John & Mimi: June, 1964.

A small bit of John and a slightly bigger bit of Mimi, on the plane to Oz, June 1964.

Sandbanks: Poole, Dorset.

Some photos of Mimi, taken in and around Sandbanks, and mainly dating from the 1970s.


Mini was usually good for an amusing quote or two about John. For example:"I've just quit reading the papers these days. Apple sends me his records, but I won't play them. And I've asked my friends not to tell me about them. The shameful album cover and that [erotic] art show of his. He's been naughty and the public doesn't like it, and he's sorry for it. Now he wants sympathy. That's why he's come out with all these fantastic stories about an unhappy childhood. It's true that his mother wasn't there and there was no father around, but my husband and I gave him a wonderful home. John didn't buy me these furnishings, my husband did. John, Paul, and George wrote many songs together sitting on the sofa you're sitting on now, long before you'd ever heard of the Beatles. Why, John even had a pony when he was a little boy! He certainly didn't come from a slum!" A pony, indeed. Also note the picture, obscured by camera flash, hanging on the wall below:


Mimi:"Everytime John does something bad and gets his picture in the papers he rings up to smooth me over. See that new color television? It was a Christmas present, but he had it delivered early. A big present arrives every time he's been naughty. I usually have a huge photograph of John hanging in the lounge. When he's a good boy, it'll go back up again!"
Errr...quite so.

Poole: upgrade and "ting".

Local wizard Derek B has sprinkled his fairydust over the above image, and the results are pretty fantastic; for those who may not know (nor care), the picture originally appeared in Mojo, but was, unfortunately, unevenly spread over two pages, and overlaid with writing and visual garbage... which explains the fact that it is usually seen with only the right hand portion present, as that bit was relatively undespoiled (and also the pretty useless patch-job previously attempted on these pages). But here it now is in pristine hi-res.
He also, for the hell of it, went down to the ferry and got an exact match:


The booth is actually very close to (the former site of) Mimi's house on Panorama Road; in fact, just round the corner:


Muchas gracias Derek.

Poole: Bournemouth ferry - then & now.

"Then" being 1967 era-o'-tache-era, "now" being...now. And it must be said, the fash has gone way downhill since them halcyon days. But there we go.
Having, needs must, said that, the kiosk endures. Expect to see it at Sotheby's in the not too distant future:


Many thanks to Andrew Downing for the contemporary pics, and for his not inconsiderable trouble.

Aunt Mimi: Sandbanks, 1981.

As mentioned in a previous post, John bought his aunt Mimi a bungalow at 126 Panorama Road, Poole, in Dorset in 1965, and would drive down from Kenwood to visit her fairly regularly. Here is a fascinating and rare interview with Mimi from 1981, conducted in the house itself. Mimi´s house is another long since smashed to bits. The interviewer refers to it as "Studland" at one point. Hmmm. I always thought it was called Sandbanks. Maybe that was just the name of the bay which it overlooked, however.

Daytrips: Poole & Bournemouth, 1967.

John bought a bungalow on Panorama Road in Poole for his Aunt Mimi in 1965. He would regularly drive down from Kenwood to visit her, sometimes staying for a few days. Here they are, shortly after getting off the nearby Bournemouth ferry in early 1967. Also, a pic of Mimi sitting on John's favourite spot behind the house. The bungalow was sold after Mimi's death in 1992, and has since, inevitably, been demolished.(John also bought houses or flats for Pete Shotton (as part of the supermarket block on Hayling Island) and his art school friend Jonathan Hague (in Leamington in 1967, which Hague still owns)). Apologies for the poor comp - if anyone has anything better, get in touch!