Under the direction of Eric Arden from the Royal Exeter Hotel,
Bournemouth
The orchestra of the Royal Exeter Hotel at Bournemouth was started by Eric Arden in 1935. He returned from two years' tea-planting in India in 1929, and after playing the piano with various bands started his own band in Conway in 1931. Before going to Bournemouth, the band played for three years at the hotel owned by Tom Laughton (brother of Charles Laughton ) at Scarborough, and afterwards at Harrogate.