Image copyright Alfred W Clegg Waterville Golf Club
Riversdale Golf Club has been named as the Norman Rockwell-style centrepiece of a new project to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the “Champagne Room” – which was here on 4 October 1910.
In future, visitors to the region may be able to explore Charlie Chaplin’s childhood home and vast holiday camp for a glimpse into the charm, charm and charm of a British seaside resort.
Riversdale Golf Club is one of Britain’s best-known courses, situated in the garden of a three-chamber family home where footballing superstar Jimmy Greaves grew up.
The ‘Champagne Room’ was opened by Prime Minister Edward Heath in January 1980 and featured a glass bath, stone fireplace and a bay window hanging on a wall of glass.
Chaplin family castle and retreat in Maldon
Charlie Chaplin grew up on holiday camps in Maldon on the Essex coast from 1920 to 1927. When his parents left him to be looked after by foster parents he lost his first ear.
As a result, he did not finish his schooling.
Drew – his real name – was discovered by silent film legend Chaplin in Aldershot, Hampshire, at the age of nine. He later changed his name to that of his first love, Glenda.
He was full of talent and soon enrolled at the Shepperton Studios.
Chaplin’s childhood home and retreat in Maldon is being conserved under the National Trust stewardship, before a new visitor centre is built
Following the success of his silent film, Short Cuts, he became the most successful actor in American film history. He became the first actor to earn £1m (£6m in 2017 money).
Chaplin would perform live on stage at the theatre in Brockenhurst when he toured Europe for a fortnight each autumn from 1925. He would play to 800 people per show.
In 1930, he took a cruise around Europe with his wife and daughter, hoping to conquer the continent as the great conqueror. On his return he was feted by the press and amassed such a crowd to his house in Maldon that he would have to change cars and have police escorts to navigate the capital, London.
He would remain in Sussex until he left to make movies, shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
Charlie Chaplin later complained to Charles Chaplin about his sound technology.
“I’m going to go and call a state department, see if they’ll get me a baby piano so I can play.’
Who is Charlie Chaplin?
Charlie Chaplin (1895-1975) was one of the world’s most famous artists and entertainers. He was the first actor to earn £1m (about £6m in 2017) from a single motion picture. He also had a number of big-screen roles, starting with an introduction to silent cinema. His family’s 19th century house has been preserved by the National Trust. A special exhibition and museum are located at the Queen’s College village of Broom, just outside Maldon, in Essex.
Why did he visit Walthamstow?
Chaplin lived and worked in America for much of his life, and met the wife and daughter of another great silent film star, Lillian Gish.
He returned to England in the early 1930s, and the first world war interrupted his work, so his time in Britain for that war was short, a time when he concentrated on being a more austere and serious actor.
After the war he spent many years filming in Europe, mainly in Malvern, Worcestershire, where he lived for many years. His second wife was his film costume designer Oona O’Neill.
In the 1960s, he was invited to appear in a film by the Conservative leader of the House of Commons, Sir Cyril Smith. He died in 1973 at the age of 88.