Dusty Springfield was 'lovely' when she lived in Weymouth

Angela Meech, of Dorchester Road, Weymouth, was performing in a summer show at Weymouth Pavilion as an 18-year-old and was sharing digs with Dusty’s brother Tom, who was performing in The Springfields in Weymouth, a folk act with his sister Dusty and Tim Feild.

Mrs Meech, who is now 80, was in digs in Love Lane, while Dusty was staying in nearby Franchise Street.

She remembers: “Dusty used to come around to Love Lane quite a lot. Nine times out of ten she would be going off somewhere.

“She had a scooter and would be going everywhere on that. I remember one time having to push her off up the road to get her going.

“She was a lovely person – she was never high and mighty. I never saw her in a temper ever.”

Dusty Springfield pictured in 1966 (Image: Philips Records - Billboard) The Son of a Preacher Man singer, who went on to conquer America and was famed for her soulful voice, was known to have a penchant for throwing crockery.

“I never saw her do that,” Mrs Meech said. “But it was really to let off steam. She and her brother were guarded people who were very quiet.”

Springfield was a lesbian who hid her sexuality to protect her career. Firmly in the closet, this was a time before homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1967.

“It was a strange time in the theatre world for people who were gay, it was a different time, but we just accepted what went on,” Mrs Meech said.

“It was never really known about her sexuality, it was only after she died it was known.

“It was a very different time back then. It’s quite strange to think back to all those years ago.”

Angela Meech with her memories of her dancing days at Weymouth Pavilion (Image: Supplied)

READ: Singer Dusty Springfield's links to Weymouth

An anecdote that still makes Mrs Meech smile to this very day is when Tom Springfield, whose digs were below hers in Love Lane, came into her room to adjust the immersion switch for a bath.

Mrs Meech said: “The immersion switch was in my bedroom. Tom thought I was out that evening and he came up the stairs starkers into my bedroom, opened the door and I had to shout out to him that I was in there.

“It always amuses me that I’ve been able to say that I saw a Springfield naked!”

Angela, bottom of picture, performing a dancing routine (Image: Supplied) Mrs Meech grew up in Nottingham and always wanted to be a dancer.

"According to my mother I never stopped wanting to dance. She took me to ballet from the age of four," she said.

Mrs Meech found herself in Weymouth when a position dancing on the Harry Worth show came up.

She remembers her friend writing to her and telling her how nice it was in the Dorset resort.

Angela performing an opening number (Image: Supplied) "She told me 'it's so nice in Weymouth and it's so lovely to have a new theatre.

"Weymouth came up as a place where they needed dancers and I got here and found it was a a lovely place to be when you come from the Midlands.

READ: More on Dusty Springfield's time spent in Weymouth

"We were quite well looked after, If you got in and kept your nose clean and worked hard you would never have to do another audition. 

Mrs Meech with Rolling Stones band member Bill Wyman attending a party at a club in Wyke Regis (Image: Supplied)

Mrs Meech's first wages for performing as a dancer at Weymouth Pavilion were £8 - with £4 of that having to be spent on her digs.

She got on well with former Pavilion manager Stan Jacobs, who would teach her about theatre production.

"He taught me a lot," she said. "I didn't want to just sit in my dressing room, I wanted to learn about the theatre. 

Aged 21 Mrs Meech gave up her career as a dancer to become a teacher and then got married and had a family.

Her late husband David ran Meech's Menswear in St Mary Street Weymouth, a traditional gentleman’s outfitters which sold formal and informal clothes. It opened in 1928 and closed in 2017.