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The birth of a child has always been regarded as the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of parents, of a family, of a community. But in the case of Bournemouth , now officially recognized as the best beach resort in all of England, its modern history as we know it began not with a child's coming into the world, but with the death of one.
In 1810, retired army officer Lewis Tregonwell and his wife Henrietta embarked on a journey to ease their grief over the loss of their son, an infant who went by the name of Grosvenor . Eventually, they reached a place called Bourne Chine (or valley), where all they found were a single bridge crossing a small stream at the head of an unspoiled valley (or 'chine') that led out into Poole Bay , and a newly constructed inn, which catered not only to travelers, but also to smugglers who lurked in the area at night. The spot where that inn once stood is now known as The Square , the center of Bournemouth .
Somehow, the couple found some measure of inner peace in the tranquility of the place. They decided to build not only a home there, but also planted pine trees that served as a sheltered walk to the beach.
As it turned out, the Tregonwells were not the only people who sought peaceful solitude in the exceptional and unforgettable beauty of the area s sea-front and gardens. Long before they got there, an ancestor of the Queen Mother named Mary Eleanor Bowes lived at Pokesdown in the 1790s. Then the richest heiress in England, she took up residence there to get away from her second husband. Soon, Bournemouth took on the reputation of a getaway for members of the royal family and the wealthy elite, who readily snapped up large pieces of real estate in the area. Not knowing exactly what to do with their properties, they soon decided to plant more and more pine trees in their land until Bournemouth eventually became a pine tree-dotted seaside community.
But being the royal and extremely wealthy beings that they were, the residents of Bournemouth scoffed at the idea of letting commoners live in the community. With all the snobbery they could muster, they kept members of the working class away in the distant towns of Winton and Springbourne . And since shops and trains reminded the high-born residents of the vulgar nature of the world they were seeking refuge from, they were absolutely banned in the community. This snobbery was taken to the extreme when its residents finally permitted trains to pass through their precious community. For the railway to be fairly invisible and therefore to not offend the delicate sensibilities of Bournemouth 's citizens, it had to be concealed in a deep cutting.
Such snobbery, however, could never work in the face of the realities that any community, whether working class or elite, eventually encounters. The men who did construction work there may have done a good job on the community's sprawling villas, but blundered big-time in the construction, or lack of it, of essential infrastructure. Potholes and clogged sewers soon bothered Bournemouth residents so much that they had to call on a man named Christopher Crabbe Creeke . Bearing the apt title, Surveyor of Nuisances for the Bournemouth Commissioners , Creeke practically saved the town from all its infrastructural troubles by fixing the drains, and supervising the construction of nicely curving roads that lined up with the town's grand villas.
Capitalism eventually broke through the high hat attitude of Bournemouth s residents and took root there. In came developers such as Henry Joy , who put up terraces of shops and apartments in sites where early romantic villas once stood. Various types of fancy goods made their way into town through retailers like Beale . Even commoners, the same smelly and sweaty working class people that Bournemouth s wealthy residents have tried so hard to shut out, were finally able to spend time at the beach, thanks to the railways.
Bournemouth quickly became a popular destination for affluent tourists and for sick people who believed that the clean and fresh sea air there would help them recover from whatever illness they were suffering from.
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It was only a matter of time before this rapidly growing community would gain royal recognition, which it did get in 1890. Queen Victoria granted Bournemouth borough status. Now under the leadership of its own Mayor, its citizens set out to make the community a better place to live in.
Hospitals, schools, libraries and houses soon sprung up in the area. For the recreation of residents and visitors alike, parks were built with drives and golf courses. An Undercliff Drive was set along the beach, and a Pavilion was constructed. To provide musical entertainment, a municipal orchestra was organized at the Winter Gardens .
A vast sanatorium where people with ailing lungs were confined was also put up in an area with a good view of the Central Gardens . Though a complex of retirement homes called Brompton Court now occupies the site, the sanatorium s remarkable chapel still stands and is being maintained. Constructed beside the sanatorium was the Mont Dore Hotel , known all over England and the world in the 1880s for its luxurious accommodations. Now the site of the town hall, the hotel also took pride in the fact that it had possession of one of the very first telephones in the country.
The influx of sick people may have slowed down in the late 19 th century, but that didn t stop Bournemouth from growing more and more popular, and inevitably, more populated. Soon enough, more hotels, theatres, concert halls, cinemas and cafes sprouted all over the town centre.
Bournemouth s municipal orchestra, now the internationally renowned Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra , was once housed in the original glass Winter Gardens , the community s first large entertainment venue. Despite its reputedly poor acoustics, famous conductors such as Sibelius, Holst and Elgar have graced the Winter Gardens with their presence and wove the magic of their batons there. Inevitably, the Winter Gardens was demolished in 1935, and in its place rose an indoor bowls centre two years later. Then a funny thing happened. Somebody realized that the new building turned out to have such superb acoustics that the orchestra deserved it as its second home once more. And it did happen, after World War II came to an end.
From then on, just about every influential entertainer of the time took the stage at the Winter Gardens , from Morecambe to Maurice Chevalier , from Pink Floyd to The Beatles . Sadly, the venue s inevitable physical decline since the 1970s led to its closure.
Facing the cinemas and shops of Westover Road is the Pavilion , built in 1925 on the site of one of the first buildings in Bournemouth , the former Belle Vue boarding house. Trevor Howard and Ralph Richardson are just two of the stage legends who have performed at the Pavilion Theater at the height of its popularity.
Speaking of Westover Road , located right there is an entertainment venue of historical significance called the Odeon cinema. Established as the Regent in 1929, it retains many of the art deco features of the period. In 1949, it was renamed as the Gaumont and stayed that way until 1986. Through all those years, the venue saw performances by music icons such as Victor Borge , Dusty Springfield , The Beatles and Ella Fitzgerald .
Being a community by the sea, it was but natural for Bournemouth residents to think about putting up their own pier to accommodate ever-growing steamboat traffic. The town s first pier was completed in 1856. The pier actually consisted of just a short wooden jetty, and was eventually replaced in 1861 by a much longer wooden pier designed by George Rennie .
Teredo worms, however, attacked and weakened the pier s wooden piles, which, in 1866, were replaced with cast iron parts. The pier, however, was rendered unusable by a gale that swept away its T-shaped landing stage a little over a year later. Repairs helped make the pier useful for another ten years until another severe storm damaged the Rennie pier beyond repair. There was no other choice but to demolish the pier and replace it with a temporary structure in 1877.
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Three years later, on August 11, 1880, a new pier designed by Eugenius Birch was inaugurated by the Lord Mayor of London himself. Built at a cost of the new Bournemouth Pier was 838 feet long, spanning approximately 35 feet across the pier s neck, and reaches up to 110 feet at the head. The pier also featured an open promenade. A bandstand was added in 1885, and military bands regaled the community with daily concerts all summer and winter long. The pier s overall length reached more than 1,000 feet with extension work in 1894 and 1909.
Unfortunately, with the advent of the Second World War , Bournemouth Pier shared the fate of virtually every pier situated in the southern and eastern part of England . As a precaution against an invasion that Nazi Germany might attempt, the British military substantially demolished the pier. In August 1946, just a year after the war ended, the pier was finally repaired and reopened. More repairs and refurbishments took place in the following years. A restoration program was initiated in 1979. The program was finished two years later, and the restored pier s bridge-like appearance is retained to this day.
During World War II , the Bournemouth area played a very important role, most particularly the section of the coast both to the east and to the west of the town. Many ships that took part in the Normandy landings were launched from Poole Harbour . Just west of Poole is Studland Bay , where Allied Forces practiced live fire beach landings in preparation for the invasion of Adolf Hitler s Fortress Europe .
Unlike London , Bournemouth was not a main bombing target for Hermann Goering s Luftwaffe . Nevertheless, its residents were not spared from the wrath of the German bombs. A total of 219 local people were killed by bombs dropped by German bombers who have made it a habit to unload their spare ordinance on Bournemouth , which had the misfortune of being on the route to raids on other English towns.
Tourism in seaside towns in England may have dropped in the second half of the 20 th century, but various popular sites in and around the Bournemouth area have helped keep its tourism-based economy alive and wildly kicking. There s the New Forest , a recently-designated National Park located east of the town. Of course, there s the Dorset countryside and the beach itself. Then there s the so-called Jurassic Coast . A 95-mile section of beautiful and largely unspoiled coastline, it has recently been declared a World Heritage Site . And it s not called the Jurassic Coast for nothing: a complete geological record and abundant fossils belonging to the Jurassic period can be found there.
Now known by its slang name BoMo , Bournemouth has also figured prominently in novels penned by Thomas Hardy .
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