Author Archives: Leigh Hatts

Film director Ken Russell who died last night had many Bournemouth connections. He visited from his home in Southampton as a child but many who hear his name will think of his 1977 film Valentino being shot at the Russell-Cotes … Continue reading →

Today’s Times has an obituary of Fleetwood Mac founder Bob Brunning who wrote The Blues: The British Connection reference book. This follows obituaries in The Independent  and The Guardian. Bob Brunning grew up in Bournemouth where he played in Tony … Continue reading →

I have just fallen on  a new book about the Meyrick family. It delves so far back that we are talking about Sir Peter Mews who bought the Christchurch manor (embracing future Bournemouth) in 1708. ‘Meyrick’ was added to the … Continue reading →

A new theory about the identity of Jack the Ripper suggests it was Frederick Abberline. The details are found in a new book published in Spain  and  called Jack the Ripper: The Most Intelligent Murderer in History by Jose Luis Abad. The … Continue reading →

Recently there was much praise for architect Elisabeth Scott who as a young woman designed the 1932 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre building at Stratford-upon-Avon. In March this year the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, officially re-opened the theatre, now … Continue reading →

It is a pleasant surprise to find work by Nina Somerset reproduced on the New Liturgical Movement website. These are altar cards at St Silas, Kentish Town, in London. Nina Somerset (1893-1983) lived in Charminster Road and attended nearby St … Continue reading →

The St Stephen’s Church May Festival is to feature the Song of Bournemouth “by popular request”. Last year the festival included Percy Whitlock’s long forgotten song to mark the town’s bi-centenary. The audience joined in and there was a huge … Continue reading →

This weekend Talbot Heath School celebrated its 125th anniversary. The foundation date is taken as 1886 when Mary Broad relaunched Cranleigh Ladies School in Bradburne Road as her own. She bought the school in 1885 but it had been started … Continue reading →

When Terence Rattigan died in 1977 he had two plays running in London’s West End and both were set in Bournemouth. One was Separate Tables which he had written in 1954. The second was his new and last play Cause … Continue reading →

The first statue of Mary Wollstonecraft is being planned in London. The author, first feminist and mother of Mary Shelley is buried in St Peter’s Churchyard in Bournemouth thanks to her grandson son Sir Percy Shelley. Last week a green … Continue reading →