donna

keep that in mind Mark maybe you can suggest some, as I hate taking a gamble we stayed in nice clean B&B in Stratford on Avon last year , but Ive got now that Im dubious ot take the chance and go for a Premier Lodge but that misses out on lovely countryside doesnt it.

Jackdaw

In my childhood I lived in a very nice part of Bournemouth, Talbot Heath, and we were only a bus ride away from the whole of the coast from Christchurch to Weymouth.
This is a particularly interesting part of the south-coast, and Bournemouth in particular, still has the beautiful sands that I remember from years back.
It's also now got a few more pubs, thankfully!
Recommended to all who enjoy a British seaside holiday.

Steve Crook

There's a lot more to Wales than "the valleys" which is a thin strip on the south coast and the Conwy/Llandudno areas which is a thin strip on the north coast. There's the whole of the west coast and the whole of the interior

Steve

Steve Crook

Cottage lets and small family hotels and B&Bs are usually much better than any corporate chain hotel

Steve

samkydd

Having been a resident of Bournemouth for many years I can honestly say I would never want to leave. I have lived in many other parts of the country and abroad and to be honest, nothing compares!

Years ago it had the reputation of being more hip op than hip-hop, but it's a cosmopolitan conurbation incorporating Poole and Christchurch, attracting 10,000 residential foreign students plus many international visitors on holiday. It has easy access to some beautiful countryside like The New Forest, The Purbecks and The Jurassic Coast and living here we just don't really want to travel too far from home because everything is on the doorstep.

In recent years we've had the influx of binge-drinking, hen party slappers and stag party drunken office worker weekenders puking up on the streets and generally being a nuisance, but that's because the council have opened the flood gates for many trendy bars and clubs to open up since 1995 with the inevitable Ibiza type pisshead mentality!

It was a cheap place to live when we first came but now, as with many UK towns, it's just silly money to buy a house or flat. The day I moved here was the happiest day of my life, and I will always be thankful that I made the right decision! Even after so many years I still walk around with a broad grin on my face and I love to see visitors enjoying themselves on holiday!

The beaches are seven miles of golden sand and Blue Flag Award winners, and better than most I've experienced travelling around parts of the world. Okay well one I went to in Sierra Leone was pretty amazing apart from the mines, but there were no ice cream vendors or a Punch and Judy show so it wasn't all that good!

The down side with Bournemouth is that the wages are crap for most people compared with other parts of the south like Basingstoke or Bracknell say, and so working away from home is common and often necessary to earn a decent crust. The express to Waterloo is only one hour fifty minutes so many work in The City and do the daily commute. The other downside is that "Bournemouth stifles ambition" and as soon as the sun comes out many people skive off work and pull a sicky to go down the beach and play!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

BristolUK

Funny.
Wasn't it Lee Evans who made the comment about the bifocal shop windows?

dremble wedge

So it's only 20 mins nearer to London by train than Manchester?

I really need to sort my Southern geography out.

Torquay is my resort of choice, although Brighton is brilliant too!

samkydd

Yes, a very old gag from before Lee Evans was born I think, and all the benches on the sea front stink of pee! Yesterday reached about 28C and was so hot that some old ladies resorted to wearing just one overcoat!

I've never been to Manchester by train so I don't know, but I think they have slick looking Virgin trains on some of those routes whereas we have South West Trains which can be a combination of either slick looking models, or rickety and ridiculous. I used to drive to Hammersmith on a daily commute and it was exactly 100.5 miles door to door. I could park just over the bridge in Barnes free of charge, and if I caught the traffic right it used to take an hour and forty five minutes to drive home.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

CaptainWaggett

Indeed. For years my grandmother used to return any letters addressed to her in Dorset rather than Hampshire with NOT KNOWN written on them. She was, of course, completely bonkers though.

dremble wedge

The South is a foreign country, they do things differently there...

scholes

A big thumbus upus for Dorset.A very well kept secret indeed, and Corfe Castle provided a fitting location for Mike Leigh's 'Nuts in May'. Simply brilliant.

samkydd

The last time I walked around Corfe Castle I bumped into Christopher Ecclestone with his mum and dad, seems a really nice chap. He was Dr Who at the time and yet none of the kids there even recognised him!

One of the most enjoyable day things to do when the weather is fine is to get the foot ferry from Bournemouth Pier across to Swanage then have lunch at The Parade Fish Bar on the front. After meandering around the souvenir tat shops you then walk back along the coastal path to Studland/Shell Bay, jump on the chain ferry over to Sandbanks and then either walk along the beach back to Bournemouth, or if you're too knackered by then, hop on an open top bus to get back home. Fantastic, and in weather like we've been having lately you're guaranteed to come back with a Mediterranean tan!

Apart from the cost of the ferry, the fish and chips and the bus home, the best things in life like this are usually free!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

scholes

Indeed Sam, indeed. You could almost envisage a group of smugglers sauntering into one of the taverns off the cobbled streets of Lyme Regis.

samkydd

Over the years I've built up a collection of seaside resort brochures and pamphlets, mostly picked up at car boots and charity shops. Some are as old as the 1950s, and packed with information on local hotels, boarding houses and entertainments on offer. The photographs are terrific and go back to the days before the average English family took off in aircraft to holiday in sunnier climes, and it's amazing to see how packed the promenades and beaches were.

I've got two on Eastbourne one from the 60s and the other from the 1973, and it looked an amazing place with so much on offer and 2 star hotel "terms" from just £13.00 per week! Last time I went to Eastbourne we just fancied a drive up the coast one day and stopped for breaks at Bognor, Newhaven, Brighton and Eastbourne. Unfortunately Bognor looked as though they must have been ashamed of its Victorian heritage and looks like much of it has been demolished and replaced with 70s bland architecture, and Eastbourne looked a bit worse for wear and neglect compared with the photographs in the brochures, and many of the grander buildings no longer seem to be hotels!

Things move on and we become more sophisticated in our needs and so sadly many traditional resorts no longer attract the families en masse like they used to. This is a real shame because older people who visit English seaside resorts now remember fondly their childhood memories of holidays spent there, but they have in some cases gone down hill and the quaint Britishness and feeling of well being has almost disappeared.

It's also too expensive to stay in hotels in many resorts in this country, so an all-in package holiday to Spain or somewhere similar is possibly the only economical option for many people.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

orpheum

What about the ghastly eyesore on the front,the Imax cinema.Last i knew it was struggling,is it still open?If not they should bulldoze it.The council had to be out of their tiny minds to give planning permission for that monstrosity!

Welcome To Highbury The Home Of Football