Exploring the Bournemouth Coast Path

Another exhibition worth visiting is the centenary exhibition at Selfridges.

I struggled past a huge queue for Katie Price’s book signing in the basement last week. It was most rewarding for in addition to fascinating facts about the store there is mention of Gordon Selfridge at Highcliffe.

He rented Highcliffe Castle from 1916 to 1922. There is a photograph of him in the garden with one of his pugs. He is wearing his yachting cap which is among personal possessions on view.

There are also pictures of his mother and wife who, with him, are buried at Highcliffe.

The exhibition continues until the end of August.

Meanwhile Highcliffe Castle has its own Gordon Selfridge exhibition.

See pages 53 to 54 & 67 to 69.

Today is Rogation Sunday when prayers are said for crops. It’s a time to pray for a good harvest festival later in the year.

The weather is not good but this afternoon at 3.15pm there is the annual blessing of waters from a boat in Mudeford Run at the entrance to Christchurch Harbour.

The choir and congregation of All Saints Church arrive in procession on Mudeford Quay and the priest will be rowed into mid stream. (Probably priest-in-charge Helen Griffiss.)

During the service a silver cross is thrown into the water and retrieved. Prayers said for the safety of all fishermen and for a good harvest from the sea.

The custom dates from 1930. Once the first salmon of the season was presented to the Prior of Christchurch.

There is overnight news of a cliff rescue at Bournemouth.

Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 104 from Lee on Solent was scrambled at just after midnight following a report that a 22 year old man had fallen over the cliff.

Southbourne Coastguard Rescue Team backed up by Lymington Coastguard Rescue Team and Dorset Fire and Rescue were all sent to the area and discovered that the man was trapped halfway down the cliff and caught on railings.

The man was airlifted to Poole and transferred to the hospital where he is  reported as suffering suspected head, neck and back injuries but stable.

The incident is a reminder that cliffs in urban areas can be as dangerous as those on the Isle of Purbeck or Christchurch Bay.

Last week I was reading Selfridges magazine devoted to the store’s centenary so it was very interesting to be able to visit the Gordon Selfridge exhibition at Highcliffe Castle this morning.

It opened this weekend and I spent an hour enjoying it.

There is much new material about the years 1916 to 1922 when the castle was Gordon Selfridge’s country home. The show is staged by Ian Stevenson who has some good contacts and was responsible for last year’s exhibition on the Kaiser.

Selfridge lived in Portman Square near his Oxford Street store but fear of Zeppelin raids made him rent the castle. He was still an American so the US flag was flown from the roof.

Local connections are interesting. His guests included Sir Ernest Cassel who lived to the west at Branksome Dene.

Selfridge was very rich and bit like Robert Maxwell. Part of the display concerns Selfridge’s plans to build “the biggest house in the world” on Hengistbury Head. Fortunately he ran out of money.

In Highcliffe’s churchyard there are three Selfridge tombs. The one for his mother is a delicate tomb chest. His wife Rose has a an angel. But Gordon Selfridge’s is plain with just his name for at the end he died in poverty.

It was good to find the church open and be able to view the memorials to the famous people who lived at Highcliffe Castle. St Mark’s is open most days but not Wednesday afternoon.

Admission to the Castle is £2.60.

It was cold and briefly rainy today so I warmed up in the Avon Beach Cafe. The coffee was astonishingly good.

Pages 53 to 54 & 67 to 69.

Leanne Atkinson has returned for a second season as a Coastal Ranger on the New Forest National Park coastline.

But this time the joint-funded post between the New Forest National Park Authority and Hampshire County Council will run for 12 months, thanks to extra support from ExxonMobil at the Fawley Refinery.

Most of the officer’s time in summer is spent putting on events for children but her post does provide a person to monitor the coast path eastward from Milford-on-Sea.

Ms Atkinson is reported as saying: “I’m excited to be returning for a second year as the Coastal Ranger, it’s a fantastic role that involves working with people of all ages about a subject that I am passionate about.”

See pages 76 to 84.

I spent Easter Bank Holiday Monday morning on the path walking slowly between the Bournemouth cliff lift and Boscombe.

It was a fantastic day and I thought of both Disraeli and Henry James writing about the fantastic view of the Isle of Wight. The view is unchanged in over a century and a half even if the cliffs have new buildings.

At Honeycomb Chine I was sorry to see the view blocked by the rising Barrett Homes building in the chine itself. Not many flats sold yet.

The developers are part funding six goats to roam on the cliff to the east. I was surprised to see how small the fenced area is. And I did not see even one goat. There is a record of sheep being on the Boscombe clifftop in the 1790s so it’s interesting to have the goats.

Not so welcome are the massive works on the beach for the controversial surfing area.

I suggested that at least the view is unchanged. Maybe not for long. Last week Bournemouth Council held at meeting to discuss a wind farm in the bay near the Isle of Wight.

See page 44.

Surprise news today. Developers have lost their recent appeal to be allowed to build flats on the Point House Café site in Southbourne.

Government Planning Inspector Richard Marshall who heard the appeal at Bournemouth Town Hall earlier this month has came to a swift decision.

Developers wanted to demolish the clifftop café and build seven flats with underground carparking.

The protests worked. Even the Bournemouth tourism officer described the plan as  “totally inappropriate for the seafront”.

The inspector concluded that the proposed development “would harm the character and appearance of the surrounding area”.

Let’s hope that the developers reopen the cafe.

See page 52.

By Easter we should know if an application to replace Point House Cafe at Southbourne has been successful.

Earlier this month a government inspector heard an appeal at Bournemouth Town Hall by developers to demolish the much loved cafe and build flats.

Harrison Developments has twice been refused permission to demolish the building for new flats. The developer was appealing against the most recent refusal.

Point House is the most easterly building in Poole Bay before Hengistbury Head.

The inspector has promised a ruling by Easter Week.

See page 52.