New Robert Louis Stevenson 'Jekyll and Hyde' Statue in Bournemouth

There's a great seaside resort just 40 minutes down the road from Southampton and it has something new. Bournemouth, very familiar territory to us because we shot the Scarlet Tunic here, Hardie's Bournemouth. But it's not just Hardie's, this time we've discovered another author. Look at this, Robert Louis Davidson, the guy who wrote Treasure Island, also lived in Bournemouth. See now I want to re-read the books, but I can't remember them, I've read them all but I can't remember them. Yeah but you were 20-something when you read them, so that's quite a long time ago. Daryl is an old school friend of Jean's and reminding her of how many years ago that was. He lives in Bournemouth and he's going to show us where Robert Louis Davidson lived. But the image being the Jekyll and Hyde two sides of. The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde themed sculpture honouring author Robert Louis Davidson was unveiled this June 2026 at Allen Chime in Bournemouth. So it's probably your first chance of seeing it. The statue stands at the bottom of the chine where Robert Louis Davidson lived. So he lived up there and it's so close to the beach, literally looking back from the statue you can see the ice cream parlour and the sea. We'll come back to that later, let's go and find his house. To do that we're going to walk up the chine from the beach up Allenhurst Road. Now this was kind of a pirate route, a smuggler's route and along the way you'll see quotes from his many books. Apart from the modern wood on the fences, it really does feel like pirate territory. Now here's a happy thought. The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be happy as kings. That's from a child's garden of verses. Stevenson was plagued with ill health throughout his whole life. He married his wife Fanny in San Francisco in 1980. He moved to Bournemouth in July 1884, seeking better sea air for his chronic respiratory illness. He stayed at various local hotels and lodgings for several months. And then his father bought him the house he moved into. Although very few bombs dropped in Bournemouth during the Second World War, sadly one dropped in Alum Road on Robert Louis Stevenson's house. Scary for. Of what there is, the footings and the plans have been left for everyone to see, although the city sightseeing bus doesn't even seem to stop here. However, it is worth the walk up just to take in the atmosphere and then back down the chine to the sea. It is a small diversion in your day for a wonderful piece of history, because this is where the prolific writer wrote The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 1886, Kidnapped in 1886, A Child's Garden of Verses in 1885, The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables 1887 and Memories and Portraits in 1887. The house was designed by his uncle and was a wedding gift from his father. Let's get back to the beach. You can't see Southampton, but you can see the Isle of Wight. It looks so close, it's almost part of the land. But this historic beach, an incredible length of beautiful sand, has a history of beach huts. It also has three main chines. Allan Chine is the one from Westbourne where Stevenson lived, there's Middle Chine and Dirkley Chine. We're going to head past it all the way down to Bournemouth and show you the pier. And they have bottle refill places everywhere, they're really into the refill revolution. During the heavy rains of October 2024, here in Dirkley Chine, they had two massive mud landslides that wiped out 12 of the beach huts, but not the funicular that was built in 1908 that still stands and gets you up and down Westcliff. It is officially recognised as the shortest funicular in the world in the Guinness Book of Records. But you didn't need to know that, did you? Much of Bournemouth is now cashless, so for the ice cream parlour here and the funicular, no cash, card only. Sand is a sea defence, or a defence against the sea. It acts as a natural soft engineering defence by absorbing wave energy and reducing flood risks and buffering coastlines against storms. Also, seagulls always sit down facing the wind. More facts you didn't need to know. And if you think the seagulls scream, and they certainly do like the audiences at the end of the pier, there's something else at the end of the pier that will make people scream. You don't see it here. You need to look up, because at the top of this tower is a zipline. A zipline that will take you all the way to the beach. This is an exceptional example of a British seaside resort with something new like the zipline. New additions like the great big wheel. But it is classic. It has the classic mini golf. It has the length of beach and clean sand that just makes a seaside resort perfect. These wonderfully planted gardens give you that incredible peaceful walkthrough where you can just stop, look at nature, have an ice cream. Then the shows that appear at the end of the pier. And then the drive-in pop-up additions like the Red Arrows here with their simulator where you can go in and just feel the buzz. If you have time when you're at Southampton to visit somewhere close, Bournemouth's a great idea. And the fact that there is this new Robert Louis Stevenson statue, the two sides of Jekyll and Hyde, that makes it worth the visit. And to see the ruins of his old house and just remember the classic books. Join Doris Visits. Please subscribe for all our films. We're having a few days in Castle Combe. It's a staycation and this is the most beautiful village in England, so they say. There are no television aerials, no satellite dishes, no parking, no cables, which is why programs like Downton Abbey love to come here and film. Doris in the UK. St Andrew's Church is very beautiful and very welcoming and at the back of the church is a display of photos from when the movie War Horse was made here. The faceless clock, one of the oldest clocks in England. Visitors often wonder how the villagers told the time, but they just listened to the bells chiming every hour. Also locally we filmed Broadstairs, Port Lim and Canterbury. But Doris Visits normally concentrates on visiting great places all over the world. Join us. So there are a number of ways to spell Cephalonia, but let's assume that this one could be right. We're on shipwreck B, just behind our boat is the island of St Nevis. And the mountains are covered in snow and look spectacular. Please subscribe to Doris Visits for our worldwide adventures, sun, snow, ice and rocks. Very hot, 40 degrees, but despite the heat, the game here is rugby. Is this a good look? I'm told it often rains in Norway. Guess where we are? We're in Split. Welcome to the island of Bouquet. Today we're in Honolulu and we're visiting Pearl Harbour. These are the legendary walls from Troy 6 and if Helen did exist, she would have existed within these walls. It's very easy to get here from the ship on a local bus. How do I stop? And if you've discovered our thrilling cruise novels, the best way to read all 10 is in the Mega Box Set, because it's about the cost of one book. On Amazon, the CSCI Mega Box Set.