Gracie Fields local links

My name is Seb Lassandro and I'm President of the Dame Gracie Fields Appreciation Society and author of her biographies.

Having spent thousands of hours researching and also building up an unrivalled private

Gracie Fields collection and archive of Gracie, something previously unknown has been brought to my attention – which I'm hoping your newspaper and readership might be able to help with.

In my research, I have paid particular attention to houses and landmarks associated with Gracie Fields, and there have been quite a few reports recently about a home that Gracie Fields is reported to have had build in Lee-on-the-solent.

This home seems to be known as ‘Shangri-la’ and still stands today, as a care home, on Milvil Road.

I’ve spent some time going over all my research of Gracie, including tens of thousands of newspaper cuttings from Gracie’s own personal scrapbooks which chart her movements almost daily, and yet I can find nothing about this house.

Despite getting in touch with the care home, who claim on their website even that the home was once Gracie's, I've had no real information forthcoming and was hoping that an article appealing for information in your paper will hopefully lead to some interesting information about an, as yet, untold section of the great entertainer's life.

Gracie, largely forgotten today, was the world's highest paid film star of the 1930s, radio artist of the 1940s and concert artist of the 1950s.

Her unparalleled 60 year career ensured that she was Britain's foremost and greatest female variety artist and if there are any connections with the local area, I'd love to find out!

I hope there is someone out there who can help some more with this search!

Seb Lassandro

President of the Dame Gracie Fields Appreciation

Society

This along with longer grasses provides valuable nectar for pollinators just when they are hatching or coming out of hibernation