The Dolphin Hotel in WW2
The Dolphin Hotel in Cleethorpes features throughout the Seaside Girls books. It’s close to the Empire Theatre and the Theatre Royal (which no longer exists). It would’ve been the ideal place for the entertainers to stay, both venues being only a short walk away. Once they’d settled their belongings into the dressing room and gone through the band call, the artistes could leave the theatre behind until the first show of the evening.
It would be an easy stroll to either theatre, and they could leave a couple of minutes before the half-hour call. When I was writing The Seaside Girls, it was the obvious choice for star of the show, Madeleine Moore, to stay there.
The side door would be visible from the windows of Joyce’s café, which Jessie, Frances and Ginny frequented throughout the summer of 1939 when they first arrived in Cleethorpes. I could imagine them sitting at their regular table and watching the comings and goings as they bonded over a cuppa and a currant bun.
The building was also the location of a tense scene towards the end of Hopes and Dreams for the Seaside Girls, and of a much happier scene in Silver Linings for the Seaside Girls.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I do enjoy revisiting the building that’s in such a prominent place on Alexandra Road. It takes up almost the entire frontage of that particular block, looking down onto the promenade and beach beyond. In times past, the residents would have had a wonderful view from the first and second-floor windows, of the pier and the thousands of holidaymakers as they spilled out along the promenade and into the town.
I have no idea how the rooms were configured and decorated during the war. The building has changed over the years, and at present offers much more open spaces. But you can still see where the rooms once were by the position of weight-bearing beams that once divided one room from another. I went in a few times over the years and sat in one of the small lounges that existed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
So, when I’m writing, I imagine it as it once was, and experience tells me that I won’t be far out. As long as I can make it real for the reader, then I’ve done my job.
Wartime Manager with a fascinating past
It was while I was researching the Dolphin Hotel during wartime on newspapers.com that I discovered a wonderful connection to the entertainers I sprinkle throughout the Seaside Girls series. The manager, George Gray, once worked as a manager and producer for the legendary theatre and music hall impresario, Fred Karno.
Karno was credited with popularising the custard-pie-in-the-face gag, and many of the performers on his books went on to fame and fortune, most notably Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Will Hay and Max Miller.
George Gray retired from that particular strand of his profession in 1930. I couldn’t pinpoint the date when he came to the Dolphin, or why, but he was certainly there in 1941-42 along with his wife, who had also trodden the boards.
Further reading led me to discover that American actress, singer and dancer, Bebe Daniels stayed Darleys Hotel on Grimsby Road in 1941, although there is no mention of her husband, actor Ben Lyon. She was touring the country with a group of American entertainers.
Bebe retired from Hollywood in 1935, and the couple came to London. In June, when it looked like war was imminent, they returned to America, left their children with Bebe’s mother and came back to the UK to entertain. They had a comedy radio show, Hi Gang!, on the BBC, and in 1942 were appearing at the London Palladium. Which turned out to be perfect timing for something I had in my mind for Silver Linings.
This was all unearthed as part of my research, which was mostly done after I had completed the first draft of Silver Linings. I never really know what I need to research until I’ve written The End for the first time. Research can be a rabbit hole. I don’t want to descend into it too early, or the book would never get written.
I have a good general knowledge of theatre entertainers both during and before WW2. Not wanting to stop the flow of words as I write, I pluck a name from the air and stick it down, later going back to get the facts – and discover that I am spot on with my guess. Or is it a guess? Some alchemy exists that I don’t understand, nor seek to. It’s best to simply go with the flow.
It’s That Man Again
There is also mention in the Grimsby Telegraph of Tommy Handley, star of the enormously successful radio series ITMA (It’s That Man Again), staying at the Dolphin. It seemed to be the place to stay if you were in town, and George Gray and his wife would have known exactly how to handle these popular entertainers.
A clipping from the same newspaper produced this gem:
In the hall outside Karno’s office, Mr Gray recalls, there were two huge hats, much too large for any human being to wear, and between them was boldy printed the notice ‘For comedians with swollen heads’
I can only imagine the stories he had to tell to those who gathered around after hours, when the bar was closed for business, and the curtains were drawn shut. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall back then.
Take a trip back in time to the Dolphin Hotel in 1941 in Silver Linings for the Seaside Girls
Cleethorpes, 1941
Singer Jessie Delaney is back home after narrowly escaping the London Blitz with her life. Her confidence in tatters, she’s playing it safe; performing at the Café Dansant – hardly the future she dreamed of.
With husband Johnny Randolph serving overseas, Frances Randolph is busy juggling the business, motherhood and keeping West End star Ruby Randolph out of trouble. Much to Frances’s relief, the arrival of a handsome naval officer full of attractive and exciting ideas provides an earnest and timely distraction for Ruby. Could this spur Ruby on to new beginnings?
Young, talented amateur entertainer, Peggy Marshall has been left in the care of her feckless stepmother while her father serves on the dangerous Atlantic convoys. Performing is her escape, but as her star rises, danger lurks, and Peggy has nowhere to turn.
With everyone doing their bit, the Seaside Girls pool their talents to support the community and also their men at war