Bournemouth

Description:

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort in the Borough of Bournemouth. It is the largest settlement in Dorset. Together with Poole and Christchurch it forms the South East Dorset conurbation. Before the reorganisation of local government in 1974 the town was originally part of Hampshire. In 1997 the town achieved unitary authority status, making it autonomous from the County Council.

Bournemouth's location on the south coast of England has made it popular with tourists and businesses alike. In a 2007 survey Bournemouth was found to be the happiest place in Britain. Also in 2008 the East Dorset area, including the Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch conurbation was recognised as the safest place to live in England and Wales.

Bournemouth is located 105 miles southwest of London and has a frequent main line service to London Waterloo (1 hour 50 minutes). At the end of the Wessex Way (A338) is a roundabout called County Gates, known locally as the Frizzell roundabout (now part of Liverpool Victoria) named after the insurance company based there. This marks the historic border between Dorset and Hampshire as well as the modern-day boundary between Bournemouth and Poole.

Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the west and Christchurch to the east forming the South East Dorset conurbation with a total population in excess of 383,000. It is one of the major retail and commercial centres in the south. To the north east lies Bournemouth International Airport with services to many parts of the UK and mainland Europe.

Bournemouth is adjacent to the sea, but the town centre is inland. The civil and commercial heart of the town is The Square. From there the Upper and Lower Pleasure Gardens descend to the seafront and the pier. Bournemouth seafront has 7 miles of sandy beaches running from Hengistbury Head in the east to Sandbanks in the west and overlooks Poole Bay and the Isle of Wight. Areas included within Bournemouth are Boscombe, Kinson, Winton, East Cliff, Southbourne, Littledown, Moordown, Queen's Park, Throop, Talbot Woods, Wallisdown and Westbourne.

Geographically the town is intersected by the A338 dual carriageway, known as the Wessex Way. Bournemouth has a university and consequently a large student population. The university is mainly based at Wallisdown, although some parts of the campus are dotted around the town.

All in all Bournemouth is a vibrant seaside town with plenty for all ages to do and enjoy.  Bournemouth is a tourist and regional centre for leisure, entertainment, culture and recreation.

In the centre there are the well laid out Central Gardens and Pleasure Gardens which hold free open-air concerts from the bandstand during the summer months. In addition there is the IMAX cinema, the Pavilion Theatre  and the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC)  both of which  host througout the year a number of concerts and shows by artists of national and international renown.

To the east of the Central Gardens, and next to the Royal Bath Hotel is the Russell-Cotes Museum. The museum includes the Sir Merton Russell-Cotes collection of mostly nineteenth century paintings together with family exhibits from Japan and Russia. He was one of Bournemouth's most prominent Victorians and was instrumental in campaigning to have the promenade built that runs continuously along the Bournemouth and Poole shoreline.

The town has a professional football club AFC Bournemouth, once managed by Harry Redknapp, now manager of Tottenham Hotspur. He still lives in the area  and has a house on the peninsular at Sandbanks.

The main shopping streets in the town centre are just behind the seafront on either side of the river Bourne. The shopping streets are mostly pedestrianised and lined with all the national chains as well as individual shops housed in adjacent attractive Victorian arcades. There are also a numerous cafe's, coffee shops, takeaway's and an abundance of eateries. The major department stores are Debenhams, Dingles and Beales. There are other shopping centres at Westbourne, Castlepoint  and Boscombe.

Bournemouth has a number of festivals, including a Literary Festival  which has been running since 2005 and the Bournemouth Air Festival  featuring the Red Arrows, World War II aircraft as well as modern aircraft and helicopters, which took place for the first time in August last year and proved to be so successful that it will return in 2009 between 20-23 August. The area is popular with windsurfers and surfers alike and Europe's first artificial reef is currently being constructed off the coast as part of the larger Boscombe Spa Village development.