This week 213 years ago Lewis and Henrietta Tregonwell set out by carriage from Mudeford to visit Bourne Mouth where two years later they built a house.
The house completed in 1812 is now the Royal Exeter Hotel.
But what about the tiny River Bourne which gave its name to Bourne Mouth or, as we call it now, Bournemouth?
The mouth of the Bourne is where the Pier now stands and today the waters of the stream join Poole Bay on the Pier’s east side.
In this hot weather the coast path running across Canford Cliffs Chine, the Alum Chine Bridge and Dudley Chine is a cool walk from Poole to Bournemouth.
But the main Bournemouth Chine with the River Bourne is also worth exploring. As the formal gardens give way to the less managed sections it is green valley for two miles inland.
