, following the departure of Mick Taylor - it charts young Wood's experiences with his first outfit, The Birds, as they made their way on the London gig circuit.

"I always knew, even when I was in The Birds, that I was going to be in The Rolling Stones," says Wood. "I was going to be in that band one way or another, and I would broadcast the fact. I thought it looked like a good job, and it turns out that it is," he adds with a customary cackle. "It goes to show you can set your sights on something and get it, if you think big and put in the work."

Wood's diaries are an insight into how the journey starts.

"It's the diary of a 17-year-old rock and roller," says the 68-year-old. "I used to keep a diary quite diligently, but I'd lost it until recently and forgotten all the details, until I went back through and it all came flooding back."

The leather-bound, gold-edged book had been in the hands of Wood's late brothers, Art and Ted, who had picked it from their mum's house when she passed away.

"Mum used to keep everything of ours, school work, the works, but lots of it was stolen years ago. Fortunately, this diary survived and my brothers had it," he says. "The diary is like an old friend, it was all familiar enough. I go back in time when I read it."

He says he remembers each gig with either joy or horror, from the times his band got a rapturous reception, to when The Birds were booked at a working men's club "full of wallflowers" who didn't want to get up and dance, too busy nursing their pints and concentrating on their dominoes.

The most memorable parts of the whole year seemed to come from life in the van, driving around the country from gig to gig.

"We were all piled in the van on top of each other and all the gear, and it was rough," he says. "But it meant we knew each other inside out. There was back-biting and arguing, being that hemmed in, and situations would come up that no one would normally have to deal with.

"The Rolling Stones were going through the same thing, too. Even though we travel a lot more luxuriously than that these days, that grounding means we can all deal with all sorts of situations."

While in The Birds, Wood says he worked every night of the year, which is backed up by the way the diary rips through at a pace; he never seems to be in the same place more than one day in a row.

"There were so many venues back then. The Catford Savoy, I used to love that place. Nottingham Boat Club was another, where there were three venues in a row. A typical night would be someone like John Mayall in one, me and The Birds in the middle, and my brother Art and his band in the other. We'd be at the bar together swapping stories, and then one of us would be called to the stage."

It was on this circuit that Wood met many of the people who went on to have significant roles in his life and career. Like Jeff Beck, whose group he would join in 1967, after a short stint in The Creation.

"The Who would be around. I remember playing at The Ealing Club and they were in the crowd, yelling about how they were the best band."

This all fits in with Wood's idea that any young band must pay their dues, as he did as a teenager, trying his best to emulate the likes of Jimmy Page, already an established musical figure.

"Me and The Birds were learning the ropes," he recalls. "We may not have had a hit record but we did our best, and we took our influences from Tamla Motown, the blues and early rock and roll, and made it our own. That was important.

"Rehearsing in a garage, getting in the gig wagon and playing hundreds of shows, that's what it's all about. More young bands should try it."

He thinks more people should keep a diary, too.

Of course, it's unlikely many people could have a life as eventful as Wood's again, but he says without his diary, he'd never have remembered many of the great things he experienced.

"Going back through my diary from 1965, I remembered I bumped into Sid James one night. I loved his films."

Another entry reads, 'Had a great time with Wilson Pickett'.

"Midnight Hour was the biggest record there was for me that year, but I'd forgotten all about our adventure together until I picked up the diary again. How can you forget meeting Wilson Pickett?!"

He does have one regret, however, not helped by his diary.

"I'm happier now than I've ever been, with my wife Sally," he says. "One regret I have is that I can't remember what a lot of my girlfriends looked like years ago. I don't regret the drinking - I drank for Britain for 50 years, 'til I got sober five years ago - that was a learning curve I had to go through - but not remembering the wonderful girls is a regret.

"But it's amazing all this happened 50 years ago," Wood adds. "It feels like yesterday."

EXTRA TIME - RONNIE WOOD

:: Ronald David Wood was born in Hillingdon on June 1, 1947, into a family of 'water gypsies'. He says in his autobiography that his generation was the first of the family to have been born on dry land.

:: A talented artist, he went to Ealing Art College, where Freddie Mercury and Pete Townshend were also students there.

:: He has four children; son Jesse with first wife Krissy, daughter Leah and son Tyrone with second wife Jo, whose son Jamie he also adopted. He married Sally Humphreys in 2012.

:: After The Jeff Beck Group split in 1969, Wood and friend Rod Stewart joined Faces, along with former Small Faces members Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones.

:: He released his first solo album, I've Got My Own Album To Do, in 1974, which featured George Harrison, Keith Richards and Ian McLagan. His most recent, seventh solo album, I Feel Like Playing, was released in 2010.

:: How Can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary by Ronnie Wood is published by Genesis Publications, priced £27. Available now. Wood will be appearing at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on October 3 ( www.cheltenhamfestivals.com)