WESTBOURNE In Bloom is looking to form a group of volunteers to help rejuvenate the tired and neglected garden of famous Victorian author Robert Louis Stevenson.

The group, called ‘Friends of Skerryvore’, will help maintain the site where the famous writer and his wife Fanny lived from 1884 to 1887.

Hattie Miles, a member of the group, said: “He named his home Skerryvore after Scotland’s tallest lighthouse that was built by his uncle, the engineer Alan Stevenson.”

The house, on West Cliff Road, was the one-time home of Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote two of his most popular novels while living there: ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ and ‘Kidnapped’.

Hattie continued: “Sadly, the house was demolished in the 1950s. It had been severely damaged more than a decade earlier when a World War Two parachute mine made a direct hit on the property. The site is still there, and the footprint of the house remains visible.

“Anyone interested in helping with the care of the Skerryvore garden should meet there on Saturday September 28 at 10am. Please bring gardening tools.”

For more information please email Chris Colledge on revdchriscolledge@gmail.com or call 07901 686237.