Link to video http://bit.ly/14gGXXc
Tolkien and the Miramar Hotel
If you were thinking of staying in Bournemouth during the
1960 summer season, the advert for the Hotel Miramar on the East Overcliff Drive
might’ve caught your eye. Described as “An hotel of unusual charm”, the advert
went on to say that the entire frontage of 180 feet faces the sea, has a full
south aspect and commands uninterrupted views of the whole of Bournemouth Bay.
Sounds the ideal place to stay; we’ll book a room.
What the advert didn’t mention was that the couple in rooms
37 and 39 might well have been J R R Tolkien and his wife. Yes, the author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings often stayed at the Miramar when visiting
Bournemouth during the 1950s and 60s.
Whilst his wife, Edith, enjoyed the facilities at the comfortable
and friendly hotel, Tolkien used one of the two rooms as a study to do some writing.
Sometimes he could be seen sitting on the veranda smoking his large and pungent
pipe, or chatting with the proprietors, Douglas and Minnie Steel, with whom
they became good friends.
Peter Kazmierczak,
Senior Heritage Librarian, Bournemouth Libraries
http://www.miramar-bournemouth.com/
http://www.miramar-bournemouth.com/
