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Reporter turns paperback writer for new Beatles book

A former regional daily reporter has written a new book exploring the unique links between a south coast town and the world’s most famous rock ‘n’ roll group.

Former Bournemouth Daily Echo reporter Nick Churchill, left, has written Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth, which he describes as the definitive account of the connections between the group and the south coast town.

The Fab Four played 16 shows at Gaumont in Bournemouth from August 1963 to October 1964, more times than they played any other concert venue outside London in this time.

The Bournemouth Rock Café also opened its doors for the first time on 16 November this year – on the 50th anniversary of the night in 1963 when the Liverpudlian foursome played the town’s Winter Gardens, which was the first footage ever to be screened on US television.

“I’ve spent most of my adult life writing about music and many other things in and around Bournemouth and heard dozens of stories about the times The Beatles came to town,” said Nick, who left the Echo three years ago to go freelance.

“The book came about after an old contact of mine acquired a set of photographs of The Beatles taken in Bournemouth in 1963 and 1964, many of which had never previously been published.

“They had been taken by ‘Flash’ Harry Taylor, a larger-than-life freelance photographer who did a lot of work for the Bournemouth Times. ”

Nick has written several stories about The Beatles over the years for the Echo and decided that the book was an obvious next step.

“Although there’s no shortage of books about The Beatles, the reaction to the stories attached to their various connections to a small resort on the south coast of England has been quite unexpected,” he added.

“The book’s blogspot gets almost as many visitors from the USA as the UK, as well as frequent traffic from the Far East and continental Europe.”

One the eve of the release of She Loves You on 23 August 1963 Robert Freeman photographed The Beatles at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth and produced the iconic half-shadow image that appeared on their second album sleeve.

The band also played the Winter Gardens on their autumn 1963 tour just as Beatlemania gripped the nation.

The book includes previously unseen and rare photographs of The Beatles taken in Bournemouth

A little less than two years later John Lennon bought a home at Sandbanks for his beloved Aunt Mimi and became a frequent visitor to the shores of Poole Harbour before leaving for New York in 1971.

“At last Bournemouth has a permanent reminder of the unique place the town occupies in Beatles history,” said Nick

For more information visit www.bournemouthrockcafe.com or www.beatlesbournemouth.blogspot.com