Dunstable Yesteryear: Remembering Frank Ifield

Many local people will have particularly fond memories of singer Frank Ifield, who has died in Australia, aged 86.

Frank, who was a huge star in the UK from the 1960s onwards, settled in the Dunstable area in the 1980s and opened a tea shop and gallery at Whipsnade village, in a house on the common next to the old National Schoolhouse.

He threw himself into local life and gave a special welcome at the venue to local clubs. He hosted a number of events in Dunstable, including a spectacular variety show at the Queensway Hall with his friend Bob Monkhouse, who lived nearby at Eggington.

Frank had been persuaded to appear in the show by Dunstable’s redoubtable fundraiser Mary Biswell who promoted the sell-out charity concert to raise money for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

Frank, born in Coventry, spent much of his early life in Australia and made some hit records there as a teenager.

He then took the big risk of relocating to England - a decision which paid off spectacularly when his pop record I Remember You became a best-seller. A string of stage and TV shows followed, including a spectacular pantomime at the London Palladium.

The photo here was taken in November 1986 at his Whipsnade tea rooms, where he was visited on his birthday by Dunstable Ladies Choir, who presented him with a cheeky celebration card. With him in the foreground is the choir’s conductor Marie Westley, on the right, and teacher Pat Lovering on the left. Pat had written the lyrics for some children’s songs composed by Marie.

Frank and his wife Gillian divorced in 1988 and he returned to Australia, where he continued to be very active in showbusiness.

Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.