Exploring the Bournemouth Coast Path

Selfridge’s in Oxford Street can I think justify its Sunday opening this weekend as it is the actual centenary of the opening in 1909.

I see anniversary articles are beginning to appear and big celebrations are planned for the summer.

Founder Gordon Selfridge can also be remembered this weekend on the Bournemouth Coast Path.

He once owned all the land east of Southbourne including Hengistbury Head where he planned to build a castle for himself. Instead he had to make do with renting Highcliffe Castle.

He died in poverty in 1947 and is buried in Highcliffe churchyard.

To find the grave walk though the Highcliffe Castle grounds to the main road and turn right. The church is on the left opposite the original Adam gatehouses.  Gordon Selfridge is buried by the fence on the right hand side of the wide avenue path.

See pages 49-53 & 67-9.

Boscombe Chine at Christmas

Walking down Boscombe Chine this morning I thought that the valley looked rather bare and strange with grass replacing the sandy soil.  

 

Two days before Christmas it was announced that the chine has been awarded nature reserve status.

Following the clearing of non native trees it is claimed that wildlife which will be seen includes insects such as meadow brown, gatekeeper, marbled white, small copper and small skipper butterflies, 5-spot burnet moth and azure and large red damselflies. 

Meadow and common green grasshoppers, sand and digger wasps and various ants, beetles and spiders are also beginning to inhabit the area in addition to green woodpecker, stonechat and common lizard. 

Part of the nature reserve is designated as a site of nature conservation interest due to the presence of some nationally rare plant species.

This is the first Christmas for many years that Boscombe Pier has been opened. It is free to walk along to the end and look back at the chine and cliffs. 

 

Honeycomb Chine flats

 

To the east is the huge and controversial Barrett Homes development filling Honeycomb Chine. The high flats block the sea view from the coast path.

Work on the much hailed surf reef has been halted for the winter. Meanwhile costs are rising. One councillor says that it will never be finished.

After much speculation and false dawns Sandbanks Ferry is back in operation.

In the end work did not run on past the deadline as long as feared about a week ago. 

Unless there is very bad weather indeed the daily service should continue for at least a year before another break. 

Next time there ought to be an alternative for foot passengers.

Sandbanks Ferry will not be back in service this morning. 

The vessel is ready for service but work on the slipways is not finished and will take at least another week.

It is now possible that closure will continue until Monday 1 December. Surprisingly there is no alternative ferry for foot passengers as in some past years.

Sandbanks Ferry has been withdrawn from service for a refit. The vessel is now in Southampton. 

During the 8 week closure the opportunity is being taken to improve the slipways on both sides of the Poole Harbour entrance. 

The ferry should be back around Monday 17 November.

Wilts & Dorset is operating a special timetable for the 50 bus which is running from Studland to Bournemouth Station via Swanage and Wareham.

See pages 20-22

The Liberal Democrat Party flag is flying above the Highcliff Hotel on Bournemouth’s West Cliff.  

The Liberal Conference is at Bournemouth this week until Wednesday but the cliff top path is remaining open. Unlike the Labour Conference here in 2006 and the Conservative Conference there is no security zone. 

This does not mean that you can wander into the hotel or conference centre but it does mean there is no coast path diversion this time. 

Delegates leaving the conference centre’s front door will find that the Punshon Memorial Church opposite has a sold sign on its nave wall. The building is to be demolished to make way for a hotel. 

The central gardens were flooded on the eve of conference when the River Bourne burst its banks following a severe cloud burst. The tide lines can be seen on the grass today. Nearby Braidley Road, built over a stream feeding the Bourne, returned to nature as water poured down the valley flooding the road.

The weather forecast is good so look out for views of the cliffs and bay on televison news over the next few days. If you are on the path you may spot Westminster’s lobby correspondents doing a shorter walk. 

The coast path at Milford-on-Sea is expected to be closed immediately after the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Bad weather earlier this month resulted in heavy seas destroying a groyne and as a result a sea wall has been undermined. 

The section of path being closed from Tuesday 26 August is between the clifftop toilets next to the refreshment kiosk west of the village and the White House. 

Heavy machinery will be depositing rocks below the path. At worst the diversion will be by way of the parallel Cliff Road which runs into Milford.

Sandbanks Ferry is running normally this morning.

Overnight repairs were successful and the ferry is ready for a busy August Bank Holiday weekend. In addition to the normal cars, cyclists and coast path walkers there is expected to be extra traffic due to the annual Studland Country Fair.

The service is due to continue daily until 22 September.

See page 20.

Sandbanks Ferry has been closed from about 1.30pm today following a breakdown. 

It is understood that a chain snapped. 

There had been concern just after 12 noon when an alarm sounded as the ferry was about to load on the Sandbanks side. The crew started an evacuation of foot passengers and cyclists who had just boarded but the all-clear was given after a few minutes. 

There are hopes of an overnight repair.

Wilts & Dorset set up an emergency bus service via Wareham which took 90 minutes to reach Bournemouth from Swanage. Passengers arriving at Shell Bay on buses from Studland were carried across the harbour entrance ten at a time in a small vessel. 

The annual 8 week ferry refit is due to start on 22 September.

News that an open-top bus on the Swanage to Bournemouth route fell on to its side yesterday will have come as a surprise to many. 

The accident was on the ferry road near Studland and involved two cars. Fortunately the bus came down on gorse giving maybe a softer landing than might be possible in an urban area. 

However, the remote spot meant that emergency services took some time to reach the injured. The ferry and road were closed to traffic to allow ambulances to reach the scene as quickly as possible.

All those hurt had been released from hospital by evening. A car driver has been arrested.

The bus was the 9.45am from Swanage which is one of few scheduled buses on the 50 route which is sometimes not an open-top. 

This year the Wilts & Dorset 150 bus route was renumbered 50 with the Bournemouth end of the routebeing changed from The Square to the more handy Bournemouth Station.