PETER Sykes of Swanage commented on Brenda Mitchell's picture of the busy beach and Pier Hotel, Bournemouth, printed on April 10.

He said the Pier Hotel was one of the first two hotels in Bournemouth which opened in 1838 and the original proprietress was Mrs Slidle. The hotel became the Belle Vue and Pier Hotel in 1856, although it later became just the Pier Hotel as seen in the picture. The hotel's Assembly Rooms had a diverse range of uses over the years including meetings, dances and concerts. It was also a place of worship for various denominations.

The Bournemouth Improvement Act 1856 set the boundary of the town as being within one mile radius from the hotel. A team of 13 commissioners, in effect the first town council, met at the hotel on various occasions between 1856 and 1857. The act made provision for raising funds, including the charging of property rates, to pay for highway, sewage and drainage improvements as well as building a pier.

Bournemouth Corporation purchased Pier Hotel and ran an architectural competition to erect another building on the site which was won by London architects Home and Knight.

The foundation stone for the Pavilion Theatre and ballroom was laid on September 23 1925 but the hotel was not completely demolished until the late 1928 by which time the art deco theatre was nearly complete at a cost of £250,000. The Pavilion was formally opened by the Duke of Gloucester on March 19 1929.

The stone cloister shelters, on the right of the picture, with the domed drinking fountain to the left, were built as part of the first stage of East Undercliff Drive in 1907, so the picture cannot be earlier than that.