Jimmy Kennedy, Songwriter

James "Jimmy" Kennedy was a prolific songwriter.  He wrote over 2,000 songs, 200 of which became worldwide hits.  He was born in Omagh, Northern Ireland on 20th July 1902.  He grew up in the village of Coagh in County Tyrone, where he was inspired by the countryside to write several songs and poems.  He graduated from Trinity College in Dublin in 1925.  He then moved to England to teach French at a school in Shaftesbury.  

In 1927 Jimmy Kennedy became a civil servant in the Colonial Service, but he decided he would rather make a career of songwriting.  In 1930 he had success with The Barmaid's Song, which was sung by Gracie Fields.  He started to work for Bert Feldman, a London based music producer.  He wrote the lyrics for a number of successful songs in the 1930s: Oh Donna Clara (1930), My Song goes round the World (1931) and Teddy Bears Picnic (1933), Isle of Capri (1934), Red Sails in the Sunset (1935), Harbour Lights (1937) and South of the Border  (1939).  The tune for Teddy Bears Picnic had been written in 1907 by John Walter Bratton.  He also collaborated with composer Michael Carr on several West End shows in the late 1930s.

In 1932 Jimmy Kennedy married Margaret Elizabeth Winifred (Peggy) Galpin.  Their son Derek was born in 1935 and their daughter Janet was born in 1937.

During the Second World War, Jimmy Kennedy served in the Royal Artillery and was promoted to the rank of Captain. In 1939 he wrote We're gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line to a tune composed by Michael Carr.  He had a hit with Cokey Cokey (now more usually known as The Hokey Cokey) in 1945.  

Jimmy divorced Margaret in 1946 and married the actress and singer Constance Carpenter later the same year.  They moved to the USA, where they lived for some years.  He wrote Apple Blossom Wedding (1947), Istanbul (not Constantinople) (1953) and Love is like a Violin (1960). 

In 1960 Kennedy moved to Switzerland.  He moved back to Ireland in the 1970s and lived in Greystones, County Wicklow.  He divorced Constance in 1972 and in 1976 he married Elaine Edith Bradbury Pobjoy.  They lived in Broadway, Worcestershire 

Jimmy Kennedy died in Cheltenham on 6th April 1984.  He was buried in the churchyard of St John's Church in Staplegrove, Taunton.  Jimmy's parents moved to Staplegrove Elm in 1949 and lived there for many years.  Staplegrove Elm is now part of the Nuffield Hospital.

Jimmy Kennedy's gravestone in St John's Churchyard, Staplegrove

Staplegrove Elm

Bandstands

Bandstands are usually located in parks or on seafronts.  They are designed to provide shelter from the sun and rain for performing bands.  Most of them are circular, semi-circular or polygonal in shape.  They are usually raised up above ground level and the roof acts as a sounding board, so that the music being played can be heard more widely.  

The first cast iron bandstands to be erected in Britain were at the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens in South Kensington, London in 1861. They became popular during the later Victorian period, when many public parks opened in towns and cities to provide green open spaces where people could relax.  They were often funded by local authorities or wealthy benefactors.  It was thought that music had a positive influence on moral health.  At their greatest extent, there were more than 1,500 bandstands in Britain.  They flourished until the Second World War, but nearly 600 were demolished between 1945 and 1980.  However, since the 1990s many of the surviving bandstands have been restored.

Somerset's surviving bandstands are located in Taunton, Wellington, Bath, Minehead, Burnham-on-Sea, Shepton Mallet, Wells, Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Frome, Keynsham and Bridgwater.

Vivary Park, Taunton

This octagonal bandstand was supplied by H. Phillips and Sons in 1895, when Vivary Park became a public park.

Morrison's Bandstand, Taunton

I don't know if this bandstand is ever used for its original purpose, given its rather odd location on the banks of the River Tone and very close to Morrison's Supermarket.

Blenheim Gardens, Minehead

Former bandstand, Jubilee Gardens Café, Minehead

This building started life in 1935 as the Jubilee Bandstand.  It was built on the site of an earlier bandstand.  In 1948 it was converted into a tearoom.

Clevedon

This bandstand is located on Green Beach.  It was erected to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.

Wellington Park

Wellington Park was designed and laid out by the landscape gardener F.W. Meyer.  The park opened in 1903.  The bandstand, which was constructed by Messrs Follett Bros of Wellington, was part of the original design. It originally had a turret on the roof.

Collett Park, Shepton Mallet

Collett Park was given to the town by John Kyte Collett in 1906.

Manor Gardens, Burnham-on-Sea

This bandstand was built by Burnham and Highbridge Town Council in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

Grove Park, Weston-super-Mare

This cast iron bandstand was built in the late 19th century by Hill Bros, Sun Foundry of Alloa.  It has a lead ogee roof with a weathervane on the top of it.

Blake Gardens, Bridgwater

Blake Gardens opened to the public on 9th August 1902, as part of the town's celebrations for the coronation of King Edward VII.  I think the bandstand was built in 1902.  It was renovated in the summer of 2003 by Bridgwater Prince's Trust Team 12 with help from Chisletts Tool Hire, Bridgwater College Community Service and Sedgemoor District Council.

Royal Victoria Park, Bath

This semi elliptical bandstand was built in around 1887 by Major Charles Davis.  The rear is made from limestone, the columns are made of cast iron and it has a lead fish scale roof.  The interior is timber lined.  The bandstand was designed with acoustics in mind and is aligned with the centre of the Royal Crescent. The park was opened on 23rd October 1830 by the Duchess of Kent and her daughter, Princess Victoria.

Parade Gardens, Bath

The original bandstand in Parade Gardens was designed and built by Henry Goodridge in 1870.  It was replaced in 1925 by the current octagonal bandstand.  The balustrade was replaced in June 2018.  A public forging event was held, which involved a team of blacksmiths from around the United Kingdom.  The musical score shown on the new balustrade is from Hammer & Anvil, which was composed by Jake Garrett.  There are also 8 musical themed panels, which were designed by the blacksmiths.  They feature a gate, big brass, Bridge over Troubled Water, a Celtic harp, tuning forks, a Roman cithara, melody and The Dancing Fiddler. School children from all over Bath forged the treble clefs, which adorn the finial on top of the bandstand.

Celtic harp panel, Parade Gardens, Bath

This panel was made by Gerard Loughran.

Wells Recreation Ground

Thatched bandstand, Victoria Park, Frome

A wooden bandstand was erected in Sidney Gardens in Yeovil in 1898.  It was paid for by James Bazeley Petter.  It was burnt down by vandals in 1972 and not replaced.

Frederic Weatherley - Songwriter

Frederick Edward Weatherly, songwriter and barrister, was born at 7 Wood Hill (now 63 Woodhill Road) in Portishead on 4th October 1848.  He was educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Oxford University.  After graduating he remained at Oxford and worked as a teacher.  In December 1872 he married Anna Maria Hardwick in Worle and they had a son and two daughters.  They later separated and he lived with Maude Francfort for many years.  

At some point in his adult life Frederick dropped the k from the end of his name and became Frederic.  In 1887 he left teaching to qualify as a barrister in London. In 1893 he joined the western circuit and moved to Clifton, Bristol.  In 1900 he moved to Bath where he continued to work as a barrister. Frederic’s wife Anna died in 1920.  Maude Francfort died in 1923 and later the same year Frederic married a widow, Mrs Miriam Bryan.  He died in Bathwick on 7th September 1929 after a short illness and was buried at Bathwick Cemetery. 

Frederic Weatherly published his first song lyrics, poems, two novels, many children's books, and librettos for cantatas and oratorios while he was living in Oxford.  He went on to write the words to many of the most popular songs in the English-speaking world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  His songs were performed by the leading singers of the time.  He also translated several Italian and French operas into English.

Frederic Weatherly claimed to have published more than 1,500 songs in total. Dozens of them were extremely popular in his lifetime, and several of them, including Nancy Lee (1876), The Holy City (1892), Danny Boy (1912) set to the tune of 'Londonderry Air', and Roses of Picardy (1916) remained popular after his death.

63 Woodhill Road, Portishead

Commemorative plaque on the front of 63 Woodhill Road, Portishead

Weatherly Drive in Portishead is named after Frederic Weatherly

The Rock of Ages, Burrington Combe

Augustus Montague Toplady was a Church of England clergyman and hymn writer.  He was born at Farnham in Surrey on 4^th November 1740 but grew up and was educated in London.  He went to university in Dublin and then returned to London.  He met and was influenced by many Calvinist ministers but he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England by the Bishop of Bath and Wells on 5^th June 1762 and given the curacy of Blagdon in North Somerset.  He stayed there for less than two years and preached his last sermon at Blagdon on 29^th April 1764. He returned briefly to London, then was curate at Farleigh Hungerford near Frome for a year.  He was then vicar of Harpford and Venn Ottery and later at Broadhembury in East Devon.  He died of tuberculosis in Knightsbridge, London on 11^th August 1778 and was buried at Whitefield’s Tabernacle in Tottenham Court Road, London.

It is during his two years in Blagdon that Augustus Toplady is said to have sheltered from a storm in a cleft in the rock in Burrington Combe. This is supposed to have inspired him to write the hymn Rock of Ages, which starts and ends with the lines:

“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee”

This story is however unlikely to be true.  The first verse of Rock of Ages was not published until 1775 and the rest of the hymn was published the following year. His main work Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship was published in 1776.  However Rock of Ages is the only one of his hymns that still remains popular today.

The crag in which the Rock of Ages is located is composed of Burrington oolite, which is a coral rich limestone.  The Rock of Ages is located at the side of the B3134, which runs the length of Burrington Combe, and is almost opposite a car park.  The grid reference is ST476 587. 

Rock of Ages, Burrington Combe

Plaque on the Rock of Ages

St Andrew's Church, Blagdon

Further Reading:

Rock of ages: the diary of an eighteenth century country parson: A.M.Toplady. Ina Books, 1987