FILE: churchill1_6397.jpg

DESCRIPTION: This is Lansworth House,Brunswick Road, now owned by the YMCA. In the 1880Õs it housed a preparatory school, run by the Misses Charlotte and Katie Thomson. Amongst their pupils, between Autumn 1884 and Easter 1888 was Sir Winston Churchill (1874­1965). It was on the front of this house that Hove Corporation put their first official plaque. ItÕs a handsome affair, surmounted by the arms of Hove, but in need of a bit of a clean. It set a precedent for, like many of the later Hove Corporation plaques, it was sponsored. Turn the corner and, no, your not seeing things, there is another one, this time a blue ceramic job, on the Lansdowne Road side of the building. Yes, this oneÕs for Churchill too, like the other one, sponsored, and still with the same mistakes on it, much to the ire of visiting Americans ( Sir WinstonÕs school dates are wrong and the sistersÕ surname has gained a ÔpÕ).

CREDITS: Duncan McNeill