Hospital Magazine 2012

Who’s Who 

Contents 

at Hospital Radio Bedside in this edition ... 

President 

Vice Presidents 

Chair 

Broadcasting 

Trustee 

Fundraising 

and PR Trustee 

Personnel Trustee 

Studio Operations 

Trustee 

Treasurers 

Legal 

Alan Dedicoat 

Neal Butterworth 

Alan Freeborn 

Jimmy Ross 

Juli Brown 

Mark Venus 

Gary Plummer 

Barry Howard 

Position vacant 

Adrian Harman 

Steve Worboys 

Margaret Neville 

© Copyright reserved 

Rose by George 

In memory of Don Sharples – a member and friend of 

HRB and editor of the patients’ magazine for many years 

Published for Hospital Radio Bedside 

by Hospital Radio Publications 01245 465246 

E-Mail mail@hospital-radio-publications.co.uk 

The views expressed by our writers and contributors are 

personal to them and not necessarily those of the Editor or 

Hospital Radio Bedside. All research is compiled exclusively 

for Hospital Radio Bedside and any similarity between 

articles in the magazine and any other published letters, 

artwork or articles is unintended and purely coincidental. 

Please do not hesitate to contact 

us for any reason on Bournemouth 

(01202) 303887 (24 hours) 

When you leave hospital you can find out 

more information about Hospital Radio 

Bedside by visiting our website at 

www.hospitalradiobedside.co.uk 

or you can contact us by email at 

studio@hospitalradiobedside.co.uk 

or fax on 

Bournemouth (01202) 704525 

Studio Address: Post Point FO8, Royal 

Bournemouth Hospital, Castle Lane, 

Bournemouth, Dorset BH7 7DW 

Registered Charity No. 266449 

Features 

Memories of Hospital Radio 

Bedside 18 

Hi Kids 20 

A Tribute to Don Sharples 23 

HRB Quiz 26 

Forty Years at Dean Court 30 

The Gilbert & Sullivan Society 38 

Totality in the Tuamotus 42 

Poole Arts Centre 46 

Wimborne Folk Festival 51 

Caught By The Bridge 54 

Lost and Found 60 

Care in the Community 62 

A Healthy Lifestyle 66 

Out & About in Bournemouth 69 

Helplines 72 

In Every Issue 

President’s Page 3 

Tune In ... and Enjoy 7 

HRB Programmes 8 

Spotlight on the Members 14 

Charity Shop 25 

Broadcasting since 1972 1

2 

Call 01202 303887 for a request NOW!

President’s Page 

by Alan Dedicoat 

Welcome to Hospital Radio Bedside. 

Looking at the picture, you're probably 

thinking who's that Well, let me put 

you out of your misery. It's not my 

picture but my voice that you're more 

likely to recognise. Three nights a week 

I’m ‘The Voice of the Balls’ on the 

National Lottery draw shows on BBC 

One. I also work on ‘Strictly Come 

Dancing’ (and its US equivalent 

‘Dancing with the Stars’) introducing 

the couples and the judges. I’m a Radio 

2 newsreader, too, working with the 

likes of Vanessa Feltz, Chris Evans and 

Moira Stuart on a daily basis. And when 

I’m not broadcasting, I spend some of 

my time ‘voicing’ corporate events in 

and around the London area. 

How did I get into this business 

Simple. Over 20 years ago I joined 

BHBN, the hospital radio station in 

Birmingham. That's where I learned a 

lot about broadcasting. And that's why 

I'm so supportive of the work of 

Hospital Radio Bedside here in the local 

area. I know what a benefit it can be to 

patients in hospital. Providing music 

and entertainment – specially tailored 

to the needs of those listening – is a 

unique service only HRB can provide. 

Despite it being a thankless task, the 

team go about their work tirelessly 

seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. 

Look out for them as they visit the 

wards. Do take part in the programmes. 

Call the station. HRB is nothing without 

your involvement. Remember – we do 

it for you! 

As best you can, enjoy your time in 

hospital and make sure you get the 

best from your own dedicated radio 

station Hospital Radio Bedside. 

In the same year as the Queen 

celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, Hospital 

Radio Bedside celebrates its ruby 

anniversary. Forty years, eh We must be 

doing something right! Congratulation to 

every one who makes HRB the success it is. 

Best wishes 

Alan Dedicoat 


Chairman’s Chat 

by Juli Brown 

2012 is an important year for HRB as 

we have been broadcasting to the 

patients in the locals hospitals for the last 

forty years! If you would like to know a 

bit more about our history, have a read of 

the ‘Memories of HRB’ included in this 

edition. 

During the last forty years, fashions 

have changed, hair styles have altered 

(for some of our members, hair is now a 

thing of the past!) and technology has 

moved on so much that our studios are 

not far short of a NASA work room – but 

during all that time our aim has always 

been the same: to cheer people up while 

they are in hospital and I hope that we 

have managed to do that for you while 

you have been lying in that bed! 

HRB broadcasts, free of charge, 24 

hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days 

a year to entertain and inform people in 

hospital. The focus of the broadcasting 

schedule is the Request Show every week 

day evening and all day over the 

weekend because then we know we are 

playing the music that you want to hear. 

We have a dedicated team of individuals 

who visit the hospital wards every day to 

collect patients’ requests for these shows 

and I do hope you’ve met some of them. 

If you enjoyed HRB while you’ve been 

in hospital, you can carry on listening to 

us when you’re back home. We stream 

our shows over the internet and you can 

listen via the ‘listen live’ button on our 

website 

www.hospitalradiobedside.co.uk. 

HRB is totally self-funding and it costs 

approx £15,000 a year. We are forever 

grateful to all our sponsors and 

supporters and these include the Hospital 

League of Friends from all the hospitals 

that we broadcast to who continue to 

support us. 

We’re always looking for new people to 

join the team and if you’re interested in 

helping out in any way, please do not 

hesitate to contact me or Jill Pittwood, 

the Head of Recruitment. Have a look at 

our website 

www.hospitalradiobedside.co.uk for 

more information – you can also apply 

on line if you’ve caught the HRB bug. 

Lastly, don’t forget to let me know 

what you thought of our service; you can 

either call the studio number 303887 and 

leave me a message or email me at 

chairman@hospitalradiobedside.co.uk 

Happy listening and a speedy recovery. 

Juli 

Best wishes to all 

patients and staff from 

Iota Properties Ltd 


Vocational training 

Phone 

01202262331 

Basic 

English, 

ESOL, 

Maths 

and IT 

Phone 

01202 

262305 

Community Learning 

and Projects 

Phone 01202262331 

Work 

based 

learning 

Phone 

01202 

262312 

6 


How to Listen to HRB 

Your easy guide to listening pleasure FREE from 

Hospital Radio Bedside to all patients in Hospitals at: 

ROYAL BOURNEMOUTH – Channel Five 

On registration screen enter: Mr/Mrs/Miss/first name/surname 

and date of birth. 

On Main Screen touch RADIO button (second down on right) 

POOLE & POOLE MATERNITY – Channel One 

To register on Hospedia, press blue button on the phone and 

give patient’s name and post code 

WIMBORNE 

Provides two slightly different systems 

CUTHBURY WARD 

On Handset adjust for Channel 9, use blue pad for volume 

HANHAM WARD 

Hospital Radio Bedside can be found mainly on CHANNELS 3 or 5 

AT HOME 

www.hospitalradiobedside.co.uk Click on the ‘listen live’ button 


HRB Programmes 

by Paul Sutton and Anthony Ellis 

HRB is available for you to enjoy, 24 hours a day. 

We have programmes for many different tastes and play your requested music 

in the Request Show each evening and throughout the weekend. 

7am 10am 1pm 

Monday Weekday Breakfast Brunch till Lunch The Afternoon Show 

Tuesday Weekday Breakfast Brunch till Lunch The Afternoon Show 

Wednesday Weekday Breakfast Brunch till Lunch The Afternoon Show 

Thursday Weekday Breakfast Brunch till Lunch The Afternoon Show 

Friday Weekday Breakfast Brunch till Lunch The Afternoon Show 

Saturday Saturday IKidz One Stop Late Lunch 

Breakfast 

Geek Shop 

Sunday Sunday Breakfast Sunday Brunch Golden Breakaway 

Years 

7am 9am 10am 11am 12noon 1pm 2pm 

3pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 10pm Midnight 

Mon That’s The Hot Request Monday Request The Late Show Nitelite 

Entertainment Seat Favourites Express Show 

Tues The Tuesday The Hot Ikidz Down Request The Late Show Nitelite 

Topic Seat Favourites Home Show 

Town 

Wed The Music The Hot Request Sounds Request The Late Show Nitelite 

Mash Up Seat Favourites Like the Show 

Sixties 

Thurs Supersonic 70s The Hot Request Celtic Request The Late Show Nitelite 

Spectacular Seat Favourites Roots Show 

Fri Essential 80s The Hot Request A Musical Request The Jazz Show Nitelite 

Seat Favourites Cocktail Show 

Sat Sports Session Medicinal Compound Good The Carousel Late Nitelite 

Heavens 

Show 

Sun Breakaway Classics That’s Tea Party Sunday Late Nitelite 

the Spirit Supplement Show 

3pm 4pm 6pm 7pm 8.30pm 10.30pm Midnight 

8 




Pick of the HRB Programmes 

Every weeknight and all day 

at weekends HRB presenters 

are dedicated to playing the 

patients choice of music! 

Call 01202 303887 

to have your song played! 

Monday 

Chris Bowden 

Tuesday 

Juli Brown 

Wednesday 

Andrew Pike 

Friday 

Terence 

Treadwell 

and 

John Savage 

Thursday 

Paul Little 




Pick of the HRB Programmes 

That's Entertainment is a collection of 

the best tracks from the world of movies, 

musicals and TV. Including a featured 

musical: telling the story of the show and 

playing some of its best tracks. Monday, 

3-5pm with Gary Plummer. 

Down Home Town brings you the very 

best in Country, Blues and Americana 

music. Each week there is news from 

the world of Country music and Cowboy 

Corner – a classic Country track. Join 

Kevin Williams, Tuesday 6.30-8pm. 

Sounds Like The Sixties is the 

programme where you can hear the 

music that started it all. Including a 

featured artist through the show and 

significant events from the decade. 

Wednesday with Mike Hardy 6.30-8pm. 

The Supersonic 70s Spectacular takes 

you back to a wonderful era of music. 

So if you love Abba, Elton John, David 

Bowie, Grease or even The Wombles, pop 

on your flares and join Richard Buckle on 

Thursday 3-5pm. 




Pick of the Weekend HRB Programmes 

Join Geoff Cumings for Medicinal 

Compound on Saturday from 5pm. 

Take a leap back in time with the 

Memory Jogger and a tune from the 

Piano Bar. 

Join Paul Sutton on Sunday 12noon till 

2pm for The Golden Years. 

Counting down the chart from two 

initially mystery years over two hours. 

It is your job to guess the year and 

enjoy some great music. 

That's the Spirit features hymns and 

Christian music starting with traditional 

and moving on to modern and popular. 

Hosted by Penny Elliott and friends Sunday 

4.30-6pm. 

The One Stop Geek Shop is the place for 

you on a Saturday, 11am-1pm. If you like 

technology, a good film or great music, 

join Andy Read, the manager of the Geek 

shop. 

12 




Pick of the Weekend HRB Programmes 

Keeping an eye on all local, national 

and international sport, The Sports 

Session provides all the latest 

headlines, stories and results. 

Join Mark Venus on Saturday 3-5pm. 

Adrian Boyd hosts IKidz, on Saturday 

9am-11am. The fun includes, Foxed in the 

Box, IKidz Retro and IKidz At the Movies! 

Plus there are great requests from the 

young people at Poole Hospital. 

Jimmy Ross presents, The Carousel 

on Saturday 8.30pm-10.30pm. 

The longest running magazine 

programme in Dorset includes The 

Top Team Quiz and Community 

Information. 

Along with The Best Music Choice, there is 

also the chance to have your favourite 

music played by making a request on 

01202 303887. Kim Lelievre would love to 

hear from you Sunday 6-8.30pm during 

The Tea Party. 


Members’ Profiles 

Tony Allen 

Tony comes from an Army 

background having served in 

Germany, Malta, Cyprus, 

Egypt, Brunei and Hong 

Kong. He completed his 

career in the care sector 

retiring as the Manager of a local care home 

for the disabled. Having been involved in 

many aspects of sport, he played football for 

AFC Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and the 

Army and, for 25 years, as a senior football 

referee. Tony has been a member of HRB for 

over 22 years primarily reporting to all our 

patients on AFC Bournemouth matches from 

Dean Court, Wembley and Cardiff Millenium 

Stadium. 

Matt Barton 

Matt has been with HRB 

since July 2009. His 

experience of working in 

broadcasting has been as a 

presenter but when he joined 

HRB he decided to try a 

different area of work and chose Head of 

Jingles, which means he is responsible for 

the jingles that can be heard on HRB. 

Chris Bowden 

Chris started on Hospital 

Radio when he was just 16 

and is a frequent request 

collector at Poole Hospital 

and presenter of the Monday 

night request show. Chris 

also records local folk music for HRB and cohosts 

the Thursday night Folk Music 

programme. He is a keen photographer and 

Astronomer and often travels to far off 

locations in search of totality. 

Adrian Boyd 

Adrian joined in June 2009 

and presented the Monday 

request show before taking 

on the Saturday morning 

IKIDZ show. He is also Head 

of Request Collecting at HRB. 

Adrian plays five a side, runs a veterans 

football team, works at the RNLI and is an 

education volunteer for them, he also has an 

interest in Hampshire cricket and Poole 

Speedway. 

Juli Brown 

Juli presents the Tuesday 

Night Request Show and is 

often visiting Wards 8 and 9 

of the RBH for patients’ 

requests. She has been with 

HRB since 1994 and the 

Chair since 2002. When not at the studio, 

Juli loves walking along the beach with her 

dog Megs, seeing a film (especially one 

starring George Clooney!) and having a laugh 

with friends! 

Richard Buckle 

Richard currently presents 

two shows on HRB. The 

Saturday Breakfast Show 

broadcast live 7am-9am and 

also The Supersonic Gold 

70’s Show 3pm-5pm on a 

Thursday afternoon from HRB’s Soul Cellar. 

Having spent a lifetime messing about in 

music he started on the radio at Hospital 

Radio Bedside a few years ago and enjoys 

every minute of it, both broadcasting and 

meeting patients to get their requests. He 

moved to the south coast in 1999 and lives 

in Christchurch with his family and Bramble 

the collie dog. 

Penny Buckley 

Joined HRB in May 2011. As 

well as request collecting, 

she is Head of Prizes. She 

cycles regularly and 

particularly enjoys touring in 

France where the roads are 

less crowded. Penny and her husband have 

recently returned from a cycle trip around 

Paris and were there for Bastille Day. She is 

also Secretary of the local French Society, 

Cercle Amical de Ringwood. 

Linda Clements 

Linda has been with HRB for 

two enjoyable years looking 

after hospital visitors and is 

Head of Induction. She is 

loving retirement and along 

with HRB is learning Tai Chi, 

although very badly and loves meeting her 

friends for lunch and a good chat. Linda 

remembers the first record she bought as 

Little White Bull but hopes to live it down. 

14 


Geoff Cummings 

Geoff has been a member 

and presenter at HRB since 

1997. As well as presenting 

the Saturday Tea-Time music 

and memories programme 

‘Medicinal Compound’, he is 

also the regular host of ‘Weekday Breakfast’. 

Geoff’s love of popular music and radio has 

been inspired by his 3,000+ collection of 

78s. Geoff is currently Head of Programme 

Monitoring at HRB. 

Trevor Dean 

Trevor was born in 

Bournemouth and has lived 

in the town all his life. He 

enjoys badminton, squash, 

the cinema and eating out. 

He has been a member of St 

Johns Church Moordown Choir since the age 

of six and enjoys choral singing. You can join 

Trevor on Saturdays between 1-3pm on the 

Saturday Late Lunch. 

Reg Godwin 

Is a Ward Visitor at the RBH 

and enjoys meeting and 

talking to the patients. Reg 

was born in north London 

and moved to Poole in 1973; 

before retirement he drove 

for Wilts & Dorset and National Express. Reg 

loves Big Bands and Show music; he also 

enjoys swimming and walking. 

Sherie Harkcom 

Sherie is interested in films, 

music, cooking and walking 

her dogs! She studied film 

and television at university 

and has a full-time job in 

administrating at the 

moment. Sherie is most at home curled up 

on the sofa with a good book and a huge 

mug of tea or playing adventure games with 

her brother on the games console. She 

enjoys running and Zumba, always up for a 

laugh and socialising with friends. Sherie 

Colostomy, Ileostomy, Urostomy 

or PoUCh PatIents 

(CUPID) 

stoma Care tel: 01202 704813 

or Fax: 01202 704812 

This advert was very kindly sponsored by The Roman Group 

joined HRB because she wanted to get more 

involved in volunteer work and hopes to get 

some experience out of it too. She is 

thoroughly enjoying her time at HRB so far! 

Adrian Harman 

A member of HRB for over 

20 years, 12 as Vice 

Chairman. Adrian is a family 

man and loves visiting his 

grandson Miles and 

granddaughter Lola Rose. He 

loves all things Irish including Guinness, his 

Irish terrier called Flynn and he promotes 

Irish music bringing bands from Ireland to 

play in Wimborne. 

Barry Howard 

Barry has always loved the 

medium of radio and, after a 

spell in the broadcasting 

industry, found a home at 

HRB. Over 20 years later, he 

thinks he's going to like it. 

When not busy with HRB's Personnel Dept, 

he's exploring Dorset by bike or reading up 

on the latest technology. 

Mary Hurst 

Head of on-air interviews, 

Mary enjoys meeting patients 

and co-presenting 

programmes. She worked for 

the NHS, married a Navy 

pilot, lived in the Far East and 

has three children who keep 

her up to date with wild music. 

Hobbies include singing with acoustic 

guitar, creative writing, and attempting rock 

guitar – so far managing to avoid 

electrocution or arrest. 

Helen Johns 

Helen has been a member of 

HRB for 32 years and has 

enjoyed every minute of that 

time. Her programme ‘Good 

Heavens It's Helen’ includes a 

Vinyl Revival spot, a trip 

down memory lane with a 

music quiz and a special feature on ‘Things 

You never Knew About England’. Helens says 

‘It is an honour to still be involved with HRB 

on its 40th anniversary and I hope for many 

more years to come.’ 

01202 303887 for a request now 


Paul Little 

Paul has been presenting the 

Thursday Request 

programme since 2001. An 

enthusiastic request collector 

at the Royal Bournemouth 

Hospital, he will often 

instigate ‘Name that Tune’ style sing-alongs 

in an attempt to recall that forgotten song 

title. Paul’s musical taste is very eclectic and 

he especially enjoys ‘live’ concerts. 

Rob Neesam 

Rob has been a member of 

HRB since 1989 and currently 

can be heard on a Sunday 

evening presenting the 

Sunday Supplement. Married 

to Amanda with one son 

called James, Rob describes himself as a 

family man with a love of football, gardening 

and all types of music. 

Gary Plummer 

Has a wide ranging taste in 

music – from classical to rock 

'n' roll – although he can't 

quite find any pleasure in rap 

or hip-hop! Gary currently 

presents the Wednesday 

night Late Show from 9.30pm and ‘That’s 

Entertainment’ every Monday from 3pm. 

Graham Potter 

Joined HRB in the mid 

1980s, originally collecting at 

Boscombe Hospital and later 

transferring to the new Royal 

Bournemouth. Graham still 

enjoys discovering the varied 

tastes of the patients requests. He has met 

many interesting people while visiting the 

wards and as he’s fond of saying ‘it keeps 

me off the streets and out of the public 

houses!’ 

Jimmy Ross 

Jimmy first started in Hospital 

Radio at Hammersmith 

Hospital in 1968. When he 

moved to Bournemouth he 

helped set up Hospital Radio 

in 1972. Hobbies include 

holidaying, painting, photography, sailing and 

going on rallies with his recently restored 

1956 Morris Minor. 

He likes most food but cannot stand curry 

or any spicy food and has always had a 

sweet tooth (that's why he probably has so 

few now) He has visited a number of 

different countries since he retired in 2007, 

and hopefully will continue to see a lot more 

- that is if he can fit the travel in between 

presenting ‘Carousel’ on a Saturday evening. 

John Savage 

John was no stranger to 

hospital radio when he 

joined HRB as he already had 

broadcasting experience at 

Taplow Hospital, two further 

hospitals in Maidenhead and 

one in Ascot. A member of 

HRB since 1997, he is currently one of the 

Friday presenting team for the Request 

Programme and the later Jazz show. 

Paul Sutton 

Paul Sutton hosts the Golden 

Years on Sundays from 12 

noon. This is his 21st year on 

HRB and he still loves it! It's 

a miracle he is still on air 

after asking a lady 'when is 

the baby due' during an HRB 

roadshow, only to be met with the response 

'I am not pregnant'. This still haunts him 20 

years later. 

Paul is our Head of Programmes and 

away from HRB is also a Scout Leader. 

Chris Ross 

Christopher is 30 years of age 

and presents the Sunday 

Supplement show every 

other Sunday evening. He is 

also the Librarian in the 

Music Library at HRB. Outside 

of HRB he runs two small businesses, as a 

garden designer and an IT consultant. His 

hobbies include sport cars and classic cars, 

golf, playing the guitar and walking. 

16 

Call 01202 303887 for a request NOW! 

Mark Venus 

Joined HRB over ten years 

ago and has been 

responsible for different 

areas. As well as doing ‘his 

bit’ for the general running of 

the station, Mark presents the 

sports programme. 

Outside station life, he and his wife are 

busy bringing up a four-year old and he runs 

his own business based in Bournemouth.

Kev Williams 

Kev was born in Nottingham 

but loves the seaside life! He 

currently presents two weekly 

shows, ‘The Essential 80s’ 

and ‘Down Home Town’. He 

was a presenter at Stoke 

Mandeville Hospital Radio for a few years 

before joining HRB and has a love of all 

types of music (except perhaps for trad 

jazz!), as well as attending gigs and pop 

quizzes. He has amassed a huge record 

collection and is now looking for a house big 

enough to store it! 

Kev has recently won the Gold award for 

Best Specialist Music Programme in the 

National Hospital Broadcasting Awards, 

organised by the Hospital Broadcasting 

Association. Needless to say, he is truly 

honoured and was, for once, speechless! 

As Head Of Music here at HRB, Kev is 

responsible for ensuring the music you hear 

is relevant, appropriate and, above all, 

suitable for you, the patient! 

Steve Worboys 

Has been with HRB over 20 

years and looks after the 

collating of the requests to 

ensure we play what you 

want to hear. He also spent 

many years looking after the 

finances and the recruitment for HRB. He is 

employed within the Financial Services 

industry and lives in Ringwood. 

01202 303887 for a request now 


Memories of Hospital Radio Bedside1972-2012 

by Helen Johns and Jimmy Ross 

Major General Barton was 

the Volunteers Coordinator 

for Boscombe 

Hospital and in 1972 

Jimmy Ross approached 

him regarding setting up a 

hospital radio service and 

was surprised to find there 

already existed a radio service 

of sorts. However, there was no facility for live 

requests as they had to be recorded at home 

and played three days later. As there was no 

opportunity to increase broadcasting at 

Boscombe, Jimmy approached Poole General 

League of Friends who arranged a meeting 

for the five other interested parties; Dennis 

Sherwood, Heather Lynne, Val Wilkie, Stevie 

Gee and Penny Seager (now Fairclough). So 

hospital radio started in the Bournemouth 

and Poole area. 

It was at this time 

‘The Carousel’, 

Jimmy’s long 

running magazine 

programme, was 

born, which along 

with the request 

programme proved 

a wonderful 

success. The area 

they had to work in 

was not really 

suitable as it was 

shared by the 

Hospital’s 

Engineering Department, who had a lot of 

equipment stored in Room AB16. They also 

had to put up with the clunk click from the 

master clock which controlled all the clocks in 

the hospital, which occurred every thirty 

seconds making broadcasting a little fraught! 

With some relief they heard that Matron’s flat 

at Westbourne Eye Hospital had come free, as 

there were no longer matrons in hospitals. 

This was the 

start of an 

exciting time 

in HRB’s 

history. They 

were allowed 

free rein of the 

top floor of 

the 

Westbourne 

Eye Hospital to 

build their 

first studio. 

Gordon 

Anderson, our 

engineer at 

the time, built 

most of the 

studio at his 

house along 

with the 

assistance of 

Brian Beech. 

Gordon’s 

wife, Frances, proved a saint during this time. 

The studio was opened in 1976 by Bill 

Pertwee from Dad’s Army. Now there was a 

soundproofed studio with three turntables, a 

reel-to-reel tape recorder and a cart machine. 

We were only on air for two hours each 

evening with longer broadcasting hours at 

weekends. We now included specialist 

programmes such as classical, Gilbert and 

Sullivan, religious and sport. On Wednesday 

evening there was a midweek news 

programme and it was fascinating to watch as 

the reporters stood in a basin of pebbles to 

sound as if they were walking on the beach. 

Much easier than going out on a cold winter’s 

night when there was a topical item from the 

seaside! We could also broadcast live from 

the wards in Westbourne, by trailing a 

microphone out of the studio window and in 

through the ward window. This was a great 

success and popular with the nurses who 

joined in too. We enjoyed great co-operation 

from the hospital. 

We started to broadcast to all the local 

hospitals in East Dorset, so needed a new 

name and that is how Hospital Radio 

Bedside came into being, BEDside standing 

for Bournemouth and East Dorset. Clever 

isn’t it 

In 1980 things had moved along quite 

rapidly; we were on air to the six local 

hospitals: Boscombe, Poole General, Poole 

Maternity, Westbourne Eye Hospital, The 

18 


Royal National and Christchurch Hospital and 

shortly we were to add a seventh, 

Wimborne. Also in 1980 Penny Elliott and 

Helen Johns became members and are our 

longest serving members after Jimmy Ross. 

In 1985 we were informed a new hospital 

was to be built in Castle Lane which would 

mean great changes to not just HRB but to 

the majority of hospitals themselves. We 

were given the option of staying at 

Westbourne until it was closed or moving to 

the new site. We opted to move to Castle 

Lane which meant a huge fundraising 

exercise as we had been given the land but 

had to pay for the building on it. An architect 

drew up plans and arrived at the cost of 

£60,000 for the new building. A daunting 

task as that was more than most homes cost 

in 1985. 

The first year we raffled a mini car which 

was loaded onto a trailer and each weekend 

we went to every fair and event possible 

selling tickets at £1. In fact if two people 

were standing together on a traffic island, we 

sold them a ticket! 

At the end of the first year we thought we 

had done really well, only to remember that 

we had to pay for the car and found we had 

only made £1000 after a year of very hard 

work. Things had to change! We discovered 

we could get companies to donate things 

like TVs, holidays, etc, so we started to raise 

serious money for our project. 

As 1990 approached, we had managed to 

raise £40,000; the hospital authorities said 

they would cover the shortfall until we had 

raised it all so that we could go ahead with 

our plans. In fact we were fortunate to be 

given most of the £20,000 we needed by a 

local charitable trust, so were able to pay 

back the hospital what we owed in quite a 

short time. 

We now had two studios instead of one, 

making ‘hot seating’ a thing of the past. We 

had more equipment as there were CDs, 

tapes and mini disks, as well as two 

turntables. We could now play a much larger 

variety of music for the patients. Our 

programme output had changed too as we 

were broadcasting from seven in the evening 

until ten and all day at weekends. We had a 

really interesting mix of programmes which 

catered for every taste. 

Simon Davies was, and still is, our 

engineer and he has without doubt worked 

long and hard building our present studios 

and updating equipment whenever 

necessary. He had the bright idea that 

computers may be the way forward, so 

installed our first computer system, which 

allows us to broadcast 24 hours a day. We‘ve 

come a long way! 

Recognition by Her Majesty the Queen in 

2009, when we were awarded the Queen’s 

Award for Voluntary Service, is one of the 

highlights of the HRB story. We were 

presented with a beautiful piece of crystal, 

which is in pride of place in a glass cabinet 

in the studio. 

Thanks must go to everyone who has 

made HRB the Radio Station for the Patients 

that it has become. Not only have we had 

excellent management but also those who 

have worked tirelessly over forty years and 

are unsung heroes. The presenters get the 

kudos of being on air but without our request 

collectors, hospital visitors, fundraisers, 

librarians and publicity department members, 

there would be no HRB. 

We have had some wonderful Chairmen: 

Graham Watkins, Alan Freeborn, Paul Sutton 

and Juli Brown. We are grateful they have 

given so much time and dedication to this 

organisation. 

Our Trustees, too, work very hard on our 

behalf and we are fortunate to have people 

of this calibre running HRB so 

efficiently. To sum up, we have 

enjoyed every minute of the 

last forty years and wish HRB 

a long and successful future. 


Hi Kids – It’s 

by Adrian Boyd 

‘iKidz at HRB’ is the show for the 

young and the young at heart! The iKidz 

show is presented by Adrian Boyd and 

co-presenter Mary Hurst, often helped by 

local school children but the main 

contributor – the reason for the show – is 

you – the listener! 

Requests are the core of what we do 

on the show and Adrian collects from the 

main children’s wards in Poole every 

Friday evening without fail! The requests 

are a vital ingredient of the show and I 

really value visiting the Acrewood and 

Bearwood wards at Poole Hospital and 

meeting you the patient, your families 

and your friends. I’m always keen to hear 

from our listeners before, during or 

beyond the show! And it does not matter 

if you are in other wards but are young at 

heart, I’d love to hear from you too! 

Aside from all the requests played, there 

are many, many features (in fact, sometimes 

there are too many for the show!): 

• Primary School Fun – iKidz have visited 

many local primary schools recording 

youngsters' jokes, stories, poems, reports, 

songs, musical instruments and lots of 

wacky input. Their brilliant contributions are 

regularly played out on the show when 

‘iKidz Goes Back to School’. 

iKidz gang 

Lady Gaga, Alexandra Burke or Katy Perry 

are up to, then we’ll find out and let you 

know! We aways read out the Top 30 and 

play the current number one single, too. 

• TV news – we’re all fans of everything 

in TV from Dr Who to X Factor, In the 

Night Garden to Lazy Town and Ben 10 to 

Tracey Beaker! 

• Junior Choice – music from 

yesteryear that children and children at 

heart can enjoy again! 

• Singalongs – every week there are 

plenty of singalongs, including 

Spongebob Squarepants, Scooby Doo, 

Pirates and Dragons. Join in, if you dare!! 

• All of that ... and more! I am always 

including zany, weird and wacky news 

from the world at large. Want to know 

what elephants are really scared of (It 

isn’t mice!) Or what colour David 

Beckham is painting his dog’s nails We 

are full to the brim of useless but 

bizarrely funny stories! 

iKidz is on air every Saturday from 9 to 

11am; go on listen and join in. Contacting 

the show couldn’t be easier ... Call us on 

The iKidz photoshoot with Adrian, young 

Solomon and Mary 

• Jokes – I am always in need of fresh 

jokes as ours are often too bad to share! 

• Sports news – all the latest from the 

week’s events and up-coming fixtures. 

• Movie news – movie trailers and 

previews of all the latest family releases. 

• Music news – if you want to know 

what Hannah Montana, JLS, Justin Bieber, 

20 


Haymoor Middle School Christmas show

01202 303887 or 4415 from a nurses’ 

station or use the blue button on the 

touch keypad on the individual Hospedia 

units if you are in the Royal Bournemouth 

Hospital. You could email us at the 

station – just log on to 

www.hospitalradiobedside.co.uk and 

click on the email button and get in touch! 

We really would love to hear from you! 

Below are some mind-boggling puzzles 

and jokes to keep you entertained and 

scratching your head! Enjoy! 

Canford Heath Middle School Christmas show 

iKidz Jokes 

1. Why do hairdressers get to work early 

Because they know all the short cuts 

2. What’s round, white and has politicians 

on the inside 

The Houses of Polo Mint 

3. Who tells jokes covered in feathers 

A Comedi-hen 

4. Why did the dad call both his sons 

Edward 

Because two Eds are better than one 

5. Knock Knock Who’s There 

Alec 

Alec Who 

Alectricity man come to read your meter 

6. Doctor, Doctor, I keep foretelling the 

future 

When did this start 

Next Wednesday 

7. What did Snow White sing when her 

photos were delayed at the chemist 

One day my prints will come 

8. What did the vampire say to his victim 

You’re necks on my list 

9. Boy: ‘Dad, my new shoes hurt’ 

Dad: ‘You’ve got them on the wrong feet’ 

Boy: ‘They’re the only feet I’ve got!’ 

10. Why did the jelly bean go to school 

Because it wanted to be a smartie! 

11. Why was the football pitch so wet 

Because the players kept dribbling on it 

12. Doctor, Doctor, my eye sight is failing! 

Sorry sir, this is the post office! 

13. What did the letter say to the stamp 

Stick with me and we’ll go places 

14. Teacher: ‘What’s the longest sentence 

you can think of’ 

Pupil: ‘Life imprisonment!’ 

15. Why did the skeleton not go to the 

party 

Because it had no body to go with 

16. What did the Policeman say to his belly 

You’re under a vest 

17. Why did the banana go to the 

hospital 

Because it wasn’t peeling very well 

18. What’s 300ft high and wobbles 

The Trifle Tower 

19. ‘Waiter waiter, how long will my chips be’ 

‘About 6cm each, I expect’ 

20. Pupil: ‘Please Miss will you tell me off 

for something I didn’t do’ 

Teacher: ‘No of course not, why’ 

Pupil: ‘Because I didn’t do my homework!’ 

Wordsearch 

BOY 

CHOICE 

COMPETITIONS 

GANG 

GIRL 

GOSSIP 

HRB 

IKIDZ 

JOKE 

JUNIOR 

KIDS 

MOVIES 

MUSIC 

NEWS 

PRIZES 

REQUESTS 

SCHOOLS 

SPORT 

TV 

WARD 

answers p72 


iKidz Top 20 

1. One Direction 

2. JLS 

3. Rizzle Kicks 

4. Katy Perry 

5. Bruno Mars 

6. Olly Murs 

7. Postman Pat 

8. Jessie J 

9. Rihanna 

10. Maroon 5 

11. Thomas the 

Tank Engine 

12. Michael 

Jackson 

13. Justin Bieber 

14. Lady Gaga 

15. Take That 

16. Adele 

17. Celo Green 

18. Black Eyed Peas 

19. Bob The Builder 

20. Tinie Tempah 

Moordown St Johns Become 

Annual Festive Hit at iKidz! 

Bournemouth Primary School 

Moordown St Johns have forged a special 

festive link with Hospital Radio Bedside’s 

22 

Jamie proudly displays his poster 


iKidz Saturday morning children’s request 

show. iKidz presenter Adrian Boyd has 

spent the last two years recording some 

superb festive fare in the school with 

their year three children. 

At Christmas 2010 and 2011, both year 

three classes from the school visited the 

studios and were shown how a radio 

programme is produced, edited and 

recorded in groups of eight. Then, their 

brilliant carols, silly Santa stories, bible 

readings, festive jokes and poems, sports 

reports, fashion reports, winter gardening 

tips and other seasonal shenanigans were 

professionally recorded in the HRB studio. 

Once the recordings were downloaded, 

they were incorporated into a special two 

hour Moordown St Johns Christmas show 

broadcast on Christmas Eve 2010 and 

2011. Both were truly wonderful shows 

enjoyed by patients at a difficult time of 

year to be in one of our five hospitals. 

Adrian commented, ‘I really hope the 

shows brought some festive cheer to 

them’. 

Jamie, a year three boy at the school, 

was so inspired by his visit that he 

designed his own iKidz poster and is 

pictured proudly holding it aloft. Three 

more MSJ lads (Charlie, Harvey and 

Dominic) were also special guests on a 

live Saturday show early in 2012 after 

they all entered and won a ‘Guess the 

iKidz top 10 most requested artists’ 

competition at their school Christmas 

bazaar. 

Teacher Jeremy Wallace, who has been 

a driving force behind the link, says ‘it's a 

fabulous, very worthwhile experience for 

the children to witness a professional 

recording studio, how it works, how radio 

programmes are produced and to 

contribute to their own show. I’m very 

keen to make this an annual event, if 

possible’. 

Hospital Radio Bedside really welcome 

this tie up with such a lovely local school 

and have provided a full Public Address 

facility at their last three summer fayres 

too. The school has always made a nice 

donation to HRB for this service. 

Haymoor Middle School and Canford 

Heath Middle Shool, both in Poole, have 

also provided fantastic Christmas shows 

in 2010 and 2011.

‘Rose by George’ 

A tribute to Don Sharples, former editor of the Patients’ Guide 

Looking through the ‘Who’s Who’ of 

this magazine, you will spot a silhouette 

of a red rose with the simple credit to 

George, the artist. 

Firstly, George was my father and 

secondly the rose was in black. Now let 

me tell you about George and the origin 

of the rose. 

As a child, George was brought up on a 

small holding in Woodbury Avenue 

between Holdenhurst and Throop. An 

early job in the life of George was as a 

‘points boy’ with the trams of 

Bournemouth Corporation finally, retiring 

while driving the No. 25 yellow bus from 

Westbourne to Ashley Road, Boscombe 

many years later. 

The War years saw him serving across 

North Africa from Ciro in Egypt up to 

Sicily and through Italy reaching Rome, 

before serving in France and Belgium. 

So much for the man, now the origin 

of the rose. 

Like George, I followed him with an 

interest in music, with George it was the 

banjo, with me it was drums, which leads 

me nicely into the origin of the rose. 

Before I ever played professionally and 

as a mere boy, I played the drums in the 

band of the Army Cadets, Christchurch, 

then situated in Portfield Road. 

World War II was about to end and 

shortly after, as a conscript in the RAF, I 

played drums at the RAF base, West Kirby, 

taking part that year in Liverpool’s Wings 

celebrations. 

Several years later I met Johnny Rose, a 

bespoke guitar maker and played from 

Bransgore and together we formed a 

band called ‘The Black Rose’ and asked 

my father George to paint a silhouette of 

a black rose on the front skin of my drum 

kit. 

In the year 1993, I became Editor of 

the Hospital Radio magazine and used 

the black rose, now red, as a corporate 

symbol for the magazine. 


24 


HRB Charity Shop 

by Steve Worboys 

One of the many challenges which face 

Hospital Radio Bedside is the ongoing 

need to raise funds to ensure our unique 

service can continue. 

However, one aspect of our fund 

raising activities has remained constant 

over the years. In fact, it has been a 

constant fixture in the lives of the 

residents of Boscombe and that is our 

charity shop at 735 Christchurch Road. 

The shop plays a major part in our 

activities and provides not only funds 

from the shop sales but is also an 

important aspect of our publicity. 

Chris and the team at the shop will be 

delighted to take any goods which are no 

longer required and sell them to raise 

funds for the Association – they will 

always accept whatever is received as 

they know the importance of not 

declining items which are so willingly 

donated. 

When goods are donated to us, when 

asked what prompted the donation, the 

response was that a bedroom or garage 

was being cleared out. We have had 

occasions when people have found that 

moving to a smaller property leads to a 

clear out of items they haven’t used (or 

seen) for a number of years! 

In addition to the shop, we are always 

on the lookout for new ideas on how to 

raise funds – we think we have tried 

most of them but are never surprised 

when a new idea is put to us – all ideas 

are appreciated and this is where we 

need your support. 

Do you have any ideas on how we can 

keep raising funds Are you able to help 

us in our fund raising activities Do you 

have any unwanted items which need a 

good home 

If you do have any ideas, please 

contact us and we will be pleased to 

receive them. We believe the service we 

provide is unique and deserving of our 

continued support so any help you can 

provide will be appreciated. 

ARE PLEASED TO SUPPORT 

HOSPITAL RADIO BEDSIDE 

19 Crane Way, Woolsbridge Business Centre, 

Three Legged Cross, Dorset BH21 6FA 

Tel: 01202 828239 


HRB ‘Esteemed Presidents’ Quiz 2012 

by Karen Morgan 

The Quiz teams 

Despite going to the wrong place for 

the quiz last year, I still managed to do the 

same thing again this year!! However, I 

arrived in good time to take my place in 

our team, which we called ‘Broadway’ this 

year. Determined to better our 12th place 

of last year, we had endeavoured to gather 

together the finest brains that hospital 

radio could offer. We managed some very 

fine brains but unfortunately some of the 

finest were in other teams and the ‘Dorset 

Knobs’ were back defending their title, so 

competition was fierce. 

This year there were 22 teams taking 

part and about 120 people in attendance, 

a very good turn out. There was also an 

amazing amount of raffle prizes, some 

spot prizes and an auction of two 

rucksacks, donated by Osprey. 

As always, our esteemed President Alan 

Dedicoat was quizmaster and as always, 

conducted the proceedings in a 

thoroughly professional and enjoyable 

way. He has such a listenable voice (is that 

a word!) and it is quite strange listening to 

that recognisable voice in a live situation 

(Alan is the Voice of the Lottery). 

This year there were five rounds starting 

off with 20 general knowledge questions; 

the second round was the ‘Seriously 

Random’ round definitely an 

underestimation. One question that stood 

out was, ‘What is a galanthophile 

interested in’ The answer, snowdrops! 

Believe it or not one team got this right, 

Kev Williams I believe being the guilty 

party! 

The third round was the music round: 

20 tracks with a question on each one, a 

real variety of music to test us all. 

The fourth round was famous faces, 

always popular and guaranteed to include 

a face that you are convinced is one person 

and turns out to be someone completely 

different. In our team this year, we had 

enrolled the amazing Gary Plummer and he 

had first dibs on the 40 famous faces, 

when he had completed the ones he knew, 

I think there were only about four left for 

the rest of the team to complete! 

The fifth round was put to a vote, 

either sport or a round called ‘Pets win 

Prizes’. We wanted sport, as we had a 

team with quite a good knowledge of 

various sports but were outvoted so the 

final round became ‘Pets win Prizes’; it 

was a really fun round involving all sorts 

of animals from the dog who discovered 

the stolen World Cup in 1966 to the 

name of Dick Turpin’s horse. (Pickles and 

Black Bess being the correct answers) 

This ended the quiz and as always our 

President ensured the evening ran 

smoothly involving some singing and 

jokes. Whilst scorers Brenda and Geoff 

totted up the scores, we moved on to the 

auction of the rucksacks which raised £90 

which was all profit. Thanks once again to 

Osprey for donating them. 

Brenda, Geoff and Alan 

We then had the raffle and there were 

some really amazing prizes, so many 

donated by HRB members. Kim, in our 

team, must have bought about 80 tickets 

and did manage to win one prize but as 

26 


going for it next year as I’m sure will all 

the other teams in an effort to topple the 

victorious ‘Dorset Knobs.’ 

At the end of the day, what was most 

important was the money raised for 

Hospital Radio Bedside and this 

amounted to £908 plus another £750 

from Barclays Bank Community ‘match as 

you raise’ scheme A brilliant result and 

once again a great evenings 

entertainment, thanks to all concerned 

and as always a huge thank you to our 

President Alan Dedicoat, we couldn’t do it 

without you! 

The winning team 

is often the case with raffles, one table in 

particular seemed to keep winning. Still it 

is the luck of the draw, as they say. 

Finally the results were ready and once 

again the ‘Dorset Knobs’ were the victors 

with 118 points. However, it was very 

close this year as the ‘Beach Boys’ came 

second with 114 points and third was the 

Boiled Eggheads with 112 points. Our 

team came joint fourth on 108 points 

tying with the ‘Queen of the Lavender 

Mist’. Last year we were 12th, so a great 

improvement for us. We will be really 

Alan Dedicoat with a raffle prize 

A huge thank you to all the companies who 

supported this event; we couldn’t do it without you! 


Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust offers these services: 

Patient Advice and Liaison 

Service (PALS): a confidential service 

for the support of patients, relatives, carers 

and friends. PALS is here to: 

• Help answer any questions about 

your hospital care 

• Advise and support you, your family 

and carers 

• Listen to your suggestions 

• Respond to your concerns 

Tel: 01202 448499 

Mobile: 07758272495 

Fax: 01202 448363 

Email: pals@poole.nhs.uk 

Health Information Centre: a full and 

comprehensive information service to patients, relatives, 

carers and health professionals. It aims to provide: 

• A wide range of up-to-date, relevant information 

• A confidential and supportive environment 

Tel: 01202 448003 

Email: healthinfo@poole.nhs.uk 

Volunteers: over 260 committed volunteers help patients, patients' visitors and staff in a range 

of duties around the hospital. 

Interested in volunteering One important volunteering role is assisting patients to eat and drink. 

Some patients just need a little help and encouragement and we are keen to hear from you if you 

would like to help. Full training is provided for you to become a mealtime companion. 

Tel: 01202 448610 

Email: joy.janati@poole.nhs.uk 

Norlington Care Ltd 

Norlington Care Home is a family run Home committed to providing high quality nursing and 

personal care by offering a choice of accommodation which includes purpose built rooms and high 

quality communal facilities. Norlington is in an enviable position by the seafront. 

We provide individual residential and nursing support with full assessment and support plans in a 

homely environment. We aim to promote independence as much as possible. 

We have: 

Qualified Registered nurse on site 24 hours, with enhanced staffing levels 

Communal dining room and lounges. 

Accessible gardens with vegetable patch for home grown produce. 

In house chef provides a variety of home cooked meals, special diets catered for. 

Full time dedicated activities organiser to keep residents entertained and organise functions both in 

and outside the home. Involvement of relatives is always welcomed. We also have a hairdresser 

who attends twice weekly. 

If you require any further information or would like to visit our Home please do not 

hesitate to contact us on 01202 422064 or email norlington@btinternet.com 

Norlington Nursing Home, 19 Stourwood Avenue, Southbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset BH6 3PW 

www.norlington.co.uk 

28 


Do You Have Space for Voluntary Work 

It takes a lot 

to run a 24- 

hour radio 

service to five 

hospitals and 

HRB's team of 

volunteers 

work hard to 

make it 

happen. We're 

always interested in new people joining 

us so that we can share the load and do 

even more. 

The radio service is all about playing 

patients' requests. This gives the personal 

touch and it's complemented by news, 

sports, quizzes and a huge variety of 

music presented by friendly voices. But 

radio is only half of what we do. The 

other half is going to the bedside to ask 

the patient what we can play for them on 

air. Not everyone wants a request but 

everyone appreciates the personal visit. 

We'd like to see every patient every day 

but, with around 2,000 beds and most 

hospital stays being short, we need a lot 

of visitors. If you can help us visit our 

listeners, we'd like to hear from you. It 

will suit you if you enjoy a friendly chat 

and want to help people in hospital. 

Several of our ward visitors are retired 

and find that daytime visits fit well into 

their diary. The choice of hospital, how 

often to visit and when, is entirely up to 

by Barry Howard 

HRB has a Place for You 

says HRB's Personnel Trustee, Barry Howard 

the volunteer. 

Hospital Radio 

Bedside 

provides 

training and 

ongoing 

support, 

courtesy of the 

Head of our 

Hospital Visiting team, Linda Clements. 

Ward visiting is highly valued and it's an 

immensely rewarding way of helping 

others. 

On the radio broadcasting side, there is 

plenty to do, both in actually making 

programmes and in the supporting 

departments. Anyone who can help us in 

fund-raising, publicity, administration or 

technology is welcome. We'll provide 

comprehensive induction and training. 

What we ask of the volunteer is that 

they'll fit into the team and manage their 

own activities. Voluntary work means 

commitment, making the time and being 

able to travel locally. If that works for you 

and you like the idea of getting involved 

in a worthwhile local charity, we should 

be talking to each other. 

To find out more about joining HRB, 

please contact Jill Pittwood at the address 

at the front of this magazine or email her 

at recruitment@hospitalradiobedside.co.uk. 

You can apply to join online too at our 

website www.hospitalradiobedside.co.uk 


Reminiscing 40 Years at Dean Court 

by Tony Allen 

I am very proud to have represented 

Hospital Radio Bedside at Dean Court, the 

home of AFC Bournemouth, for over 20 

seasons in the 40 years being reminisced 

in this article. Throughout that time an 

ardent Cherries’ fan, accomplished 

journalist and photographer, Mick 

Cunningham, an unassuming gentleman, 

very knowledgeable about the Club and 

his profession, has been a friend and a 

great support to me throughout my varied 

involvements at the Club. 

Significant changes have taken place, 

none more so than in the stadium, which 

was originally built in 1910. The old 

stadium was demolished, the pitch 

revolved 90 degrees and a brand new all 

seater facility built for a capacity of 10,000 

was born in November 2001. In the past 

decade the excellent facilities have been 

added to and these include a tarmaced, 

marked out car park with neat greenery 

surrounding it with the front facade 

designed to encourage those attending 

that they are approaching a Club that is 

both vibrant and welcoming. 

Mick and I enjoyed lunch together in the 

newly appointed Legends cafe with the 

Supporters ‘The 1910 Club’ bar above it 

together with the much sought after Top 

Floor Champions Restaurant which doubles 

as a banquet and Fans Forum venue. 

I asked Mick how he first became 

involved with the Club. ‘In 1966, when I 

was just six years old, my Dad took me to 

my first Cherries’ match, then 21 years 

later I formed the Exiles Club (of which I 

was a member!) for those Cherries’ 

supporters who lived away and abroad 

and later produced a fanzine magazine 

named 'Not the 8502' – it’s a long story 

how I arrived at that title’ he exclaimed. 

He went on to tell me some seven years 

later he criticised the Cherries’ match day 

programme so the Commercial Manager 

said, ‘If you think you can do better, then 

it's all yours'. Since then, Mick has gone 

ever upwards as Chief Photographer and 

Editor compiling the programme, having 

very recently been awarded the silver 

medal for the best produced League 1 

match day programme and sixth in the 

country. On congratulating him he replied, 

‘Thanks – my main aim is to send out a 

strong message of whole heartedly 

welcoming all those who visit Dean Court 

in such a manner that they are given an 

indelible image of the Club that on 

leaving, they happily look forward to 

returning to again’. 

We then trawled through our memories 

of the past four decades beginning in the 

Seventies and not surprisingly were 

unanimous on a number of events such as 

the goal scoring escapades of the feared 

duo who destroyed the opposition in Phil 

Boyer and Ted MacDougall (who, 

incidentally, still holds the record number 

of goals scored by a Cherries’ player in 

one season of 49 goals plus later scoring 

nine goals in the Club’s record FA Cup 11- 

1 trouncing of Margate). For over 50 years 

the Club was known as Bournemouth & 

Boscombe Athletic Football Club (when I 

was signed by the Club) but in this decade 

of the 70s, the name was changed to what 

it is known as today, AFC Bournemouth. 

We were in total agreement that 

although in 1984 we won our first outright 

piece of silverware when a 2-1 win against 

Hull City gave us the Associate Members’ 

Cup, the most depressing event of the 

Eighties was the 9-0 thrashing away to 

Lincoln City which we believe was Harry 

Redknapp's first game as the Cherries’ 

manager. Harry had the last laugh as on 

4th May 1987 at Fulham, we won 3-1 

which clinched promotion to the new 

Championship, the very first time the Club 

had ever risen that high in the Football 

League’s hierarchy. Mick can't remember 

how he got home and I spent the whole 

30 


night celebrating with friends in my flat in 

far away Hong Kong. 

In the following decade, I solely 

compiled a complete newspaper 'extra' for 

the Club in which one of the articles 

featured Joe Parkinson who was later sold 

to Everton for a record £800,000, equalled 

only by an Ipswich payment for Matt 

Holland but Mick’s everlasting impression 

of the Nineties is driving down the North 

Circular road toward the famous Wembley 

Stadium's Twin Towers to watch our 

beloved Club play in the Auto Windscreen 

Cup Final against Grimsby Town. 

My memory was being seated in my 

commentary position alongside famous 

journalists and reporters from the world 

watching John Bailey score the only goal by 

a Cherries’ player at this world-renowned 

venue to put the Cherries ahead only to be 

finally denied by a ‘golden goal’, losing 2-1 

to a side that featured our present manager, 

Paul Groves. 

The last decade has been the most 

turbulent for both of us, involving 

promotion, relegation and near promotion 

After two great FA Cup wins in past 

decades against the great teams of 

Manchester United, being held 0-0 at 

home by Blyth Spartans (a team playing 

some four leagues below us) and the total 

humiliation of losing the replay 1-0 to an 

89th minute winner adding to Brett 

Pitman’s sending off having only been on 

the pitch for three minutes was the most 

disappointing. 

However, we are in unison about our 

most anxious and nail-biting period in 

which we were fearful of losing our league 

status and finally total relief at a 

comparative wonderful successful season 

of survival. 

The 2008/09 season opened with 

Amersham-born Eddie Howe managing a 

team who, through no fault of their own 

because of Club misdemeanors, 

commenced their fixtures with a 17 points 

deduction and by mid-February, were ten 

points away from their nearest rivals for 

survival which at the time appeared 

unsurmountable... but was it 

The crunch game came on 25th April 

2009, against, yet again, Grimsby Town ... 

it was a must win game. A season’s record 

crowd of 9000 crammed into Dean Court 

as referee Steve Tanner blew for the kick 

off and, shortly afterwards, blew again, this 

time to signal going one up through 

Nathan Jarman. If the visitors won, they 

would be safe but Liam Feeney put us on 

level terms in a pulsating, high tension 

game until ten minutes from the end. The 

whole stadium erupted as Steve Fletcher 

powered home his 100th goal for the Club 

and then scorched around the touchline, 

waving his shirt above his head before 

pandemonium was replaced by relief as 

Mr Tanner blew the final whistle ... and 

survival 2-1 ... phew! 

Finally, I asked Mick regarding his future. 

‘It is my abiding ambition to better myself 

and be an integral part of a successful 

Club, producing the very best photographs 

for the best match day programme in the 

land. And what about yourself’ I replied, 

‘It would be the pinnacle of my time with 

the Club to see my beloved Cherries, for 

whom I once pulled on the goalkeeper’s 

jersey, later reporting for Hospital Radio 

Bedside, to become a Championship side 

within two seasons to coincide with my 25 

years broadcasting from Dean Court’. 

Both could be achieved. Why not 

Watch this space with optimism! 

Royal Bournemouth Hospital 

Catering Services 

A warm and friendly welcome awaits all customers 

when using our Catering facilities at the Royal 

Bournemouth Hospital. 

The main restaurant is called the SHELLEY and is situated 

on the ground floor of the hospital overlooking the lakeside 

and offers a comprehensive service throughout the day. 

Opening Times: 

Breakfast = 7.30am – 11.00am 

Hot Lunches = 11.30am – 2.15pm 

Snacks and Beverages – 7.30am – 8.00pm 

Evening Meals = 5.30pm – 8.00pm 

Vending Service = 24 hours 

Closes = 8.00pm 

The Shelley Restaurant serves a full cooked or continental 

breakfast Monday – Sunday. We have also introduced a fresh 

fruit salad bar at breakfast time. 

Lunch comprises of a very attractive range of hot meals, hot 

desserts, filled jacket potatoes, homemade sandwiches, freshly 

baked baguettes, selection of filled panini’s and wraps. We 

also have a selection of salads with a choice of mid afternoon 

there are a choice of cakes, homemade sandwiches, selection 

of filled baguettes and hot/cold beverages. 

Evening meal has a wide range of hot meals, salads, and 

homemade sandwiches, hot and cold beverages. 


An Interview with Graham Nickless 

by Tony Allen 

For well over 20 

years I have 

been 

broadcasting 

from Dean Court 

on all of AFC 

Bournemouth’s 

home games for 

Hospital Radio 

Bedside and on 

many occasions 

was in 

conversation 

with fellow 

Graham Nickless colleagues but it 

wasn’t until recently I was told about 

Graham Nickless and his amazing career 

so, nothing for it, I had to know more. 

I was invited into his hugely impressive 

‘den’ with all the walls covered with a 

variety of interesting memorabilia ranging 

from award certificates, model cars, a 

unique street name plate inscribed ‘City 

of London’ above capital letters showing 

FLEET STREET EC4, film star posters, an 

antique biscuit barrel belonging to his 

beloved dad Fred and a very personal 

proud photograph of Graham’s mum, 

Freda, being cuddled by world famous F1 

driver Nigel Mansell on his golf course at 

Exeter ... and that was just the start of an 

enthralling afternoon. 

Graham, a 59 year old, upright, smart 

and intelligent man, now living locally, 

was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, 

attending Winkfield St. Mary’s Primary 

School before progressing to Garth Hill 

Comprehensive in Bracknell where he 

stayed on to complete his GCE ‘O’ level 

studies but decided against going on to 

University in favour of quickly moving into 

the big world outside. 

At 17, he decided to work in the 

insurance business in London, setting his 

sights on the romantic idea of becoming 

an insurance investigator with United 

Standard but after a couple of years 

yearned for more freedom so took up 

temporary posts, which included driving 

tourists around Windsor Safari Park, now 

renamed Legoland. This outdoor lifestyle 

gave him the thirst for a career where he 

could be allowed 

the freedom to 

advance his 

skills. 

The thrill of 

reporting sports 

events, coupled 

with his hobby of 

playing football 

locally was 

highlighted when 

he turned out for 

Bracknell Town 

and Wokingham 

Town youth 

Tony Allen 

sides, led him to apply and be appointed 

at the young age of 20, to the post of 

Sports Editor of the ‘Bracknell News’ 

which kick-started a 38-year journalistic 

career – and still counting! 

It took him just four years before, in 

1977, he was acknowledged in the 

‘AstroTurf’ British Sports Journalist Awards 

where he was presented with a certificate 

by former England manager Ron 

Greenwood inscribed ‘Highly commended 

for outstanding contributions to 

journalism’. 

It was not long before he moved to 

nearby Reading as chief football writer of 

the ‘Evening Post’ but within a year was 

on his way back to London as Deputy 

Sports Editor of the ‘Football Weekly 

News’ magazine where, after several 

shifts on ‘The Sun’ and ‘Daily Express’ he 

got his first big breakthrough as sports 

writer on the ‘Daily Star’. 

By the time he was approaching 40, he 

was highly respected by many of his 

colleagues in Fleet Street where he 

became affectionately known as ‘Nico’. As 

a freelance, he was now writing for 

several national daily and Sunday papers 

before he joined the ‘Sunday Mirror’ as a 

staff writer and covered England ’s 

matches at Euro 96. 

Graham returned to freelancing in 

2000 and now reports on AFC 

Bournemouth and Southampton for ‘The 

Sun’ and the newly-formed ‘Sun on 

Sunday’ as well as penning a weekly 

Football League gossip column, ‘Nico’s 

32 


News’ in ‘The Sun’. 

As he enthused about his career, he 

took a breath which gave me the chance 

to ask him what was the most energetic 

period of his career ‘Well, my greatest 

assignment must have been in 1993 and 

1994 when, at my own expense, I took 

18 return trips to America to cover our 

newly-crowned Formula One champion 

Nigel Mansell competing in the IndyCar 

Series for the Newman-Haas team for up 

to ten daily and Sunday nationals and 

one evening paper which, I can tell you, 

tickled Mansell’s ego! 

I had followed Nigel for a number of 

years in F1 and knew this was going to 

be an exciting assignment. He won the 

IndyCar championship in his first season 

which was back page news back in 

England’. 

What an enthusiastic talker! Luckily he 

stopped to offer me another cup of 

coffee which gave me the chance to ask 

him if he interviewed the late great 

Hollywood star and Mansell’s co-owner, 

Paul Newman. ‘Oh, yes, it was one of the 

most memorable interviews I have ever 

undertaken and I can tell you my first 

question brought a tear to the eye of this 

great actor’. 

‘What on earth was the question you 

asked him to make him cry’ I asked. 

Graham replied: ‘Paul was personally very 

upset that his all-time racing hero and 

Mansell’s team driver Mario Andretti was 

retiring and that Nigel was heading back 

to England to resume his F1 career and 

he clearly didn’t want to lose both drivers. 

Never mind, the tears made me a lot of 

money for the interview carried in the 

now defunct ‘News of the World’. 

I am reminded of the trips by having 

two large prints of Nigel’s F1 and Indy 

cars in my den signed by the great racer 

himself.’ I had noted them on my initial 

visit to his den! 

I was intrigued to find out more about 

Graham’s future plans as he had 

mentioned that he was changing 

direction in his work. 

‘Well’, he went on, ‘I’ve got two exciting 

assignments. I shall hopefully be 

interviewing a number of celebrities like 

former England manager, Graham Taylor 

and former England footballer, Matthew 

Le Tissier and one-time Grand Prix racer, 

Derek Warwick for a new sports podcast 

show I am working on. Also, I am hoping 

to launch, with the help of my friend 

Matthew Le Tissier, a new on-line goal 

game on my own website 

www.goaldengoals.com in the next few 

weeks’ ... so watch this space folks! 

Finally, I asked Graham to sum up for 

me his achievements. ‘Well, (as every 

sentence begins!) I have several good 

memories of my career on my den wall 

but my greatest story has to be the day I 

helped England land Kevin Keegan as 

national manager. 

I obtained an exclusive interview for 

the ‘Sunday Mirror’ with the chairman 

and owner of Fulham FC, Mohamed Al- 

Fayed, in his Harrods office, who told me 

he would release his club manager to 

England as ‘his gift to the nation’ which 

became national headline news at the 

time. 

But, perhaps, my most indelible 

achievement was my involvement on the 

IndyCar scene which has to be top of my 

list because it was two years of fun, 

excitement and back page splashesthanks 

to ‘Red 5’ and ‘Our Nige’. 

‘However’, added Graham quickly 

looking at all the family portraits adorning 

his den walls, ‘I have been married to my 

schoolgirl sweetheart Lesley (who works 

as an Associate Lecturer at Bournemouth 

University School of Heath and Social 

Care) for over 30 years and my greatest 

achievement is being a Dad to three 

beautiful daughters, Vicky (26), Cat (28) 

and Sam (31) who, with her husband 

Jon, presented us with our first grandson, 

Ethan. Now that is something special!’ 

What a triumphant ending to an 

interview ... my fellow colleague was 

correct – what an amazing man. Graham 

certainly entertained me and, hopefully, 

you the reader. 

I will be meeting him again at Dean 

Court at the commencement of the new 

football season and wonder what 

scintillating news he will have for me by 

then 


England and Germany ... and not a penalty shoot-out in sight! 

by Tony Allen 

No, not football this time but the story 

of the twinning between the towns of 

England's Dorset south coast Christchurch 

with Southern Germany's Aalen. There is 

always a great demand from twin towns 

for exchange visits to Christchurch, 

particularly among young people and the 

association acts to encourage new links 

but how did the twinning of towns begin 

We have to go back to the late 1940s 

when two of the most bombed cities of 

the second World War, Coventry and 

Dresden, came to an agreement whereby 

the two cities made the decision that, as 

a token of reconciliation, each would 

make cultural, educational and social 

exchanges with each other thus the 

concept of twinning was born. 

To give a background to each town, 

Christchurch's origins go back to the 

Saxon burgh of Twynham, which means 

'between two rivers', in this case the Avon 

and the Stour but earns its name from the 

11th century Priory church built by the 

Normans thus ‘Christ's Church’. So even 

from earliest times, Christchurch, with a 

present population of around 47,500, has 

been receiving visitors from Germany. 

Aalen, in the south-east of what was 

previously west Germany before the fall 

of the Berlin WaIl in 1989, is a prosperous 

town of some 66,000 inhabitants which 

sits at the foothills of the Swabian Alps in 

the province of Wurttemberg, some 40 

miles from Stuttgart. An outpost of the 

Roman Empire, Aalen became a 

Reichstadt (a royal city) in 1360 and 

much of the quaint mediaeval town 

centre still remains. 

Aalen's Dorethia Martini told me that in 

1981, Aalen initiated the twinning process 

with Christchurch and last year celebrated 

their 30 years in existence when the 

Mayor of Christchurch, Sue Spittle and 70 

members encountered an enjoyable time 

with the Aaleners for their Reichsstadter 

Tage together with the support of the 

Royal British Legion Band. This year, our 

visitors were similarly provided with the 

same level of hospitality in this Queen 

Elisabeth's Jubilee Year with Aalen 

bringing their renowned Kocken Clan 

Pipe Band to play superb music for all to 

enjoy and later this year, it is planned for 

Christchurch members to be hosted in 

Germany for their well established 

Highland Games. 

Although many social events are 

arranged, Dr. Howard Piper, Chairman of 

our Association, is hoping that cultural 

links will be promoted. An excellent 

example is of a young Aalener, having 

stayed here for a practical training course 

with the Christchurch Activities for Young 

People, hopes to return for a year’s 

voluntary work with a reciprocal 

arrangement being envisaged next year 

for a Christchurch youngster to carry out a 

similar task in Germany. He went on to 

tell me that the Association does not 

receive financial assistance from the local 

council. Its existence is paid through 

membership subscriptions, social events 

and fund-raising and is one of the least 

expensive ways of travelling abroad. 

Dr Piper continued by explaining that 

34 


host family accommodation and group 

travel discounts greatly reduce the cost of 

travel and returning hospitality to friends 

is not a burden. English is widely spoken 

throughout Europe, so communication is 

not a problem and language has never 

been a barrier but of course it helps if 

one knows a little German and twinning 

certainly assists practise and improves 

language skills. 

I asked Dr Piper for his views on 

progress and the future. He said twinning 

offers something for everyone, regardless 

of age, income, abilities or interests. 

Friendship and understanding between 

peoples of different countries should be a 

comfort to all. It is his ambition to 

promote an element of youth 

involvement, school exchanges, an 

increase in the learning of the German 

language but most of all, to advertise the 

importance of Twinning. 

He strongly supported his Committee's 

desire to have greater community 

involvement and increased membership 

to enlarge and expand the Association 

with a greater interest in local culture and 

traditions. He is eager and very happy to 

receive and respond to any enquiries on 

his home telephone 01425-270913 or by 

email, 

www.howardandsheila@ntlworld.com 

With my lifetime's involvement with 

Association football at many levels, I just 

could not end without mentioning my 

favourite hobby. In the long gone past, I 

was a soccer referee on the German 

Leagues and have since followed the 

fortunes of many famous German players 

and teams. Until some five years ago, the 

German Football Association (DFB) ran 

just two major leagues but decided to 

form a third tier and one of the founder 

teams was Vfr. Aalen. 

Having survived the first season, they 

were subsequently relegated but quickly 

returned to the Third Bundesliga and last 

season congratulations go to the team, a 

short distance from the great VfB 

Stuttgart, (with over a dozen major 

trophies to their name) who were 

promoted to the second tier for the first 

time in their 90 plus years history and 

will now clash with such famous clubs as 

Hertha Berlin and TSV Munich 1860 to 

name but two. 

Although AFC Bournemouth, our local 

football league team, who were in the 

second tier (seasons 1987-1990) 

presently play in the English third tier, 

start the coming 2012/13 season aiming 

to meet the aspirations of our twin-town 

by promotion to the English 

Championship. Here's hoping for success 

to both teams. Who knows, what about 

the prospects of the teams playing each 

other at Bournemouth's Dean Court with 

a return game at Aalen's Scholz-Arena ... 

dare I put my name forward to referee 

the inaugural game Watch this space! 

01202 303887 for a request now! 


An Invitation to Kinson Community Centre 

by John Savage 

‘They really ought to call it the Kinson 

Creative Centre’ – these words were 

overheard at the Community Centre the 

other day and, looking at the weekly 

activity board, it is easy to see why 

people might think that. In a typical week 

there are several art classes and groups 

to choose from, creative writing classes, 

flower arranging, all kinds of craft work 

from beading to embroidery, upholstery 

and soft furnishings to decoupage. Add 

theatre rehearsals, drama groups, music 

appreciation, dance lessons for adults and 

children and perhaps it’s no wonder 

there’s a creative air about the place. 

Kinson Community Centre in Pelhams 

Park is home to over 70 clubs and 

societies. From small beginnings in 1952, 

it has been serving the community ever 

since and is now in its 60th year – along 

with one or two other great institutions! 

If you’re wondering where to start ... 

well Thursday morning is as good a place 

as any. From 9.45 to 11.45 the Kinson & 

District Country Market take over the 

Main Hall for the morning, offering a 

delicious array of cakes, jams, preserves, 

free range eggs, vegetables, fresh meat 

and a range of craft work and greetings 

cards. Tea, coffee and home-made cakes 

are served, so there’s a chance to sit 

down and relax and perhaps look at the 

Information Leaflets that are produced to 

publicise events. 

The main one is the Kinson Community 

Centre brochure which lists the clubs and 

societies using the Centre providing a 

brief description of their aims and the 

frequency and times of their meetings. 

The What’s On leaflet concentrates 

mainly on weekend events at the Centre 

(they are open seven days a week) such 

as jumble sales; theatre productions – 

drama and variety; annual shows for 

example; Horticultural Society, Fuchsia 

Society and Bonsai Society; rock n roll 

nights, freestyle jive; fundraising quiz 

nights, etc. 

The Learning For Pleasure booklet 

brings together all the low cost courses 

they host. The courses are all tutored by 

qualified teachers and the subjects range 

from floral art to learning to love your 

laptop, hypnotherapy to bridge plus 

language courses in Spanish, French and 

Italian. 

They also produce a quarterly 

newsletter with contributions from 

members including poetry, news items 

and a behind the scenes look at club 

activities plus a diary page. All of this 

information is available on their website 

bournemouthcommunitycentres.co.uk/kinson 

where you will also find information on 

the other six community centres in 

Bournemouth – Beaufort, Ensbury Park, 

Moordown, Muscliff, Strouden and 

Townsend. 

A Few Facts and Figures about Kinson 

Community Centre 

• The Kinson Community Association 

(KCA) runs the Centre and has been a 

registered charity since 1965. 

• The building is owned by 

Bournemouth Borough Council but is on 

a 99 year lease to the Association. 

• The Association is responsible for the 

upkeep and running of the building 

(internal decoration, gas, electricity, 

general maintenance, etc) and 

Bournemouth Borough Council are 

responsible for the structure of the 

building. 

• KCA has to raise approximately 

£180,000 per year to run the building and 

in addition to that sum Bournemouth 

Borough Council fund a proportion of the 

two Co-Centre Manager’s salaries i.e. one 

and a half. All other wages are funded 

from the income of the Centre. 

36 


• The maintenance of the car park is 

the Borough Council’s responsibility as is 

the care of Pelhams Park. 

• The original Pelhams House is now 

216 years old and would have cost less 

than £1,000 to build. The new extension 

is now six and a half years old and cost 

£585,000 to build. It was built on time 

and under budget. It was handed over to 

the Association in January 2005 but 

opened officially by HRH, The Princess 

Royal, Princess Anne in June of that year. 

• In a busy week about 3,000 people 

use the Centre and there can be as many 

as 180 meetings taking place throughout 

the day and evening. The record is over 

200 meetings in a week. 

• The Centre is normally open seven 

days a week, 50 weeks a year, closing at 

Christmas and Bank Holidays. There is a 

licensed members’ bar, open weekday 

evenings from 7.15 to 10.15pm. 

• The Centre sells thousands of books 

each year at 10p each. There are at least 

one thousand books on display, hardback 

and paperback. In 2011 they raised over 

£6,000 from the sale of books and bric a 

brac, it’s the second year in succession 

they have topped £6,000. 

• The money is a great help and 

contributes towards the cost of 

decoration, replacement of tables and 

chairs. As someone said, ‘It’s genuine 

recycling. You buy a book for 10p, take it 

home, read it, then bring it back to sell 

again’. Another avid reader said she’d 

been able to experiment with different 

authors because at 10p it didn’t matter if 

she didn’t like the book and along the 

way she had discovered several authors 

new to her. 

Contact Details 

Kinson Community Centre, 

Pelhams Park, 

Millhams Road, 

Kinson, 

Bournemouth BH10 7LH. 

Telephone 01202 572826 

Email: 

kinsoncommunitycentre@hotmail.com 

Web: 

www.bournemouthcommunitycentres.co. 

uk/kinson 

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The Bournemouth Gilbert & Sullivan Society 

by Mary Hurst 

All the members join the Society 

because they love the music of Sullivan 

and the clever lyrics and plots devised by 

Gilbert. The sheer joy of singing together, 

the fun and acting as a company is what 

drives them to make their commitment to 

put on a major production at the 

Lighthouse in October each year – not to 

mention Spring concerts and carol singing 

at Christmas when a dedicated team 

visits various locations to collect 

donations in support of the Macmillan 

Unit at Christchurch. 

The theatre curtains drew back to 

reveal dramatic battlements draped in 

thick smog being emitted from an over 

enthusiastic smoke machine. As the air 

cleared, the person in a breast plate, 

clutching a pike and shield and standing 

at the top of the castle realised she was 

alone. Something was not right – there 

were supposed to be two other members 

of the chorus alongside her for the 

opening of Act III of Princess Ida. She 

sidled across to the middle to balance the 

scene, unaware that the other two were 

stuck in a lift back stage. But the show 

must go on and the idiosyncrasies of life 

on stage have to be hidden from the 

unsuspecting audience. They have paid to 

see a good show and that is exactly what 

they will get from the Bournemouth 

Gilbert & Sullivan Society – whatever 

happens. 

As any member of a dramatic society 

knows – things do not always go as 

expected but improvisation and a 

readiness to adapt is essential when an 

expectant audience is watching. The time 

for any recriminations (and laughter) is 

after the performance when the make-up 

comes off. 

There are many stories told over the 

years – such as when two of the fairies 

standing on a bridge in a scene from 

Iolanthe were unaware how close they 

were to the pyrotechnic that went off 

suddenly with a flash and loud bang. 

They did not need wings to fly but took 

off quite a long way up into the air 

anyway. In a production of Ruddigore, the 

curtain went up on a darkened stage to 

reveal portraits with ‘live’ ghosts in freeze 

position – all except one who had tripped 

over the bottom of his picture frame and 

was left on his back with legs waving 

around. Examples of how to carry on no 

matter what obstacles come your way! 

The Society continues the tradition that 

was started in 1947 by a group of local 

Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiasts who 

decided to put on shows for the benefit 

of Bournemouth and surrounding area. 

The very first show, HMS Pinafore, took 

place in the Town Hall but later the 

38 


operas moved to the Royal Theatre, 

Palace Court Theatre and as the Society 

expanded, the venue became the 

Towngate Theatre in the Poole Arts 

Centre where it has remained – although 

it is known as the Lighthouse these days. 

The Society tries to introduce the public 

to all of Gilbert & Sullivan’s shows – 

including the lesser known ones such as 

Patience, Ruddigore and the Sorcerer. 

Each has their own charm, wonderful 

music and vivid characters. 

Sometimes adventurous venues 

challenge. In 1997 to celebrate the 

Society’s fiftieth anniversary, a production 

of the Yeomen of the Guard took place 

amidst the ruins of Corfe Castle. In 2010, 

three performances of a show were 

enacted on the deck of HMS Warrior in 

the historic dockyard at Portsmouth – the 

cast negotiating sheer ladders in full 

costume and side stepping the ropes and 

gunnery equipment while performing. 

Every few years, the Society takes a 

production to the Buxton International 

Festival in Derbyshire. This is a particularly 

happy affair giving everyone who loves 

Gilbert & Sullivan the chance to mix with 

other enthusiasts from all over the world. 

Despite the ‘tales of the unexpected’ 

on stage, the Bournemouth Gilbert & 

Sullivan Society is a thoroughly 

professional organisation which each year 

engages a professional director to take 

charge of the main show. It is a registered 

charity and donates annually to local 

good causes. These amounts are in 

addition to the support given to the 

Christchurch Macmillan Unit each 

Christmas. 

Should you be an enthusiast yourself, 

love singing, music and enjoy Gilbert & 

Sullivan, do contact the Secretary – email: 

secretary@bournemouthgands.org.uk or 

visit the website ‘Bournemouth Gilbert & 

Sullivan Operatic Society’ to find out 

more. 


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On the Trail of Hollywood North 

by Bryan Wood 

You may ask what is Hollywood North 

Well, it’s a term used by movie producers, 

directors and actors, etc to describe the 

films and television shows shot in Canada. 

There are three main studios in Canada: 

Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. One in 

three films you see at the cinema, not to 

mention numerous television shows, are 

made in Canada. Why Simple really, cost. 

For instance, a city like Vancouver is not 

far from the US border and looks very 

much like an American city but costs a lot 

less to film there, which is why Vancouver 

has more films made there than any other 

city in the world except Los Angeles and 

New York. 

So how did it begin In 1897, three film 

makers each made a documentary at 

Niagara Falls and in 1913 the first 

Canadian feature film ‘Evangeline’ was 

shot in Nova Scotia. Through the 1960s 

and 1970s, the Canadian Federal 

Government aimed to foster the 

development of a feature film industry in 

Canada and the Canadian Film 

Development Corporation was founded. 

There are many crossovers between 

American and Canadian film makers, the 

biggest one being James Cameron of 

Titanic fame. Ted Kotchief, Ivan Reitman 

and Roger Spottiswood are also from 

Canada. Many famous actors are 

Canadian too, including William Shatner, 

Neve Campbell, Christopher Plummer, 

Pamela Anderson, Mike Myers, Rachel 

McAdams, Jim Carrey and Catherine 

O’Hara. 

British Columbia and Alberta are two of 

the Western provinces in Canada; so what 

films and television shows are you likely 

to have watched that were filmed there 

In the recent ‘A Team’ movie, 

Vancouver Convention Centre stood in for 

Frankfurt railway station and the 

downtown area also stood in Frankfurt 

city centre. Later in the movie, Vancouver 

docks stood in for Los Angeles port. 

Vancouver Airport was used to portray 

JFK Airport in New York for the movie 

Final Destination. Also, this was used as 

Boston Airport in the television movie 

Vancouver Art Gallery: Scooby Doo 2 Monsters 

Unleashed; X-Men 2; Smallville and many other 

films and TV appearances 

United 93. Vancouver Art Gallery has to 

be one of the most filmed buildings in 

the city; its appearances include the sci-fi 

TV show Sliders (on several occasions), 

The X Files, Smallville and movies 

including Scooby Doo 2: Monsters 

Unleashed and X-Men 2: The Last Stand. 

Pendrell Suites Hotel: Scully’s apartment in the 

TV show X-Files 

The Pendrell Suite Hotel in downtown 

Vancouver has been used in various 

television shows around the world 

including a Chinese soap opera! However, 

it’s most famous for being Scully’s 

Washington-based apartment in The X 

Files. Sliders was also filmed in Stanley 

Park where the current statue of Lord 

Stanley was replaced by Lenin on an 

alternate earth where America was ruled 

by the Russians. 

Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, 

has a gothic and freaky house called 

Craigdarroch Castle which featured in the 

film Little Women and as the villain’s 

hideout in the film Cats And Dogs. In 

40 


Craigdarroch Castle: Cats and Dogs 

Victoria Harbour, one of their wooden 

houseboats was used in the movie 

Sleepless In Seattle which still gets a 

mention on harbour tours there today. 

Victoria 

Harbour 

Bridge also 

features in the 

opening 

sequence of 

the film Excess 

Baggage. 

Burnaby, a 

town a few 

kilometers 

outside 

Vancouver, is 

Victoria Harbour bridge: 

Excess Baggage 

home to a heritage museum which 

includes a mock early settlers town 

perfect for filming and the television 

series Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, 

made in 1979, was partly filmed here. 

Moving to Alberta, Calgary Tower 

restaurant was where John Candy 

enjoyed a meal in the film Cool Runnings 

and, of 

course, 

the 

bobsleigh 

track 

where 

they 

raced 

was in 

Calgary’s 

Olympic Boat house: Sleepless in Seattle 

Park. 

Also, the opening sequence of the movie 

Exit Wounds features Centre Street Bridge 

in Calgary. Superman 3 also used 

Downtown Calgary and St Louis Hotel for 

locations. In the movie Silver Streak, 

Calgary stood in for Kansas but the very 

distinctive Calgary Tower can be seen in 

the background. The ski resort of Banff, 

near Calgary, was used in the Marilyn 

Monroe film River Of No Return. This area 

now holds an annual film festival. Other 

movies filmed in and around Calgary 

have included Doctor Zhivago, 

Unforgiven, Snow Dogs and Brokeback 

Mountain. Television shows filmed in 

Calgary include Viper and Honey, I Shrunk 

The Kids. 

Finally, at our last stop in the tour, we 

come to Edmonton, capital of Alberta, 

which became the location for television 

movie Knightrider 2000 and included a 

shootout scene in the West End Shopping 

Mall, the largest mall in the world! 

As you can now tell, not all locations 

are what they seem – you may think 

you’re 

watching 

somewhere in 

America but it 

could be a 

little further 

north in the 

wonderful, 

picturesque 

surroundings 

of Canada. 

Burnaby Museum: The town in the Huckleberry 

Finn TV show 

Stanley 

Park statue: 

Sliders 


Totality in the Tuamotus 

by Chris Bowden 

No it’s not a condition for which I 

might find myself in Poole or 

Bournemouth Hospitals! This was where I 

had the privilege of seeing the 2010 total 

eclipse of the sun. 

The Tuamotu Archipelago is about as 

far removed from modern day civilization 

as one can get – located right in the 

middle of the South Pacific. It was here 

for a few brief precious minutes on 11th 

July 2010 that the sun would be eclipsed 

by the moon. 

Being an 

avid eclipse 

chaser and 

having been 

clouded out 

for the 

previous 

attempt in 

China in 

2009, it was 

a trip that my 

wife and I 

simply had to 

make. If we ever needed more convincing 

our Silver wedding anniversary would be 

just two weeks before the eclipse and we 

had the chance of visiting Tahiti and Bora 

Bora on the way to the eclipse site! 

So on 25th June 2010, we travelled to 

London Heathrow for a flight to Los 

Angeles before jetting off to Tahiti and 

onwards to the paradise location of Bora 

Bora where we stayed in an exquisite 

water bungalow to celebrate our Silver 

wedding anniversary in style! 

We had a wonderful few days on Bora 

Bora enjoying swimming in the shallow 

lagoons where sea turtles and all manner 

of tropical fish could be seen. Coral and 

clams of every colour were there to 

explore and above water wherever we 

looked were scenes of such utter 

remarkable beauty. 

From our water bungalow we were 

able to sit on the veranda and gaze upon 

a most idyllic sight. Even after the sun 

went down, the beauty did not cease as 

we were able to illuminate the moon 

pool in the floor of our bungalow to see 

tropical fish swim below including 

stingrays! 

The view towards the heavens was just 

as spectacular and with no light pollution 

of any kind we were able to see the 

42 


Southern Cross and the long lanes of 

dark dust in the southern milky way. 

Suitably relaxed after such a perfect 

way to celebrate 25 years of marriage, we 

prepared for the next exciting leg of our 

trip – joining a flotilla of three private 60 

foot Catamarans to sail to the Tuamotus 

and into the path of totality! 

We flew with Air Tahiti over the 

amazing atolls of French Polynesia and 

after a flight of just two hours, we 

touched down on the reef runway at Hao 

and were met by the chief yacht charter 

Skipper to board our yacht called 

‘Terehau’. 

We spent the 

next couple of 

weeks sailing 

through the 

beautiful waters 

of the South 

Pacific, stopping 

off at small atols 

or ‘motu’ to 

swim, snorkel 

and kayak. We 

dined on freshly 

caught fish 

served up by the 

on board chefs 

who delighted 

us with such 

dishes as Mahe Mahe and Wahu cheese 

pie! 

Before long our flotilla had arrived at 

the remote island ‘Amanu’ where we 

would plan to see the total eclipse of the 

sun on 11th July. 

We dropped anchor as near to the 

shore as possible and prepared our 

eclipse viewing equipment for the 

morning. The GPS showed our position — 

it was 17 43 S 140 39 W, the position 

from which we would view the 2010 total 

eclipse of the sun. 

After dinner we watched for the elusive 

green flash as the sun set. We all 

wondered what the morning would bring! 

We awoke early next morning and 

hastily embarked upon the deck of our 

Catamaran Terehau which was sheltered 

in the lee of Amanu on the north east of 

The glorious azure and turquoise 

colours of the shallow lagoons were 

absolutely stunning and we had the most 

amazing time drift snorkelling through the 

narrow passes where reef sharks and rays 

could be seen in abundance. 


the atoll. Horror of horrors it was raining! 

There was thick cloud all around us! 

Skipper Henere was at the stern of the 

vessel with his head in his hands. ‘What 

do you think Henere’ I asked. ‘Who 

knows’, he responded. Hopefully there 

would be enough time for a change in 

the weather ready for the main event in a 

little over three hours time. Please let it 

be so! 

couple of smaller ones at about 3 and 4 

o’clock. 

I prepared the rest of my equipment 

and waited for the moon to make its 

appointment with the sun in the sky of 

the South Pacific. 

Before long there were breaks in the 

cloud and a vibrant rainbow erupted over 

our eclipse site. There was surely hope! 

After an early breakfast we gathered all 

our observing equipment and were 

ashore before 7am. The weather looked 

much more favourable now and the deep 

depression we had awoken to was now 

drifting westwards. 

First contact was due at around 

7.20am, so there was little time to spare 

to set up the camera, video recorders and 

personal solar telescope I had planned 

on using. I had used the PST on several 

occasions during the trip to monitor 

activity on the sun and as no one else 

had anything similar, it proved most 

popular. Today was no exception and all 

were keen to see what prominences or 

spots were displayed on the face of the 

sun. A quick view showed one large 

prominence at about 11 o’clock and a 

Before very long it was easy to see the 

very first nick taken out of the sun – first 

contact was observed! 

Partial eclipse continued to be 

observed for the next hour or so, with 

more and more of the sun gradually 

being covered by the moon. 

As the light gradually dimmed we saw 

the Planet Jupiter appear bright in the 

opposite part of the sky. 

There was a lovely deep blue hue over 

all the sky, with the horizon a subtle 

yellow colour. 

Mercury and Sirius could now be seen 

to the right of the sun. The last of the 

sunlight was fast disappearing now from 

the face of the sun, and a dazzling 

diamond ring erupted into the heavens as 

totality fast approached! 

44 


Totality was finally with us; shimmering 

in all its beauty! 

Success!! 

So we had seen totality in the 

Tuamotus and had celebrated our Silver 

wedding anniversary in great style! Here’s 

to next year for totality in Cairns Australia 

in November 2012 

We enjoyed four precious minutes of 

totality. Each moment under the moon’s 

shadow is remembered for a lifetime! 

WARNING: Never look directly at the 

sun through any magnifying device such 

as a telescope binoculars or camera. To 

do so could cause instant blindness! 


Poole Arts Centre 

by Adrian Boyd 

With growing public interest in the arts, 

the Government produced a White Paper 

in 1965 on ‘Housing the Arts’ which stated 

that ‘the enjoyment of the arts should not 

be regarded as something remote from 

everyday life’ and encouraged the 

provision of ‘places where the best of the 

arts may be made available and 

encouraged ... and where facilities may be 

provided for all artistic and further 

educational activities’. 

As early as 1966, the Poole Libraries 

Committee suggested that its vacant 

library building in South Road might be 

converted to such a purpose but the 

premises were deemed too small. The 

Poole Technical College enthusiastically 

supported the scheme for Poole to acquire 

an arts centre and in July 1970 the College 

promoted a weeks` Festival of Arts at 

which visitors were invited to sign a 

petition calling for a permanent venue for 

the arts in Poole. Shortly afterwards, the 

Council appointed a special subcommittee 

to report on all aspects of 

providing an arts centre. 

The chief officers prepared a detailed 

report, following consultations with local 

arts groups and associations, on what they 

would like to see provided for the town. 

They also consulted with other local 

authorities, the Arts Council of Great 

Britain, Southern and South Western Arts, 

the Society of Theatre Consultants, the 

British Film Institute, British Theatre 

technicians, the BBC and Southern 

Television. 

The capital cost of the building at 1972 

prices was just over £1m, with running 

costs predicted at £85,000 a year. 

Artists impression 1968 

Preliminary sketch 

plans for an arts 

centre to be built in 

Kingland Road 

were produced in 

1968. They 

provided for an 

auditorium, 

exhibition room, 

meeting room and 

general purpose 

room. Due to 

wranglings, it was 

not until February 

1972 that final 

proposals were 

brought to the council, which approved 

them. Working drawings and the tender 

for the building took until late 1973 and 

members of the public were invited to 

express their views. The Poole and Dorset 

Herald reported, ‘Nearly 1,000 raised 

hands proclaimed an overwhelming ‘Yes’ 

to the Council`s Poole Centre for the Arts 

concept. 

Acquisition for additional land for the 

arts centre and the granting of planning 

approval took most of 1973 but it was 

time for a final decision. If the arts centre 

was not started soon, it might never be 

built. There was a change of council on 

the horizon and it would certainly be too 

much to expect the council after 1974, 

with reduced powers and new 

members/officers, to undertake such a 

huge venture in its early years. 

The signing of the contract in 1974 did 

go through but there were inevitable 

pitfalls. A political and financial crisis did 

little to halt the increasing cost of building 

the arts centre, which eventually rose to 

£4.5m as an estimated final cost in late 

1975. Nevertheless, in 1976, building work 

started on Poole’s Centre for the Arts. 

The plush, new arts centre was opened in 

April 1978 having been conceived, designed 

and delivered by an ambitious local 

authority and the Centre was unrivalled in 

the region for the opportunities it 

presented all under one roof. 

I was there that opening day. There was 

a beautiful blue sky and crowds thronged 

all around the Kingland Road site and 

46 


Opening day 1978 

adjacent bus station. I can’t remember 

actually seeing the Queen but I wasn’t too 

bothered because my visit included a free 

pot of tea and a scone with jam on. That 

was much more exciting than seeing Her 

Majesty from a distance! I picked up loads 

of leaflets including a ‘what’s on’ guide of 

forthcoming events in June and July 1978. 

Wow! What a line-up! There were some 

high profile acts appearing regularly 

bringing excitement and glamour to the 

town of Poole. I even met David Soul 

walking through the Arndale one day! 

Poole Arts Trust was soon set up as a 

company limited by guarantee and 

registered as a charity to operate and 

manage the venue. In 1998, the Arts 

Centre attracted its first revenue funding 

from the Arts Council England and first 

started undertaking educational work in 

order to increase its impact and value it 

added to the local community. 

Having celebrated its 21st year of 

operation in 1999, the centre underwent 

an £8.5m transformation to bring the 

facilities bang up-to-date technically and to 

upgrade and renovate the public areas. It 

reopened in October 2002 and was reborn 

as ‘The Lighthouse, Poole`s Centre for the 

Arts’. It included an all new imaginative 

façade to the building that literally comes 

alive at night with a hugely impressive 

display of blue and mauve animated 

lighting effects. The radical refurbishment 

was paid for by Arts Council lottery 

awards, the Borough of Poole and through 

private donations. 

According to the Arts Council of 

England, The Lighthouse is the largest arts 

centre in the UK outside London. It has a 

670 seater theatre, a 1,500 seat concert 

hall, a 150 seat studio, a 110 seat cinema, 

an image lab/media suite, a large 

photography/digital art gallery, a 

restaurant and three function rooms. The 

concert hall is home to the Bournemouth 

Symphony Orchestra. 

The theatre provides mid-scale musical 

tours, opera, dance, ballet, plays and 

pantomime, the concert hall boasts weekly 

performances from BSO, the Wessex Youth 

orchestra, world music, rock concerts and 

jazz shows. The cinema has a mix of world 

cinema and recent releases normally 

presented 5-8 weeks after general release. 

The Lighthouse now issues over 

200,000 tickets a year and estimates that 

other non-ticketed activities in the 

building/community would readily 

increase the usage to over 350,000 

persons annually (more than double the 

population of Poole itself!). 

Revamp 2002 

Revamp 2002 


Peaceful Portugal 

by Barry Howard 

In my travels across Europe I'd 

somehow managed to miss Portugal, so 

when the chance of a bargain break 

came up, I booked. I didn't know what to 

expect but I knew next-door neighbour 

Spain a little and reasoned that it couldn't 

be that different. I was especially curious 

to hear spoken Portuguese. The written 

language is clearly related to Spanish, 

revealing their common Latin origin but 

to the casual listener it sounds more like 

Russian. Spanish is often delivered with 

passion but the Portuguese temperament 

is relaxed and it can even seem morose 

but never unfriendly and I soon came to 

appreciate the inhabitants' wry humour. 

The Portugal visit was to be a month 

long with three bases, all on the south 

coast, in the area long popular with 

holidaymakers known as the Algarve. 

Travelling would be by walking, bus and 

the odd taxi. Walking really is the best 

way to take in the surroundings and find 

places that would otherwise be 

overlooked. The first base was in 

Carvoeiro, which comprises a small town 

centre and beach, also small. Our 

accommodation was a few miles from 

the coast and really served the nearby 

golf course. Golf being of no interest, the 

daily walk into town revealed 

characteristics that would be reprised 

everywhere I went. I was struck first by 

the beautiful pavements, cobbled with 

small white stones. In busy areas like the 

promenade, mosaic pictures abound 

underfoot. House after house was 

painted brightly and immaculately kept 

The clean Portugal pavements 

and the absence of any guttering showed 

that rain was not an issue. The chimneys 

were like nothing I'd ever seen before. 

Although there were minor variations in 

style, they were tall and slender, rendered 

and not brick, the top capped against rain 

and birds and with slots for smoke to 

escape. They created some stunning 

skylines and the smell of wood burning 

as the dusk chill arrived proved that they 

were not just ornamental. They are 

peculiar to this region of Portugal. 

The chimneys in Portugal 

Gardens sported all sorts of colours with 

orange and lemon trees in abundance. 

The streets were litter-free and virtually 

traffic-free too. The quiet was incredible. 

There were few signs of human presence; 

no children playing, no radios, not even 

the sound of conversation from open 

windows. 

Enquiring about the locality, I soon 

heard words familiar wherever I go. ‘It 

didn't used to be like this.’ The explosive 

growth of air travel, road networks and 

climate change have conspired to make 

these words true the world over. My 

impression is that those changes don't 

undermine local character very much. It 

seemed that four months without a drop 

of rain were not typical but nobody 

complained about day after day of clear 

blue skies and daytime February 

temperatures that would do nicely for an 

English summer. Technology has shrunk 

the traveller's world so that you can cross 

a continent and still find your home TV 

channels in your room. Quite a change 

from my childhood caravan holidays on 

48 


the East coast. No electric entertainment, 

not even one of those new transistor 

radios and the nights were pitch black. 

The town was reached after about an 

hour's walk, interrupted only by the offer 

of a lift from a passing golfer incredulous 

that anyone would choose to make such 

a journey on foot. There wasn't much 

open. It was low season in the depths of 

a bitter economic downturn. It probably 

didn't used to be like this. One or two 

pavement cafés were open and doing 

reasonable trade with the substantial 

cadre of British ex-patriots who seem to 

keep the place afloat at this time of year. 

Several were British-owned. Portuguese 

bread is delicious and there's a bistro that 

serves toasties big enough to cover the 

plate. Pleasant as this place was, its real 

identity was as a bar by night. Unlike the 

establishments that were there chiefly to 

serve food and like its competitors, it 

disregarded the non-smoking law. It was 

warm enough to enjoy the sunshine on 

the beach, which was practically deserted. 

The next base was Albufeira, a major 

tourist centre. Once again, the hotel was 

some way from the town centre and so a 

long, exploratory walk was called for. The 

story was much the same as in Carvoeiro. 

Clean and very quiet but, being more 

developed, there were more cafés and 

shops open among the many that were 

closed. All except the bars closed early, as 

they do even in high season and no noise 

escaped from the bars. It appeared that 

many homes were unoccupied. There 

was no more sign of habitation at night, 

when it was quite possible to walk for an 

hour though residential streets and not 

see or hear a soul. The silence would be 

broken only by excited guard dogs. The 

local press reported 50,000 unoccupied 

properties in the region and I also noted 

abandoned building projects. The 

beaches at Albufeira are long and wide. 

The cliff faces show a variety of rock 

patterns and colours including black, 

yellows, oranges, browns and white, all 

vivid in the bright sun. Notices warn of 

the real danger of rock slides and 

evidence of rockfalls is everywhere. 

With so much closed, finding 

Portugal cliffs 

somewhere to eat while en route can be a 

problem. This was usually solved by going 

to one of the supermarkets, which all 

open until late in the evening every day. 

Their cafés serve good, basic food and 

beverages at low prices. A bonus is that, 

while the high street cafés have largely 

migrated to a cosmopolitan menu, the 

supermarkets have retained local dishes. A 

surprise is that they also serve alcohol. 

I always try to at least greet the locals 

in their own language using the words I 

hear them use. The usual response is pity 

for the poor Englishman and a reply in 

English. For the first time, the response 

was a torrent of words in the native 

language. What a pity I'd exhausted my 

Portuguese vocabulary already. 

Reaching the final destination, Luz, at 

the western end of the Algarve, required 

using the excellent bus service. The beach 

here is big, popular in season and as 

deserted as anywhere in February. There 

is a wonderful clifftop walk to Ponta da 

Piedade, a promontory marked by a 

lighthouse and boasting caves, grottoes, 

rock pillars and sea arches carved from 

the cliffs by the elements over the 

centuries. Thanks to long flights of steps 

built into the cliff-side, it's possible to get 

all the way down to sea level to explore. 

It's also close to the town of Lagos, which 

is within reach of the intrepid hiker or 

accessible by local bus. I discovered the 

hard way that the bus service finishes at 

around 6pm. 

Maybe it was because it was winter 

and Portugal was suffering the curse of 

the euro but I've never felt I'd got away 

from it all so completely. 


Best Wishes to All 

Patients and Staff 

from 

Telephone: 

01202 571111 

Finishing Brands UK Limited 

Ringwood Road 

Bournemouth BH11 9LH 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

SPRAY PAINTING & 

FINISHING EQUIPMENT 

50 


Wimborne Folk Festival 

by Adrian Harman 

In 1980, local Morris dancer Brian Bisp 

organised a day of dance in Wimborne; 

the following year the organisers of 

Christchurch Folk Festival decided not to 

continue. From this Wimborne Folk Festival 

was born. Following the demise of 

Christchurch Folk Festival, the organisers of 

local folk clubs got together and with 

Brian Bisp decided that Wimborne was an 

ideal town in which to hold a weekend 

folk festival. So a small committee was 

formed, the council approached and the 

go ahead was given. As a traditional town 

with a square at its heart, everything is 

accessible and more importantly walkable. 

Over the years, the Festival has grown 

and changed and now is considered by 

many to be the highlight of the year and 

is highly regarded nationally as one of the 

largest events of its kind in the country. 

Events are centered in many locations: 

namely the town square, corn market and 

Allendale Centre with dance displays 

taking place throughout the weekend of 

the festival in various locations around 

the town. Music concerts take place in 

the Allendale Centre as does one of the 

Ceilidhs and some of the workshops. 

The weekend offers a great chance for 

anyone to try his or her hand (or feet) at 

playing an instrument or trying a specific 

style of dance. In addition to all of this, 

there are dance processions through the 

streets of the town and there are 

colourful stalls selling anything from 

festival clothing to handmade jewellery. 

The festival is very much a family affair 

and to ensure that, the organisers always 

have children's entertainment as well, this 

varies from jugglers to Punch and Judy 

and, of course, no festival would be 

complete without a face painter or two. 

Organisers Brian and Maria Bisp and 

Linda and Les Wild work extremely hard 

to ensure a full and varied programme of 

music and dance. Over the years, many of 

the biggest names in the folk world have 

played to sell out concerts with musicians 

from Ireland, Scotland, England, Canada, 

America and Germany taking part. 

As each year goes by and funding 

becomes harder to obtain, it is becoming 

increasingly difficult to maintain the 

standards. However, they manage to do 

exactly that and this year saw over fifty 

dance sides visiting the town and without 

doubt one of the strongest concert lineups 

musically there has ever been. This 

gives the Minster town of Wimborne a 

huge boost in its economy as several 

thousand visitors pass through the town 

over the festival weekend. Many traders 

see increased takings over the weekend 

and the town gets a great deal of 

publicity as well. 

This is a very special weekend in 

Wimborne's year and is purely down to the 

enthusiasm of a small band of volunteers 

who spend hours of their own time, to 

ensure the festival traditions are upheld. 


Driving the Cowboys Out Of Town 

• Where can you find an electrician 

who won’t leave you shocked 

• How do find a builder that measures 

up to the job 

• Need to check out a plumber before 

taking the plunge 

The answer to all of these questions is 

now at your fingertips thanks to the Buy 

With Confidence approved trader scheme 

run by The Borough of Poole, 

Bournemouth Borough Council and Dorset 

County Council trading standards services. 

Many of us have our own horror stories 

of problem tradesmen and for many years 

trading standards services across the 

country were unable to tell householders 

who they should go to when buying goods 

and services, but not now. 

Buy With Confidence makes available 

details of carpenters, plumbers, garages 

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Trading Standards 

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every applicant and only 

if they pass stringent checks 

and can demonstrate their commitment to 

customer care are they accepted on the 

scheme. It doesn’t stop there though. 

Once a business becomes a member of 

the scheme they are monitored to ensure 

they maintain their high standards. 

Feedback is invited from their customers 

and re-visits are carried out. 

So, if you are looking for a trustworthy 

trader, Buy with Confidence is a great 

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52 


My New Zealand Scrapbook 

by John Savage 

Our Maori Guide for the tour of the hot springs. 

He was proud to come from pure Maori stock 

My wife and I made a second visit to 

see our son in New Zealand and took 

many pictures. Each has particular 

significance and brings back memories of 

a wonderful time spent in glorious 

surroundings among charming people. 

Both Ann and I have a common pastime 

with our local bowling club, so we 

couldn’t resist going to meet our New 

Zealand counterparts. We hadn’t known 

them long before being invited to join 

them on the green. Their hospitality 

didn’t stop there, as one of the ladies 

also provided us with accommodation 

whilst we were on South Island. 

Having made a comprehensive tour of 

South Island on our first trip, we were 

determined this time to see something of 

the North Island, so we planned a trip 

using partly New Zealand rail, boat to 

cross between the Islands and coach to 

reach the hot springs at Rotarua. Early 

one morning our son took us to the 

Rangiora Station (a short distance from 

Oxford). A very enjoyable journey with 

the drop down the mountainside into 

Picton extremely impressive. There is only 

a short walk to the ferry. The ferry trip 

between the islands is longer than that 

between the Isle of Wight and the 

mainland and certainly more picturesque. 

The InterIslander negotiates its way 

through the Queen Charlotte Sound to 

cross the Cook Strait before reaching 

Wellington Harbour. 

We christened Wellington the ‘Windy 

City’ and found it different from 

Christchurch as it had an altogether more 

open road layout, so we tended to use 

their taxis to find our way around apart 

from one occasion when we went touring 

with a local coach company. Our coach 

trip to Rotarua was uneventful apart from 

stops for lunch and to allow passengers 

from other routes to join us. 

The hotel at Rotarua was very 

impressive and organised a guide to take 

us around the various hot springs and an 

evening Maori Hangi with a traditional 

feast and haka. Of all the hotels we 

stayed at during our trip this was the one 

I regretted not staying a lot longer than 

we had booked. I gave them top marks 

for accommodation, breakfasting facilities 

and restaurant where I had the best steak 

I have had in a long time. 

At Rotorua a geyser blows having been seeded 

with a soap solution 

Municipal buildings and library at Wellington. 

At the far end, the travel centre where we 

arranged our coach trip. Whilst we waited we 

had a snack lunch and watched modern trolley 

buses picking their way through the busy traffic 


Caught by the Bridge 

by Geoff Cummings 

Poole lifting bridge 

Eight timetabled lifts per day, with 

annoying traffic delays of up to 35 

minutes per lift. Who, if they live in Poole, 

hasn’t been caught by The Bridge How 

we appreciate it though, prior to the 

opening of the new ‘twin sails’ structure 

this year, when faced with the alternative 

seven mile journey around Holes Bay! 

To find the origins of Poole’s Bridge, we 

need to go back to 1834 when Poole 

Corporation was virtually bankrupt and 

the two communities of Poole Town and 

Hamworthy were separated by the 

narrow channel between Poole Harbour 

and Holes Bay. 

It was Lord of the Manor and local MP, 

William Ponsonby, who took the initiative 

and was responsible for the Act of 

Parliament and setting up the company 

which built the first wooden toll-bridge to 

put an end to the problem. 

The steep gradients leading onto the 

first bridge meant that horse-drawn 

vehicles experienced difficulties which 

would only be overcome some fifty years 

later in 1885, when it was replaced with 

an iron swing bridge with twin manually 

operated bascules which swung out at 

right-angles to the roadway when open 

for craft to pass through. 

A full-time attendant living in the 

Bridge House on the Poole side was 

responsible for opening the bridge on 

request and for collecting tolls on behalf 

of the Poole Bridge Company which in 

1924, after lengthy negotiation, sold out 

to Poole Corporation. 

The present bridge was built and 

opened by the Poole Borough in 1927, 

amid much pomp and 

ceremony. It was 

hailed as a state of 

the art piece of 

engineering, able to 

open faster than 

ever before. 

Matching tiled 

decorative designs 

bearing the Poole coat of 

arms, which still remain on the side of 

the bridge, were specially commissioned 

and produced by Poole Pottery in 1927. 

It has since been regularly cared for 

and attended to by many dedicated 

Corporation employees over the years but 

one in particular, whose lifelong 

commitment to this vital role is marked 

on the Poole approach side by a 

memorial bench which bears his name. 

Peter Churchill, having served an 

apprenticeship as an electrician, first went 

to work for Poole Corporation in 1945 

but soon afterwards, National Service 

beckoned and he was enlisted into the 

RAF Regiment serving in Germany and 

working on Bofors anti-aircraft guns. By 

the early 1950s, Peter was back in the 

Bridge House on the Quay, where he 

carried out general electrical engineering 

work for Poole Corporation, including 

servicing many hundreds of time clocks 

used in the Borough’s new electric street 

lighting, which was replacing gas lamps. 

Barry, Peter’s son, can recall in some 

detail his late father’s long and happy 

association with the bridge and the many 

other duties he performed during the 

post war years and into the 1970s. 

The bridge-keeping staff worked a 

three shift system: 4pm to midnight, 

The second Hamworthy bridge 

54 


midnight to 8am and 8am to 4pm. As a 

young teenager, Barry tells us that he 

spent many happy hours night fishing off 

the bridge while his Dad worked the late 

shift. He goes on to recall that there was 

a series of ‘timed lifts’ during any 24 hour 

period but sometimes an unfortunate 

fishing boat would arrive late, whereupon 

Peter or a colleague would carry out the 

occasional ‘unofficial’ lift in exchange for 

a fresh crab or fish supper! 

The Bridge has always been electrically 

operated, although the twin bascules are 

so precisely counterbalanced that they 

can be raised and lowered by hand, if 

need be, with considerable ease. As a 

child when visiting his dad at work, Barry 

was always allowed to watch the bridge 

in action but was told ‘don’t touch or go 

anywhere near the controls’. Health and 

Safety directives were little known in 

those days but a stern word in the right 

place was usually all it took to avoid 

disaster. Barry and family more recently 

visited Poole Museum and were very 

pleased to find the original switch gear 

has now been preserved on public 

display for future generations to see and 

if anyone had long harboured a secret 

ambition to raise and lower the bridge, 

they could now go through the motions 

but without risk to life and limb! 

For many years, all lifting and lowering 

of the Bridge was carried out with the 

operator having only a small sighting 

window through which to view the 

activity outside. Barry well remembers the 

excitement of the introduction of CCTV 

equipment during the early 1970s. ‘It was 

a pretty poor picture’ he recalls ‘but it 

made life a lot easier for the operator and 

was the ultimate in modern technology at 

the time’. 

Maintenance of the Bridge could on 

occasions present the team with tough 

challenges and one in particular that 

caused a bit of head-scratching was 

during hot summer weather when it was 

realised that due to very close tolerances, 

the joint between the two 160 ton lifting 

halves of the bridge would sometimes 

expand, causing them to stick or jam 

together. It thus had to be cooled down 

by hosing with cold water, initially 

obtained by pump from below but 

following complaints of cars rusting due 

to salt, was subsequently changed to 

fresh mains water. 

The question of the future suitability of 

Poole Bridge has been an important topic 

for local debate and discussion since the 

early post war years. Many possible 

solutions to the problem of traffic 

congestion have been mooted, 

particularly in view of fears that a wrong 

or ill-conceived plan could cause gridlock, 

leaving the port and Hamworthy in a total 

stranglehold. 

Encouraging signs that a solution was 

on the way, came in the form of a 

People’s Petition, backed by the local 

media, in 1998. Concern had always 

been expressed by campaigners, who 

claimed that the existing bridge was no 

longer strong enough to cope with the 

ever increasing weight of lorries visiting 

the port. Eventually, it was agreed to 

build an additional harbour crossing that 

would supplement rather than replace 

the old bridge. 

During April 2012, locals and eager 

waiting traffic welcomed the newcomer, 

with the same enthusiasm and ceremony 

that their forebears had done 84 years 

earlier and despite the odd minor hiccup 

and false start, Poole’s new ‘Twin Sails’ 

bridge looks set to carry on performing 

admirably the considerable task ahead, 

well into the next century. 

Special thanks to Katie Hanks, Valerie 

Furter and David Watkins of Poole Museums 

Service for their kind assistance in supplying 

the photographs. 

Also thanks to Barry Churchill for sharing 

recollections of his late father. 

A 20th century view from Poole Quay 


How to Defend Yourself with a Frozen Chicken 

by Mary Hurst 

It is only when crime comes knocking 

at my door that I seriously start thinking 

about taking a course in self defence. 

Recently I was loading the boot of my 

car outside a local supermarket. I was in 

pain with a back injury and desperate to 

get home when a seasoned thief 

managed to whisk my large handbag 

from under my nose. 

The first reaction was one of total 

disbelief. It was not a neat little handbag, 

but what my family call my ‘kit bag’ 

which contained every detail anyone 

could ever desire for identity theft – 

mobile phone, cash, bank card, glasses, 

driving licence, keys, blood donor card, 

and even toy cars to keep grandchildren 

entertained. 

Some years ago, I developed the habit 

of filling my bag with a huge assortment 

of items when I would have to leave for 

hospital at short notice with one son who 

was being treated for leukaemia. We 

never knew when we would have to 

make a sudden dash for Southampton 

Hospital, so I kept everything in one bag 

ready. 

Now my ‘life in a bag’ had been stolen 

and I was in shock. 

It was then that I saw the frozen 

chicken just bought and imagined all the 

things I could do with it if I ever caught 

up with the ‘mugger’ – for want of a 

better word. 

Once I had accidentally and very 

painfully dropped a frozen chicken on my 

toe and realised the potential it had for 

being a really good weapon. You could 

swing it at the villain or hurl it and knock 

your opponent out. Then you could roast 

the chicken and eat it for Sunday lunch – 

with a nice bottle of wine of course – and 

no-one would ever find the evidence or 

blunt instrument that had been used. 

Sadly I realised I was far too late for 

the ‘frozen chicken’ form of self defence 

as the thief had long gone. 

So my next thought was how to defend 

myself in the event that someone tried to 

break into my property before I had a 

chance to change the locks. 

I then remembered the ‘frying pan 

under the bed’ cunning plan having used 

this idea once before when living in 

Yeovil. There I had come home with three 

young children at 6pm one December 

evening when it was already dark and we 

had surprised a burglar. 

After the police had left and their 

magnificent Alsatian dog had explored 

our long garden to make sure no-one 

was hiding in the bushes, I felt vulnerable 

– particularly with the children depending 

on me for protection and with my Navy 

husband away at sea – as Navy husbands 

always seem to be when there is a family 

emergency. 

The frying pan idea had come from my 

mother. An elderly friend of hers had 

been woken in the middle of the night by 

noises and on investigation, found a 

burglar half in and half out of her kitchen 

window. So she hit him over the head 

with her heaviest frying pan and knocked 

him out. He was still hanging 

unconscious half in and half out of the 

window when the police came to arrest 

him. Since hearing that story, I had always 

thought a frying pan would be a great 

weapon for self defence – and would 

make a wonderful noise too – a 

resounding ‘boing’ that would echo for 

some time. 

So I told the policeman that I would be 

sleeping with the frying pan under my 

bed ‘just in case’ and he gave me a long 

hard stare and asked, ‘Is that for self 

defence or so you can make a quick 

56 


omelette in the night if you get hungry’ 

Our Emergency Services have a 

wonderful sense of humour and need it 

but this policeman came very close to 

being struck with a frozen chicken as I 

was still in shock and could not see the 

funny side of life at all. 

My children, too, have learned self 

defence but in a more conventional way. 

Well the two boys did anyway. My eldest 

son learnt judo and this saved his life 

when he was cycling past a parked car 

and the driver suddenly opened the door. 

The impact caused him to be flung over 

the top of the vehicle. Without thinking, 

he instinctively curled into a judo roll, 

tucked his head in and rolled over on his 

shoulders as he hit the ground. Apart 

from a few bruises he suffered no injury, 

although the bike was wrecked. 

Undoubtedly his judo lessons had saved 

him a serious head trauma. 

It was this incident that made me 

decide the youngest son should learn 

judo too. But the best of intentions can 

go wrong. My elderly mother came with 

me to watch a class and she looked 

horrified as the little judo experts flung 

each other enthusiastically onto the mat. 

She was the sort of person who used to 

get so worked up worrying that the 

horses in the Grand National might get 

injured, she would ‘jump’ the fences with 

them when watching the race on TV to 

‘help’ them over. She was now watching 

her youngest grandchild wrestling with a 

much larger boy. ‘Don’t they get hurt’ 

she asked me anxiously. ‘Oh no’ I assured 

her ‘it is all very well disciplined’ – and 

with that the class ‘thug’ jumped on my 

son as he tried to push himself up off the 

mat and broke his arm. 

My daughter, on the other hand, 

devised her own method of self defence 

having two brothers to practice on. She 

found that if they were annoying her, she 

could just sit on top of them pinning 

them to the ground and pitch a scream at 

a certain level close to their ears and they 

gave up immediately. 

Noise is a good form of self defence. 

My friend who trained as an opera singer 

was walking along a city street with her 

husband – another classical singer – 

when a thief tried to snatch her bag. As 

he bent down to grab it, his ear was 

about two inches away from her mouth. 

Without thinking she pitched her voice at 

top C. The thief jerked up in shock to find 

his face four inches away from her 

husband who then filled his own well 

trained lungs and joined in at full blast. 

The ‘would be’ attacker turned white, put 

his hands over his ears and disappeared 

at great speed – without the bag! 

So my advice about self defence is – 

always have a frozen chicken handy, also a 

frying pan and make sure you practice 

singing in the bath so that you can let rip 

with top C if anyone tries to take your bag. 


The Kings Arms Comes Home 

Renowned New Forest and South coast 

chef, Alex Aitken from Le Poussin and 

Lime Wood, is now creating dishes, 

menus and style at The Kings Arms 

Restaurant in Christchurch; whilst still 

Chef Patron at The Jetty. 

With Alex now on-board, the menus 

are a mix of comforting classics and 

modern favourites that change with the 

seasons, moods and climates. 

Refurbished and revitalised, the 

restaurant has a fresh, light and airy feel 

to it, with banquette seating in a 

Chesterfield style, stripped back floors 

and restored old style classic chairs. 

Celebrating a great revival in ‘real food’, 

Alex and his team of local chefs have 

created a ’15 Mile Menu’, sourcing 

ingredients from the immediate area and 

feeding happy customers the best 

seasonal Dorset food, for just £15 per 

person for lunch or dinner. 

The Kings is lucky to have an immense 

local larder of delicious produce right on 

its doorstep in Dorset. Boasting a wealth 

of produce from both the land and the 

sea, you’ll find great meats, fish, fruits 

and vegetables, as well as superb creams, 

ice creams and cheeses. From exploring 

farmers’ markets to daily landed fish at 

by Paul Sutton 

Simple, seasonal and local produce, cooked by local chefs 

the Quay, The Kings showcases the very 

best local ingredients. 

Also introducing Friday ‘Fizz n Chips’ 

and a daily ‘Gin O’Clock’, The Kings is a 

great place to catch up with friends, enjoy 

dinner for two, or simply sit back with a 

drink in hand. 

For further information on The Kings 

Arms, or to make a booking now 01202 

588933 or online at 

www.thekings-christchurch.co.uk. 

Hospital Radio Bedside would like to 

thank the Kings Hotel for their support of 

their 40th anniversary in 2012. Please 

mention HRB when contacting the hotel 

for further information 

58 



Lost and Found 

by Veronica Ryder 

Ben gazed out of his bedroom window, 

watching the boys playing football on the 

green opposite. He could hear their shouts 

and remembered when he was one of the 

team before the accident. 

He rubbed his sleeve across his face and 

sniffed loudly. He didn't want to cry, he 

was nearly nine after all. But still, he 

thought, it just wasn't fair. His shattered leg 

was on the mend, they said. Both the 

operations had been successful. 

‘Lots of physiotherapy now, Ben,’ the 

doctor said. ‘Got to get those muscles 

working again.’ 

‘You're doing really well, Ben,’ said Mum. 

‘Just a matter of time.’ 

But he was still limping badly, couldn't 

run, couldn't kick a ball and the exercises 

were boring and sometimes quite 

uncomfortable. At school, some of the older 

boys called him 'Peg Leg', which he hated. 

‘Take no notice, Ben,’ his teacher said. 

‘They'll soon get tired of it if you ignore 

them.’ But it was hard all the same. 

‘Tea's ready,’ Mum called and Ben 

walked carefully downstairs, keeping the 

weight on his good leg. Dad was home 

from work. As they ate, Ben heard a 

strange scratching noise outside the back 

door. Mum and Dad heard it too. 

‘What on earth ....’ Dad went to the 

door and disappeared into the garden. 

Moments later, he returned, carrying a 

small bedraggled black and white dog. 

‘Here, hold this,’ he said to Ben. ‘I'll find 

a blanket.’ Ben cradled the dog on his lap, 

stroking its soft head and whispering: 

‘You'll be OK now. You're safe.’ 

The dog gazed back with deep brown 

eyes, then yawned widely. ‘There's no 

collar,’ said Mum ‘but someone must have 

reported him missing. We'll have to ring 

the Police.’ 

‘And the RSPCA,’ said Dad. ‘He might 

have a microchip. I don't think he's 

valuable but even so .... ‘ 

‘What breed of dog is he, Dad’ asked Ben. 

‘1 would say he's a Bitzer,’ said Dad. Ben 

looked puzzled and Dad laughed. ‘Bits o' 

this and bits o' that – in other words, a 

mongrel! But none the worse for that – 

they're often the most intelligent.’ 

‘I'm going to call him Bitzer,’ said Ben. 

‘Until we find his owner,’ reminded Mum. 

‘But first, he needs some food and then a 

good bath.’ It was only when Ben put Bitzer 

down to eat some leftover beef stew that 

they realised he had hurt one of his back 

legs quite badly: he dragged it behind him, 

limping over to the plate of food. 

‘I hope it's not broken,’ said Mum. ‘We'll 

take him to the Vet first thing in the 

morning.’ 

‘He's like me,’ said Ben. ‘He's a peg leg 

too!’ 

They bathed Bitzer very carefully to get 

off the worst of the mud, then Ben 

brushed and combed the dog's matted 

coat. Bitzer seemed to enjoy the fuss, 

though his bad leg was obviously painful. 

‘Can he sleep in my room tonight, 

Mum’ asked Ben. ‘He'll be frightened all 

alone in a strange house.’ Mum agreed, 

provided Bitzer stayed on the makeshift 

bed on the floor. ‘Not on your duvet, Ben,’ 

she said as she kissed him goodnight. 

‘Absolutely,’ agreed Ben, fingers firmly 

crossed. 

Next morning they took Bitzer to the vet. 

‘Nothing broken,’ he assured them. ‘Just a 

bad sprain. He’ll! be fine with some rest and 

plenty of TLC, which I'm sure he's getting,’ 

he added, smiling at Ben. The scan showed 

there was no microchip. The Police had no 

reports of a missing black and white dog, 

neither had the RSPCA. 

‘If you're happy to look after him for now 

...‘ suggested the lady at the animal rescue 

60 


centre, ‘we'll let you know if his owner 

contacts us.’ 

So Bitzer became part of the family. His 

bad leg grew stronger and so did Ben's as 

he made extra efforts with his exercises. 

‘I've got to keep up with Bitzer,’ he said, 

as he bent and stretched. Even the doctor 

was impressed at his next check-up. 

Ben hurried home from school. Today he 

had kicked a football around in the 

playground, the first time since the accident. 

He couldn't wait to tell Mum. He found her 

with the RSPCA inspector. 

‘We've managed to locate his owner at 

last ... ‘ the man was saying. Ben's heart 

sank. They couldn't take Bitzer away now. 

He wouldn't let them. 

‘Just getting a drink,’ he mumbled, racing 

into the kitchen with Bitzer hot on his heels. 

‘Come on,’ he whispered, ‘we've got to get 

out of here.’ Quickly he emptied his satchel 

and started filling it with food from the 

cupboards – biscuits, crisps, tins of dog food, 

a carton of juice. ‘We'll head out the back,’ 

he told Bitzer ‘but we must be really quiet. 

OK’ Bitzer looked back at him, warm brown 

eyes shining, tail thumping, as if to say: ‘I 

trust you, whatever you say.’ 

Suddenly Ben realised he couldn't run 

away after all. He wasn't afraid but 

somewhere out there another boy or girl 

might be crying for their beloved pet, 

believing him lost or dead, not knowing he 

was safe and well. They deserved to know 

the truth. With a heavy heart he picked 

Bitzer up and carried him into the hall. 

‘Does he have to go back right now’ he 

asked, tears already spilling down his cheeks. 

‘Go back’ asked the officer. ‘Go back 

where’ ‘You said you'd found his owner‘ 

said Ben. 

‘Yes, we've found him. Thanks to some 

CCTV footage, we know the dog was 

dumped from a moving car at night on the 

other side of the common. The man's being 

questioned now and we'll be prosecuting, 

you can be sure of that.’ 

‘You mean ...’ 

Mum smiled. ‘Bitzer can stay with us for 

keeps,’ she said. ‘That's what the officer 

came to tell us.’ 

‘If you want,’ the officer said. 

‘We want,’ Ben said, hugging Bitzer tightly. 

‘This has been the best day ever.’ 

‘Woof,’ agreed Bitzer, licking Ben's face. 


62 


If you want to live as independently 

as possible, you may need support to 

stay in your own home. 

Social services department at your 

local authority can provide a range of 

services to help. For example, you may 

need help with cleaning or would find 

it useful t have a bath rail fitted. You 

may be entitled to financial help to 

maintain your own home. 

To find out what sort of help you 

could get, you will need to have a 

health and social care assessment from 

your local social services team. 

You may also be entitled to ‘direct 

payments’. These are local council 

payments available for anyone who has 

been assessed as needing help from 

social services and who would like to 

buy in services instead of receiving 

them from the local council. For 

example, direct payments could be 

used to pay a home help. 

Leave your own home, why 

When the time comes and you feel 

you can benefit from help with daily 

living, there is an option that enables 

you to remain at home and receive the 

care and support needed. There’s no 

place like your own home, for privacy, 

comfort, recovery and support. Giving 

up your independence and moving into 

a residential care home is usually a one 

way move, receiving help at home 

postpones that event, allowing you to 

remain part of your local community. 

Care at home can take the form of 

regular visits to help with things like 

dressing, washing, cooking, cleaning 

and shopping. When recovering from 

illness many doctors agree patients 

recuperate better and quicker in their 

own homes. 

Home comforts and freedom of 

choice are top priority at any age so 

why should you change priorities when 

you get older. 

Making your home easier to live in 

You may find making adaptations to 

your home – like adding hand rails, 

draught excluders or bath hoists – 

useful. You can get advice from your 

local social services department and, in 

some cases, receive financial assistance 

to alter your home. 

If shopping is difficult, you may want 

to consider internet shopping. Some 

shops and supermarkets deliver 

shopping to your door. You may be able 

to get financial help to warm your 

home. If you are a carer you may 


enefit from getting some help at 

home. Perhaps it would be useful if the 

person you care for visited a day centre 

for a few hours to let you have some 

personal time. You may also benefit 

from some home help like cleaning. 

The provision of meals as a 

community care service could mean a 

daily delivery of a meal or the delivery 

of a weekly or monthly supply of frozen 

food or provision of meals at a day 

centre or lunch club. 

Magna Careline is a 24 hour a day 

personal emergency monitoring service, 

based in Poundbury, Dorset, which 

helps people to live independently in 

their own homes. 

The service is connected to your 

home through an alarm unit linked to 

your telephone line. An alarm button 

can be worn on a pendant around your 

neck or as a wrist band, so help is just 

the push of a button away. 

‘Contact with Careline has always 

been courteous, helpful and reassuring 

for my family and me’ 

Once you press the button, you will 

be linked to Magna Careline where 

friendly and professional staff will find 

out the kind of help you need and take 

appropriate action. 

The Careline equipment can be 

purchased or rented. Installation of the 

system and the provision of the service 

64 


are simple and are carried out by our 

own staff at a time to suit you. 

If you have recently been discharged 

from hospital and require additional 

support, are housebound and living 

alone, or you just need extra 

reassurance that help is at hand when 

you need it, please contact us anytime, 

for information or a free no obligation 

demonstration. 

Telephone: 01305 260289 

Email: careline@magna.org.uk 

Website: www.magnacareline.org.uk 


Whatever your age, fitness level or 

body shape, it’s never too soon or too 

late to start thinking about living 

healthily. You can take a step towards 

healthy living by making a few basic 

changes to your daily life. 

Walk more: Take the stairs instead of 

the lift; use your lunch hour to have a 

half-hour walk; walk instead of driving 

short distances. 

Exercise: Walking short distances 

instead of driving them and taking the 

stairs instead of the lift are just two ways 

of building exercise into your daily life. 

Eat better: Try to eat more fruit and veg 

and less fat, salt and sugar. Ensure you 

eat a good amount of starchy foods 

(rice, bread, pasta and potatoes) and 

some protein-rich foods like meat, fish, 

eggs and pulses. 

Cut salt: Most of us are eating far too 

much salt through bought soups, 

sauces, biscuits, cereals and ready 

meals. We only need 6 grams of salt a 

day – a teaspoonful. 

Drink more water: Our bodies need six 

to eight glasses or two litres of water 

every day to ensure everything is in 

good working order. 

Diet and nutrition: What you eat is 

important. Your diet can affect how well 

you feel. If you eat the right foods, you 

can protect yourself and decrease your 

chances of getting ill – from minor 

ailments to more serious illnesses. 

In the UK, we eat an average of three 

portions of fruit and veg per day, we 

really need to have five daily portions. 

66 


LENTIL SOUP Serves 6 

If you are in a hurry, make it with orange 

split lentils, which need no soaking. To the 

lentils add whatever vegetables you have 

from parsnips and carrots to leeks and 

cabbage. 

1 large onion 

3 carrots 

4 celery stalks 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

3-4 tomatoes or 400g tinned tomatoes 

1 lb (450 g) whole green, brown or 

Chinese lentils soaked overnight 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 tablespoon parsley 

2 bay leaves 

1 tablespoon ground cumin 

2-3 litres stock or water with 

1 tbspns vegetable bouillon powder 

Dash or two of red wine 

Chop onion, carrots and celery. Put the 

oil in a heavy saucepan, saute the onion, 

then add carrot and celery and saute for 

five minutes. Chop the tomatoes, then add 

with the lentils, crushed garlic and herbs, 

to the vegetables. Add stock. When it 

begins to simmer, reduce heat to very low 

and simmer for about two hours. Add red 

wine a couple of minutes before removing 

the soup from the heat. Serve piping hot. 

Health Benefits of Curves 

Exercise has been indicated for a 

variety of medical conditions, including 

cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis 

and diabetes and is known to improve 

overall health and wellness. The Curves 

programme was specifically designed to 

meet the health and fitness needs of 

women. Extensive research on both the 

short and long term effects of the Curves 

programme has demonstrated that it is 

effective at helping women lose weight, 

gain muscle strength and aerobic 

capacity, increase bone density and raise 

metabolism. 

Source -WHFI Texas A&M University 

Exercise & Sports Nutrition Laboratory 

Call now for your Fitness Assessment 

and to discover what Curves can do for 

you! 


Mr. Shiraz Teja 

& Associates 

288 Castle lane West 

Bournemouth 

(next to Bournemouth School for Girls) 

• hygienist & Preventative Dental Care 

• new Patients always Welcome 

• nervous or anxious Patients 

• Children nhs 

Emergency Appointments Available 

01202 513292 

Get Well Soon 

Commercial Property 

SABRE GROUP LTD 

Poole, Dorset 

Tel: 01202 680780 

Fax: 01202 683783 

Ceremonies at 

The Guildhall 

FUNERAL DIRECTORS 

Miller Bros. & F.P. Butler Ltd 

A privately owned family business 

established in Christchurch for over 100 years 

Personal service available 24 hours a day 

Competitive prices to suit your needs 

Burials & Cremations 

Tel: 01202 485439 or 485108 

119 Bargates, Christchurch BH23 1QH 

www.millerbrosfunerals.co.uk 

Built in 1761, the historic Guildhall in 

the heart of Poole’s old town is the 

perfect location for ceremonies. Its main 

feature is a large ceremony room which 

can accommodate up to 120 guests and 

the eye catching façade with its cast iron 

and stone staircase present a grand 

backdrop for photographs. 

Please contact our ceremonies 

department on 01202 633744 or email 

registrars@poole.gov.uk, and we will 

be happy to guide you through your 

special day. 

68 


With seven miles of golden sands and 

sparkling sea, the vibrant cosmopolitan 

town of Bournemouth has it all – a vast 

variety of shops, restaurants and holiday 

accommodation, seafront hotels, buzzing 

nightlife and endless countryside with 

award winning gardens and watersports 

galore. There is certainly no shortage of 

things to do to suit all tastes and budgets. 

The Bournemouth Holidays and Short 

Breaks Guide is extremely useful when 

planning your time in Bournemouth. You 

will find information about things to do, 

fun activities, events and places to stay 

and eat. 

Bournemouth won a Silver Gilt Medal 

at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower 

Show with the garden A Very Victorian 

Fantasy, which is now on show in the 

Lower Gardens. Bournemouth’s Gardens 

are split into three areas of Victorian 

beauty, starting with the Lower Gardens, 

adjacent to the sea and leading to the 

Central Gardens in the town centre and 

then the Upper Gardens. 

The Fisherman’s Haunt was originally 

built as an inn dating back to 1673, this 

Old World property is full of period 

features, character and charm. Close to 

the River Avon, the bedrooms have 

recently been refurbished to a very high 

standard. There are a limited number of 

rooms adapted for disabled access. The 

restaurant enjoys an excellent reputation 

for fine cuisine, wines and Fuller's awardwinning 

ales. 

Close to the New Forest and many 

places of interest, the Fisherman's Haunt 

is the ideal location for the country lover, 

angler, tourist and business guest, with 

links to all the major motorways, just ten 

minutes away from Bournemouth 

International Airport. 


70 


Does someone you care about 

have a problem with drugs or alcohol 

Don’t suffer in silence 

Support and help is available 

Support for families and friends 

SHARP 

01202 399723 

Contact: 

Support for individuals 

Bournemouth Assessment Team 

01202 209463 

Call 01202 303887 for a request NOW! 71

iKidz Wordsearch answers 

Age Concern 01202 530530 

Alcoholics Anonymous 0845 7697555 

Alzheimer’s Society 01202 309084 

Bournemouth DAAT 01202 209463 

Bournemouth Water 01202 590059 

Crimestoppers 0800 555111 

Cruse Bereavement Care 0870 167 1677 

Cupid 01202 704813 

Dial UK 01302 310123 

Disability Wessex 0300 3305514 

Dorset Reclaim 01202 773384 

Drinkline 0800 917 8282 

Elder Abuse Response 0808 808 8141 

Gingerbread 0800 018 4318 

National Blood Service 0845 7711 711 

National Debtline 0808 808 4000 

NSPCC 0808 800 5000 

NHS Direct 0845 46 47 

One Parent Families 0800 018 5026 

Safer Neighbourhood 01202 222222 

Samaritans 08457 90 90 90 

Shelter 0808 800 0380 

Spring Support 01202 448084 

St John Ambulance 01305 751169 

Abbeyfield is a national 

charity providing 

supported housing and 

care homes. 

Abbeyfield understands the experience of getting older, 

and provides facilities and services to help people live 

well in later life. With over 700 supported living houses 

and care homes in the UK, Abbeyfield welcome either 

people over 55 years or younger people with disabilities. 

To find out more visit www.abbeyfield.com, email 

post@abbeyfield.com 

The Abbeyfield Society, Abbeyfield House 

53 Victoria Street, St Albans, Herts AL1 3UW 

Tel: 01727 857536 Fax: 01727 846168 

72

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