The sudden death of Simon Hoggart this week made me recall his visits to Bournemouth for party conferences.
In 2010, when deploring the political parties’ switch to from the seaside to Manchester, he wrote: “The council at Bournemouth long ago wrecked the seafront (meaning BIC), but you can still climb high enough to catch one of the finest coastal views in the country.”
In 2007, as part of his Guardian column, he had written very generously about Bournemouth’s mother church: “St Peter’s is a magnificent Victorian church designed by George Edmund Street, with a nave and chancel that make the House of Lords look drab and utilitarian.”
In addition he knew all about the Shelley heritage.