Throwback Thursday's: Bournemouth, UK
Hello Steemians,
It's Thursday! Almost the end of the working week (if you work the standard Monday to Friday), but it also means it's another edition of 'Throwback Thursday's' by @travelling-two. We thought we would keep it on the same theme of places that we have lived in before we venture into our travel experiences. So, why not go right back to where Becca and Sam met.
Source - Bournemouth Beach - seven miles of white sand
Bournemouth? Where is that? Well, luckily, due to the football (soccer) team, who find themselves playing in the Premier League for their third season, the town has become more globally known. And yes, it's that team that beat Arsenal 2-1 at home last weekend!
Source - AFC Bournemouth beating Arsenal F.C. (2-1) on the 14th of January 2018
Bournemouth (or BoMo) is located on the south coast in the south-west of England (Dorset is the county), about 2.5-3 hours drive from London taking the M3 (the motorway to the south of England). Despite gaining some more exposure in the recent years, its name gets lost amongst the other famous seaside towns in England such as Brighton, Blackpool, Southampton and Portsmouth. On the face of it, it's your standard English seaside town like the others, but to us it was more than that. It was our home for four years!
Located on the south-coast of England - about 2.5-3 hour drive from London
On a night like many nights in your first year of University, we met during 'pre-drinks' (a stage before going out clubbing, where you casually or quickly get drunk usually through drinking games). We knew two mutual friends and we were playing drinking games in their flat. Ring of Fire/King's Cup, anyone? We briefly talked to each other and that was it. The same thing would happen in our 2nd, 3rd and 4th year. No meaningful conversations and life just went by. However, it wouldn't be until almost a year and a half after we left University that we would start dating. Yet, even though we did not spend precious time together whilst we lived in Bournemouth, we had our own adventures and both fell in love with this seaside town.
Source - Bournemouth Beach with Bournemouth Pier in the sunshine!
It was your typical British seaside town, where you have around half the population being over 60 years old - pensioners (retired). Dotted around the town, you can find retirement homes and shelter housing, but Bournemouth was changing its face when we arrived. Companies like JP Morgan and LV (Liverpool Victoria) had offices in Bournemouth and therefore more working professionals started living in the area. Our University was gaining reputation and throughout our time there, three new halls of residence were built to catch up with the demand. On top of that, other academic establishments, like language schools were bringing in an in-flux of foreign students to study English here. Bournemouth was finally getting a make-over.
Source - Sunny day in Bournemouth with a view of the Pier
The winters were cold and dull whilst the summers were hot and amazing. "The English have summers?" were the typical responses when we told foreign friends about this lovely town in the summer. Believe it or not, but when the sun was shining in the summer, there would be at least 10,000 people by the beach. Basically, the whole University was there and not in class. And why not? The beach was miles and miles of white sand. You need to enjoy it at its best. It's not like Brighton or Blackpool, where you have a pebbled or muddy beach (no offense). We will hand it to them, they have a better pier with entertainment. Bournemouth has a proper beach to sun bathe, surf (not big waves), play beach games, cook a BBQ and to run/jog/walk along. In our last year, there was a heatwave in England and over 120,000 people visited Bournemouth over the course of a weekend. The article can be found here. The town would usually expect those numbers when it puts on its annual Bournemouth Air Festival in late August/early September.
Source - Bournemouth Air Festival takes place every year on August Bank Holiday Weekend
There wasn't much to do in the city centre during the day. You had your typical high street with shops, banks cafes and restaurants. The main high street would lead to Bournemouth Square, where from time to time, there would be small festivals or events. Nestled between Bournemouth Square and the beach was Bournemouth Lower Gardens (yes, there was an upper garden too - above the Square), a place to breathe in nature and watch the squirrels play. There was a cinema and other entertainment facilities like laser quest. However, with the student population growing within the University, the nights were a different affair. We would go out every single night of the week as a different club would have 'their student night'. At the end of every night (if you weren't home already ;) ), we would grab ourselves a cheeky midnight snack - chicken burger, fried chicken, cheesy chips/fries, kebabs or whatever was your hunger filler. Soon enough, those seven days of clubbing started to wear off fast, and by our final year, going out was seen as a treat.
Source - Clubbing in Cameo, one of many clubs in Bournemouth
The area surrounding Bournemouth is beautiful too. When Sam finally passed his driving license and got his first car (a little yellow VW Beetle - beauty!), he explored more of the area, especially towards the Jurassic Coast. Yes, it is linked to Jurassic Park, but not in terms of filming, but in value. Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site due to the abundance of preserved fossils dating back to pre-historic ages (e.g. dinosaurs). The most iconic picture taken along the Jurassic Coast must be where you can see Durdle Door. It's a natural limestone arch, but placed in a picturesque setting.
Source - Durdle Door near Lulworth along the Jurassic Coast
As most of you know, London is a pretty expensive place to buy retail estate, but did you know there was a place nearby Bournemouth where houses cost over £1 million?
Source - Sandbanks in Poole near Bournemouth, can fetch up real estate prices higher than London!
We are sure that anyone reading this would have had the same experience with their University town (providing you moved away from home for University). Well, maybe you liked the University, but hated the town/city it was in. Yet, in order to stay there for 3-4 years, there must have been something that made your time there special.
What was it for you?
***NOTE: We don't have any decent original photos, most of our photos are from our drunken nights out, which are funny, but not applicable for this post. All photos are sourced - link provided below each photo***
Stay Classy Steemians!
Throwback Thursday’s is a post written by the @travelling-two every Thursday to inform their followers and readers about their previous travel experiences.
Thank you for taking the time to read our post. If you really like our content, please follow us as we post regularly with different topics from Monday to Friday. How about your followers? Would they like this post? If so, please resteem it! Finally, if you are generous, please give us an Upvote! We thank you in advance! Lots of love / @travelling-two
[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 50.715048 lat -1.875916 long Throwback Thursday's: Bournemouth d3scr)
Ah the good old days :). What a beautful looking town. I'd heard of Bournmouth before but knew nothing about it until now. Looking forward to next weeks throwback ;)
Ah thanks @derekcowan! It is quite far away from Scotland, but if you have the chance, please visit the town. Best in the summer - you might even get a tan ;)
HAHA a tan. In the 3 years out of Scotland, i've managed to stay white, occasionally turning a bit pink, before returning to the pale Scotsman 😂
It must be all that body gel/soap with whitening properties that's keeping our skins white in Asia. It's quite a big thing to have 'white as snow' skin here.
Becca was expecting to get and maintain a tan within the one year she has been here, but managed to get more of a tan on our recent holiday to Ethiopia than being here. Then again, we work/study in air-con rooms for most of the day and are hardly out.
Ah Ethiopia! how was your trip? Yeah, I'm the same Sam, I'm not out in the sun much either. When I go on wee trips, i'll get a burst of freckles on my arms and legs haha
Ethiopia was great. Depending on how we sort out the photos and videos, it could be the next Throwback Thursday, otherwise we will delay it. Stay tuned!
Thanks for giving me a laugh with your crappiest place comment! It was just what I needed.
Thank you very much for your comment and upvote @anomadsoul - we are happy that it made you laugh. We need a daily laughter session. Sam and Becca make each other laugh every day, even when we are having a rough day.
We were looking at it with a different perspective - most would see it as a mess and agree it's a crappy place to sleep in. We saw it as a fun place where your friend's kid(s) will nurture their creativity and where you could have some fun too!
Stay positive, have a laugh and Steem on!
great sales pitch for Bournemouth @travelling-two you almost had me convinced :) if the artificial reef still working and has it benefited anyone?
Hey @intrepidsurfer! Bournemouth like any town has its problems with bad investment decisions such as the IMAX right at the front of the beach, which lasted around 10 years before being demolished. As for the artificial reef, yes it is another failure from the councils part of incompetence and more consulting should have been done. Yet, this has not discouraged surf schools from folding and still offer surfing lessons and paddle boarding.
thank you for the info. I did not know about the imax. I know they need huge traffic to be profitable and who has enough to pay those tickets?? I am glad there is a bit of legacy from the reef and it wasn't a complete failure.
You're welcome and thank you for your comments and engaging with us @intrepidsurfer. It's a shame about the IMAX, but the empty space that's there is now better and doesn't obstruct the view of the beach. The reef was 95% failure, but 5% hope, as long as there is hope, there is something. :) Steem on!
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I enjoyed this post so much! I feel like I took a little trip while sitting right here at my computer. Some of the photos you selected are dizzying, like the ones from the air show. Whoa! I had to avert my eyes and get my bearings again. :-)
What-- you don't want to post any pictures from your partying days?
Thanks @jayna! We are glad that we made you feel like you traveled to Bournemouth (and back). The pictures really reflect what the town is like, especially in the summer. When you are at the air show, you will watch it from the ground looking up. You'll know where your bearings are ;)
Our Uni days were when we were young and still learning to be mature. Those photos will remain on Facebook as a reminder to ourselves and close friends of the good/embarrassing times. Sorry! Hahaha 😂
This is awesome! My husband and I recently moved to London, so we need a bit of travelling inspiration and tips for UK getaways.
Welcome to London! There is so much to see in London as well as the rest of the U.K. You will be busy as there are so many places. Around the colder months, we would suggest places like Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge. To see the architecture. Spring months - countryside villages, Bath & Stonehenge and Salisbury (those three can be done in a weekend). Summer months by the seaside (Brighton and Bournemouth as well as the Cornish beaches - harder to get to - longer train rides). There's a few more places, but we are sure you are still being with London. On a sunny day, check out our old neighborhood- 'Brick Lane' on a Sunday. There is a great food/antiques/thrift market along that road as well as the lovely Columbia Flower Market, which is not far away. Go around noon and bring your appetite :)