Exploring the Bournemouth Coast Path

Bournemouth Council has approved  a change of use for the Pier Theatre.

This means that the theatre will close.

A condition is that the operator must keep a photographic record of the theatre and that any significant fixtures  should be rescued for re-use.

This is important as the theatre was designed by Elisabeth Scott who was brought up on the West Cliff. He first job as a young architect was to design the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Bournemouth is losing something very special.

News from the BBC of the reintroduction of sand lizards on the coast path.

The handy and very good Marine cafe bar at Milford-on-Sea, which has just made it into the Good Food Guide, switches to winter opening hours from this week:

Wednesday to Friday: 10am to at least 3pm.

Saturday: 9.30am to least 4pm.

Sunday: 9.30am to 5pm

But the cafe will be open on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 October as this is Half Term week.

Milford-on-Sea’s Marine Cafe, at the very end of the Bournemouth Coast Path, is a year old at the end of this month.

Yesterday was a lovely day and on arriving at the start of of the Hurst Spit I turned into the cafe to sit on the terrace and enjoy smoked salmon and salad followed by New Forest ice cream.

It’s an excellent and very handy addition to the route along with the Cliffhanger at Highcliffe which also opened recently.

The Marine cafe’s first birthday is being marked on August Bank Holiday Monday when a band will be playing from 2pm with a BBQ available from from 2.30pm.

On Thursday Bournemouth had the worst weather in Britain when during a short period in the morning more than 2 inches of rain fell.

The River Bourne, really  a stream, dramatically burst its banks within minutes. A police car became stuck in high water in Braidley Road which is itself a branch of the Bournemouth valley. The road covers a Bourne tributory which once flowed there from Meyrick Park.

The valleys of Bournemouth running inland are known as chines and one of the dramatic pictures in the Bournemouth Daily Echo shows water which has poured down Boscombe Chine going over the promenade on to the beach.

Today all is back to normal although swimming in the sea is banned due to sewerage leak. But there is the air show to watch from the coast path.

Worthing Wanderer has walked from Bournemouth Pier to Christchurch and recorded his first impressions.

The annual picnic and service in the churchyard and ruins of the Hordle Old Church is on Sunday 4 September.

The picnic is at 5.30pm followed by the service at 6pm.

This is the day after the Hordle Village Fair on the recreation ground, away from the clifftop, on the Saturday afternoon 3 September.

Service details from church office 01425 626565.

See page 73.

Demolition is in progress back from the path on Bourmnemouth’s West Cliff.

The Daily Echo has the latest.

See page 30.

Those who saw giant paw marks today from the coast path on Bournemouth cliffs will find an explanation here.

The demolition of Southbourne’s Point House Cafe, the last house on the cliff, has begun.

The new building will be flats called Ocean Point.

The Bournemouth Daily Echo has an update.

See page 52.