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 Town

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The town is an important venue for major conferences and the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC), which stands on the cliff-tops near the middle of the town overlooking the sea and the pier, is the town's main venue for large conferences including in 2003 the Labour Party annual conference.

Related Topics:
Bournemouth International Centre - Sea - Pier - 2003 - Labour Party

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Bournemouth (and Poole, the town immediately to the West) have several chines (e.g. Branksome Chine, Alum Chine), valleys formed by the action of water, that lead down to the beaches and form a very attractive feature of the area. Bournemouth Central Gardens are a separate major park, leading for several miles down the valley of the River Bourne through the centre of the town to the sea (reaching the sea at the pier).

Related Topics:
Valley - Park - River Bourne

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The Russell-Cotes museum is located just to the east of the Central Gardens near to the Pavilion and next to the Royal Bath hotel. The museum includes many fine mostly 19th century paintings and the family collections acquired when travelling e.g in Japan and Russia. It was Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, one of Bournemouth's most prominent Victorians, who successfully campaigned to have a promenade built; the promenade now runs continuously along the Bournemouth and Poole shoreline.

Related Topics:
19th century - Japan - Russia - Sir Merton Russell-Cotes - Victorian - Promenade

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The Royal Bath Hotel, located near the sea and just to the east of the Central Gardens, has attracted many important visitors over the years, including Oscar Wilde, H. G. Wells, Richard Harris, Sir Thomas Beecham, Shirley Bassey, and prime ministers Disraeli (who stayed for three months to help his gout), Gladstone, Asquith and Lloyd George. Royal guests have been Edward VII and Edward VIII when each was the Prince of Wales, George VI when he was the Duke of York, Queen Wilhemina of Sweden and Empress Eugenie of France.

Related Topics:
Oscar Wilde - H. G. Wells - Richard Harris - Thomas Beecham - Shirley Bassey - Disraeli - Gladstone - Asquith - Lloyd George - Edward VII - Edward VIII - George VI - Queen Wilhemina of Sweden - Empress Eugenie of France

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A new £9.5 million Bournemouth Library was completed in 2003, winning the Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award, in the British Construction Industry Awards competition in recognition of its relatively low cost and high fit with client requirements.

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The Town also plays host to a professional football club, AFC Bournemouth, currently playing in League One. They play at The Fitness First Stadium in Boscombe on the eastern outskirts of the Town Centre.

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Shopping

The main shopping streets in the centre of town are just behind the seafront on either side of the small Bourne river; indeed footpaths lead down to the sea (from The Square) through the lower section of Bournemouth Central Gardens.

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The shopping streets are mostly pedestrianised and lined with a wide range of boutiques, stores, jewellers and accessory shops. There are major stores (Debenhams, Beales, Marks and Spencer, Bhs, Dingles), modern shopping malls, Victorian arcades (including the elegant Victorian arcade between Westover Road and Old Christchurch Road), and a large selection of bars, clubs and cafes. About a mile to the west of the town centre, in the district of Westbourne, there is an impressive selection of designer clothes and interior design shops. About a mile to the east, in the district of Boscombe, there is another major shopping area including many antiques shops and a street market. North of the centre there is a new out-of-town shopping complex called CastlePoint with supermarkets, DIY stores and larger versions of high street shops.

Related Topics:
Debenhams - Beales - Marks and Spencer - Bhs - Dingles - Westbourne - Boscombe

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History

Bournemouth barely existed at the start of the 19th century. When retired army officer Lewis Tregonwell visited in 1810, he found only a bridge crossing a small stream at the head of an unspoilt valley (or 'chine') that led out into Poole Bay. An inn had recently been built at what is now The Square (centre of Bournemouth), catering both for travellers and for the smugglers who lurked in the area at night. Captain Tregonwell and his wife were so impressed by the area that they bought several acres and built a home, which is today part of the Royal Exeter Hotel. Tregonwell also planted pine trees, providing a sheltered walk to the beach. The town was to grow up around its scattered pines.

Related Topics:
Lewis Tregonwell - 1810 - Bridge - Poole Bay - Smugglers - Acre

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Bournemouth quickly became a destination for affluent holiday-makers and for invalids in search of the sea air. The site of Bournemouth had once been a hunting estate 'Stourfield Chase' but by the late 18th century only a small part of this was maintained: the 'Decoy Pond Estate' comprising several fields around the Bourne Stream. In the 1840s the fields south of the road crossing (later The Square) were drained and laid out with shrubberies and walks. By the 1860s the fields to the north were also laid out with walks by the owners of the Branksome Estate. In the early 1870s all the fields were leased to the Bournemouth Commissioners, by the freeholders. These fields now form The Pleasure Gardens, which run through the centre of the town; although the former name of The Lower Pleasure Gardens is no longer officially applied to the area south of The Square, for fear of encouraging an indulgence in 'lower pleasures'. The immaculately tended gardens are still much-loved and the Central Gardens contain the town's impressive war memorial, guarded by two stone lions.

Related Topics:
War - Lion

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The War Memorial was installed in 1921, when the Borough Council moved to the Mont Dore Hotel adjacent, which it still occupies. Various building works were carried out - such as the Saint Stephen's Road bridge, to stamp the municipal identity on this area of the town, the war memorial was one of them. It was designed by Bournemouth's deputy architect Albert Edward Shervey, who copied the two lions, one sleeping, the other awake and roaring, from Antonio Cavona's lions which guarded the tomb of Pope Clement XIII.

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A large sanatorium, overlooking the Central Gardens, treated patients with chest diseases. It has recently been re-developed as Brompton Court, a complex of retirement homes, preserving its remarkable chapel. Next to the sanatorium was built the magnificent Mont Dore Hotel, which is now the Town Hall. In the hotel's heyday in the 1880s it was renowned nationally and internationally for its sumptuous luxury which included possessing one of the first telephones in England - the number was "3".

Related Topics:
Sanatorium - 1880s - Telephone

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Although the number of invalids sent to the town dropped in the late 19th century, the resort was still booming and its population increasing rapidly. As Bournemouth's popularity increased, the town centre spawned theatres, concert halls, cafes, cinemas and more hotels.

Related Topics:
Theatre - Concert hall - Cafe - Cinemas - Hotel

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The town's first large entertainment venue was the original glass Winter Gardens, built in 1875 as the home of the town's municipal orchestra, (now the internationally renowned Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra). Elgar, Sibelius and Holst conducted there, but the acoustics were reputedly poor. In 1935, the original Winter Gardens was demolished. Its replacement, opened two years later, was intended as an indoor bowls centre, but by chance turned out to have superb acoustics, and after the Second World War it became the orchestra's new home. Before the opening of the BIC, the Winter Gardens welcomed just about every major entertainer of the day, including Maurice Chevalier, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Morecambe and Wise. The building has been in decline since the late 1970s, and is now closed as the town council examines alternative uses. http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/News/press_office/Press_Releases/September/wintergardens_cabinet.asp

Related Topics:
1875 - Orchestra - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Elgar - Sibelius - Holst - 1935 - Second World War - Maurice Chevalier - The Beatles - Pink Floyd - Morecambe and Wise - 1970s

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The Pavilion dates from 1925 and was built on the site of the former Belle Vue boarding house, one of the town's first buildings. Theatrical legends, including Ralph Richardson and Trevor Howard, played the Pavilion Theatre in its heyday. The Pavilion faces the cinemas and upmarket shops of Westover Road, which prides itself on being the town's "Bond Street".

Related Topics:
1925 - Ralph Richardson - Trevor Howard

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Westover Road's Odeon cinema began life as the Regent in 1929 and retains many of the art deco features of the era. It was known as the Gaumont from 1949-86 and used to host live performances as well as films. Stars who appeared there included Ella Fitzgerald, Dusty Springfield, Victor Borge and in 1963, the Beatles. The cinema now has six screens.

Related Topics:
Odeon cinema - 1929 - 1949 - Ella Fitzgerald - Dusty Springfield - Victor Borge - 1963

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The nearby ABC cinema dates from 1937, when it contained one 2,600-seater auditorium. It has three auditoriums today, one of them boasting the areas largest cinema screen, and is the only cinema in the county capable of projecting epics in 70mm.

Related Topics:
ABC cinema - 1937

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History of Bournemouth Pier

The first pier in Bournemouth consisted of a short wooden jetty that was completed in 1856. This was replaced by a much longer wooden pier, designed by George Rennie, which opened on September 17 1861. Due to attack by Teredo worm the wooden piles were removed in favour of cast iron replacements in 1866, but even with this additional benefit just over a year later the pier was made unusable when the T-shaped landing stage was swept away in a gale. After repairs the pier continued in use for a further ten years until November 1876 when another severe storm caused further collapse rendering the pier too short for steamboat traffic. The Rennie pier was subsequently demolished, and replaced in 1877 by a temporary structure. During the next three years a new pier, designed by Eugenius Birch, was completed.

Related Topics:
Jetty - 1856 - George Rennie - September 17 - 1861 - Teredo worm - Iron - 1866 - Gale - November 1876 - Steamboat - 1877 - Eugenius Birch

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At a cost of £21,600 the new Bournemouth Pier was opened by the Lord Mayor of London on August 11 1880. Consisting of an open promenade, it stretched to a length of 838ft (255.4m) and spanned some 35ft (10.6m) across the neck of the pier, extending to 110ft (33.3m) at the head. With the addition of a bandstand In 1885, military band concerts took place three times a day in summer and twice daily throughout the winter. Covered shelters were also provided at this time. Two extensions, in 1894 and 1909 respectively, took the pier's overall length to more than 1000ft (304.8m).

Related Topics:
August 11 - 1880 - Bandstand - 1885 - 1894 - 1909

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In common with virtually all other piers in the south and east of the country, Bournemouth Pier was substantially demolished by an army demolition team in the spring of 1940 as a precaution against German invasion. The pier was repaired and re-opened in August 1946. Refurbishment of the pier head was carried out in 1950, and ten years later a rebuild of the substructure was completed in concrete to take the weight of a new pier theatre. A structural survey of 1976 found major areas of corrosion, and in 1979 a -L-1.7m restoration program was initiated. Having demolished the old shoreward end buildings, replacing them with a new two storey octagonal leisure complex, and reconstructed the pier neck in concrete giving it the bridge-like appearance that it retains today, the work was completed in two years.

Related Topics:
1940 - 1946 - 1950 - 1976 - 1979

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