Snap! Iconic moments

From an unconventional prep school on Purbeck’s Jurassic Coast, to an encounter with punk glamourpuss Debbie Harry in a Bournemouth basement via an advertising and fashion course at The College, Dorset forever has a special place in the heart and career of photographer Lawrence Impey. His work has graced the pages of numerous books and Read More…

The fine art of the modern polymath

As modern polymaths go few fit the bill quite as well as Paul Gough. A painter, author, broadcaster, producer, educator, academic, art historian, researcher and writer, his work has taken him all over the UK and Europe, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. In January, he was selected to exhibit in The Art of Creative Research at the NIE Gallery in Singapore.

He says he’s from ‘everywhere really’ having been to school in Aberdeen, polytechnic in Wolverhampton and gaining a Master’s degree in Painting from the Royal College of Art. His family home is in Bristol where he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of the West of England, before six years as Vice-President of RMIT University in Melbourne. Since 2020 he has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Arts University Bournemouth.

Lucy’s ‘voice’ heard at long last

Bournemouth’s Russell-Cotes Gallery is hosting a major new exhibition of work by Lucy Kemp-Welch – the first for more than twenty years – in the town where the esteemed equestrian painter was born in 1869.

Zoot alors!

He was the ‘Flamingo Flasher’, chief mischief maker and mickey taker, the clown prince of the beat clubs, always game for a laugh and a ready foil for whoever he played alongside – when they come to write the definitive history of British Beat they’ll need plenty of space dedicated to Zoot Money.

Bournemouth’s historic flight path

It should have been a landmark event, a chance for the aeroplane to affirm its place in public affections after playing a notable part in ‘the war to end war’, but instead the 1919 Schneider Trophy air race descended into farce in the fog between Bournemouth and Swanage. Already flying’s most famous piece of silverware, Read More…

Bournemouth’s Bowl of music magic

Unlike many a fondly remembered music venue – tiny, tight and wont to overheating – Bournemouth’s Chelsea Village was the bee’s knees, the height of sophistication. When it opened in 1970 it was like nothing the town had seen before and within weeks it became a magnet for revellers from miles around. ‘We thought we Read More…

Moon talk

Commissioned by Dorset Moon, Weymouth based artist Ra Zamora has created Call of the Wild, a sound installation inspired by the wolf’s howl that will play as part of the Under the Moon supporting programme at all three locations. It’s intended to create a primordial experience to transport people to the wild corners of their psyche, Read More…

Tony Hancock, the Lad and Dorset

‘Tony Hancock ended his life in such tragic circumstances that it seems to be forgotten he was once a young man filled with a young man’s hopes and dreams and aspirations and with his whole life before him,’ says Lyn Phillips who, writing as LM Evans, has published Tony Hancock: The Bournemouth Connection. ‘I wanted Read More…

Beck + Sparks + Shame 28:05:2018

Solent Hall, Bournemouth International Centre Who knows how such things are decided but that Beck should play his only UK headline show of the year in an otherwise atmosphere-free former swimming pool in a conference centre overlooking the golden sands of Bournemouth on a sultry May bank holiday is one of those rare but glorious Read More…

Paul Weller 18:02:2018

Windsor Hall, BIC Assured, like a writer and performer of his calibre has every right to be, Paul Weller returned to Bournemouth as he has done for more than 40 years and once again confounded expectations by making it all even better than the faithful might have hoped. Of course he ended with Town Called Read More…