I had already started digging my way through the internet searching for everything I could find about Dusty. I searched out every song she had recorded or performed, every interview and every documentary. And photos! I started saving photos that showed her at every stage of her life in showbiz and before.

It was around that time that I discovered the fan forum ‘Let’s Talk Dusty’. It had been set up and was being run by a small group of ardent fans. Here was a massive resource where I could find even more in-depth information about Dusty. Even more important though was that it gave me the chance to get to know other Dusty fanatics. I became a daily visitor. Many of these fans had stayed loyal to Dusty following her through all the years, starting with the Springfields, to her earliest tours in 1963 and right up to the present day. This fan forum held and shared the most obscure details, information that was only known or could be discovered by the most dedicated fans. Sadly the forum closed, as a meeting place for fans, in 2019. Fortunately, all of the posts have been saved to an archive also called ‘Let’s Talk Dusty’. This is a resource which can be searched to answer a multitude of questions about Dusty, her career and her life!

Brilliantly, I also heard about ‘Dusty Day’, a day to celebrate Dusty’s life and music held in Ealing every year around her birthday on 16^th April, and organised by Simon Bell. Here was a chance to not only meet other Dusty fans but also some of the people who had been important in her life: Pat Rhodes, her secretary for forty years; Madeline Bell, her friend and backing singer from the early days and, of course, Simon Bell, who was a friend and backing singer and had cared for her in her final days.

Dusty Day kept going right up to 2019. In 2020 the lockdown, brought about by the Covid outbreak, meant that Dusty Day was cancelled. I went each year from 2013 up to the last in 2019. The day was filled with singers, notably Simon and Madeline giving renditions of Dusty’s songs. Julie Felix was often there as well as Krissie DuCann and many others. Fans donated to the auction and Pat Rhodes brought clothes, jewellery and other items to help raise money for the Royal Marsden where Dusty was treated during her illness.

Dusty Day was held in West 5, a gay pub in Ealing. This was a place for everyone to gather, where the hungry could buy hot dogs or hamburgers from the barbecue in the garden. The garden was also a good place to meet and talk to people and I spent a lot of my time there, just chatting and sharing stories about Dusty with her many fans.

Being in Ealing I had the chance to explore the places Dusty will have known as a teenager. I walked up to Kent Gardens where the building that had held the O’Brien’s flat had once stood. That building was demolished in the 60s and replaced with modern flats.

I also found her old school, St Anne’s Convent in Little Ealing. It was in a somewhat neglected state. It has since been refurbished and has found a new life as Ealing Fields High School.

Blog 4: St Anne’s Convent