House Beautiful

A Memory of Bournemouth.

My mother needed a rest and I had just had my tonsils out when I was sent to the House Beautiful for a fortnight. For some reason she told me it was a convalescent home but when I arrived I found it full of very boisterous children, mostly from London. I remember playing with a magnet on a piece of string in the garden and queuing up for a spoonful of thick green 'tonic' in the playroom each day and also each of us getting a sweet in the afternoon. I did get homesick but it had a cheerful atmostphere. I also remember the walks to the beach and going over a bridge on the way that seemed to go over a ravine!