Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a seaside resort in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. It is located about 107 miles southwest of London, at {{coor d|50.72|N|1.88|W|region:GB}}. The town is bordered by Poole in the west and Christchurch in the east, and overlooks Poole Bay.

The area

Bournemouth is located directly to the east of the "Jurassic Coast", a 95 mile section of beautiful and largely unspoilt coastline recently designated a World Heritage Site. Apart from the beauty of much of the coastline, the Jurassic Coast provides a complete geological record of the Jurassic period and a rich fossil record.

Related Topics:
Jurassic Coast - World Heritage Site - Jurassic period - Fossil record

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The section of the coast both to the east and to the west of Bournemouth was very important during World War 2. For example Poole Harbour was the departure point for many ships participating in the D-Day landings, and Studland Bay (just west of Bournemouth) was the scene of practice live fire beach landings in preparation for the Normandy Landings. Bournemouth itself was not a main target of bombing during WW2 but was on the route for other raids (e.g. on Coventry) and German bombers were known to unload their spare bombs on the town; 219 local people were killed by bombing during the war.

Related Topics:
World War 2 - Poole Harbour - D-Day - Studland Bay - Normandy Landings - Coventry

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Just east of Bournemouth is the New Forest, designated a National Park in 2005. These popular tourist sites, as well as the Dorset countryside and the beaches, have helped keep Bournemouth's tourism based economy alive through the second half of the 20th century when tourism in seaside towns declined.

Related Topics:
New Forest - National Park - 20th century

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Bournemouth is in Hardy country, and is Sandbourne in Thomas Hardy's novels. Tess lived in Sandbourne with Alec d'Urberville, and the town also features in The Well-Beloved and Jude the Obscure.

Related Topics:
Thomas Hardy - Tess - Jude the Obscure

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Bournemouth is a unitary authority area, and is included within the lieutenancy area of Dorset. Although Bournemouth was located in the county of Hampshire until 1974, the administrative boundary between the newly-created entities of the administrative counties of Dorset and Hampshire was made such that Bournemouth was within the administrative county of Dorset prior to its becoming a UA.

Related Topics:
Unitary authority area - Lieutenancy area - Hampshire - 1974

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Bournemouth has a large student population and many young people are drawn there by its extensive nightlife. Its slang name in these circles is BoMo.

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Transport

The conurbation of Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch shows increasing congestion and some roads are very busy all day.

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There is continuous motorway or dual carriageway from Bournemouth Town Centre to London and along the South Coast, via the recently improved M3, M27 and A31. Fast access may also be gained to the M4 north of Newbury, Berkshire.

Related Topics:
M3 - M27 - A31 - M4 - Newbury, Berkshire

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National Express coaches serves Bournemouth Travel Interchange, Boscombe and Westbourne. There are frequent departures to London Victoria Coach Station. There are direct services to the West Country, Sussex coast (Brighton and Eastbourne), Bristol, Birmingham and the Midlands, the North West, and to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Flightlink serves Heathrow Airport with connections to Gatwick and Stansted Airports.

Related Topics:
National Express - London - Victoria Coach Station - West Country - Sussex - Brighton - Eastbourne - Bristol - Birmingham - Midlands - Edinburgh - Glasgow - Heathrow Airport - Gatwick - Stansted Airport

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Bournemouth is well served by the rail network with two stations in the town, Bournemouth railway station and Pokesdown railway station to the East. Unfortunately, Bournemouth station is located some way from the town centre, due to the town's founding fathers not wishing to have a station within the town boundary, which extended 1 mile from the pier. The station was originally ¨Bournemouth East¨ with a second station serving the west of the town in Queens Street. (Poole station is by contrast near to Poole town centre). South West Trains operates a comprehensive service to London Waterloo with a journey time of as little as 97 minutes. This line also serves Southampton, Winchester and Basingstoke to the East, and Poole, Wareham, Dorchester and Weymouth to the West. Virgin Trains serve destinations to the North with direct trains to Reading, Oxford, Birmingham and the Midlands, Manchester and the Northwest, Yorkshire, Newcastle, and Edinburgh and Glasgow. South Central Trains 'West-Coastway' services are available by changing at Southampton Central. The Sussex Coastal towns of Chichester, Worthing, Hove and Brighton are served and trains continue to Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.

Related Topics:
Bournemouth railway station - Pokesdown railway station - South West Trains - London Waterloo - Southampton - Winchester - Basingstoke - Poole - Wareham - Dorchester - Weymouth - Virgin Trains - Reading - Oxford - Manchester - Yorkshire - Newcastle - South Central Trains - Chichester - Worthing - Hove

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Bournemouth International Airport is a short journey from the Town Centre - enabling passengers and freight to be flown directly to destinations in the UK and abroad. Heathrow and Gatwick are accessible by car or coach. Ryanair operates scheduled flights to Glasgow (Prestwick), Dublin, Barcelona (Girona) and Frankfurt (Hahn). 2005 saw the advent of new operators basing themselves at the airport offering an even wider range o European destinations.

Related Topics:
Bournemouth International Airport - Ryanair - Dublin - Barcelona - Frankfurt

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Bournemouth does not have its own harbour, but there are extensive ferry services to the Channel Islands and France (available from the Port of Poole). During summer, fast cat services operate to Cherbourg, Guernsey and Jersey, making it possible to enjoy the "booze cruise" that is more typically associated with the Kentish ports of Dover and Folkestone.

Related Topics:
Channel Islands - France - Poole

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