Author Archives: Leigh Hatts

The Bodleian Library at Oxford has a rare exhibition displaying many items belonging to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and once in the care of Lady Shelley at Shelley Park in Boscombe. I have written  a report in the Bournemouth … Continue reading →

Gillian Darley has compiled a radio tribute to Bournemouth-born architect Elisabeth Scott who won fame by designing Stratford’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Elisabeth Scott, Architect is on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 30 January at 9.30pm. The search for new facts … Continue reading →

It’s interesting to hear Boris Johnson on Radio 4 claiming that investment in London is bringing jobs to Bournemouth. I wonder if at that moment he recalled that Bournemouth is his ‘home’ town where his grandfather Osman Kemal was born. … Continue reading →

Thursday 18 November 2010 is the bicentenary of the birth of Admiral Thomas Sulivan. This comes in Bournemouth’s bicentenary year and he has been called Bournemouth’s forgotten hero. That description comes from  John Cresswell, Bournemouth Natural Science Society curator, who … Continue reading →

This weekend’s news that Pontin’s has called in administrators after suffering from the recession will bring back memories of the founder. Sir Fred Pontin lived at Pine Grange in Bath Road although he and his wife Joyce ended up living … Continue reading →