Sabrina at Bay Hotel, Pevensey Bay ©Lynda Leventon, all rights reserved
Hi There,
I wondered if you may be able to help me please? I am a writer (Yours Retro , Weekly News).
I am currently researching a biography about Sabrina (1950′s blonde bomshell).
Through Google I found a newspaper clipping posted on your site (and facebook page). It told the story of a lady named Lynda Leventon who said Sabrina visited the Bay Hotel in Pevensey Bay and drove to Pevensey Castle. This was in 1957. I am trying to trace Ms Leventon, or anyone else in the area who met Sabrina on her visit. Any help would be most appreciated. Many Thanks for your time.
All the best,
Suzie Dawkins
Suzie added the following information:
I am hoping the book will put Sabrina back in the limelight as I strongly feel she is ‘up there’ with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Diana Dors….
Thank you very much for getting in touch.It would be wonderful if you could put me in touch with Lynda, if she is happy for me to make contact with her. It would also be fantastic if you could include details about the book in Pevensey Bay Life. Any memories of Sabrina, no matter how small would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to include my email address as a point of contact it is .
I’d heard that Peter Sellers stayed in the hotel and Tony Hancock, who also referenced Sabrina in his radio show. I’m wondering if the researcher might have meant Prince Christian of Hanover, whom Sabrina dated around the time she stayed at the Bay Hotel?
I had a look at the hotel on Trip Advisor to see what it looks like today. It sounds as though it has a lot of history. The book has been almost two years in the making and I am just going through re-writes and editing at the moment, but it’s surprising how many snippets of information crop up just when I think there is nothing new left to discover. I am hoping the book will put Sabrina back in the limelight as I strongly feel she is ‘up there’ with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Diana Dors. Thank you very much for all your help – it is most appreciated. If you require any further information regarding the book , please feel free to get in touch. All the very best, Suzie
editor:
We will aim to put you in touch with Lynda. Lynda told us a lovely story about Sabrina, and said what a nice person she was. You will be aware of course of all the references to Sabrina in the Goon Show. Interesting, as no doubt you know, The Goons were here in the fifties. Peter Sellers was here, he bought a house for his mother in Coast Road in Pevensey Bay.
To our knowledge, there is no evidence that Peter Sellers stayed at the Bay Hotel, although his parents do appear in the guest register of the Bay Hotel. He rented a house in Coast Road in Pevensey Bay in the fifties. His cleaning lady once asked his first wife, Anne Howe, ‘why does he talk in those silly voices?. She replied “just ignore him, he always talks like that”. The cleaning lady was Ethel Wood, a community activist in Pevensey Bay. A community centre here is dedicated to her name,
We also know from the guest register at the Bay Hotel, thanks to Lynda, that his parents stayed there. Tony Hancock also stayed at the Bay Hotel and of course Galton and Simpson wrote Sabrina into one of the episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour.
A researcher has written to us about Sabrina suggesting a link between Sabrina and a socialite known as Prince Aly Khan, son of the Aga Khan and husband to Rita Hayworth. He also stayed at the Bay Hotel. A comedy character based on his name appears in an episode of Hancock’s Half Hour.
No evidence that any of these people met here at the Bay Hotel, but nonetheless clearly the social and popular culture climate to a very small extent, appears to have been captured by the Bay Hotel in some ways.
A script written by Larry Stevens, best friend to Tony Hancock, and someone who went on to write parts of the Goon Show, wrote “Vacant Lot’ for Hancock (1951). The comedy was based in a place called Churdley Bay, complete with a shingle beach and Martello Tower. There was even a character, the ex-landlord of a hotel in the comedy, who was given the name Mr.Pevensey. This information was provided to us by Julie Warren.
A book by cousin to Larry Stephens, Julie Warren, is set to be published. There is more information about the book here. Julie Warren: Glarnies, Green Berets & Goons: The Life and Legacy of Larry Stephens
The Bay Hotel in Pevensey Bay appears to have had a small walk on part in the birth of situation comedy in this country.
