MOVING TO BOURNEMOUTH/SOUTHBOU RNE

I lived in London and know people who moved to the Bournemouth area. Sadly they have now passed away but my daughters went to university in Birmingham and got married and now work there.
Sadly my wife passed away and I finished up in Birmingham on retirement as I did not want to be on my own.
Going back to Bournemouth one of my friends rented a house in Bournemouth for a few months and bought a bungalow just outside Christchurch and another purchased a bungalow in Wimbourne.
They both said that Bournemouth was too crowded in summer and they thought it was nice to live within a bus ride of the sea but not to live by it.
I would certainly not recommend one of the high rise flats on the front in Bournemouth.
I stayed in one for a week in winter overlooking the sea and did not like it at all.
Oddly my friends liked the area but they said they only went in to Bournemouth about twice a year and did not go and look at the sea on most visits.
They liked Llandudno and spent many holidays there in a hotel room overlooking the sea.

Frank

Excuse me I live on the West Cliff in Bournemouth Hunter and it's a great place to live. The beaches do get crowded in the summer but there are plenty of beaches that aren't. Southbourne beaches are relatively uncrowded because of its distance from the Pier and centre of town. We have found that the usual holiday maker likes to be near to the facilities so prefers hunkering down with loads of other people. I'm a 10 minute walk from the sea, if I walk straight down, crowded beach - however a walk to the right and a few beaches along fairly peaceful. Our summer season is short so the rest of the year the beaches are great. You also have the whole of lovely Dorset to play in, including the Purbecks and the New Forest . Bournemouth is the biggest town, isn't that big, so you can imagine the size of towns like Dorchester. The countryside is beautiful and varied. Southbourne Margaret is a nice area with some lovely houses and flats, good little shopping street with lots of local shops.
I've lived all other world including Geneva and New York. When my ex and I parted I came back here to be near his mother in Bournemouth. After NY it seemed very old fashioned. However, my children then aged 5 and 8, loved it and I came to love it very much. I made a good decision.
One week in the winter? No wonder you didn't like it. Try a lovely warm day in June, walking along the proms with the other locals enjoying the views, nice cafes and an empy beach. Any other help I can give you Margaret send me a private message. There aren't many Dorset GNers so you could join us for a meet up one day. We will certainly meet up in Bournemouth.

I second doresetpennt, I don't live in Bournemouth but have a timeshare there it's a great place, possibly it would get busy in summer as the beaches are lovely really sandy with wooded backdrops. I tend to visit out of high season. I particularly love the Westbourne area that has it's own high street. There always seems to be lots of different types of property on offer on Right Move. Again I am reiterating doresetpennt loads of lovely places on the doorstep, The Isle of Purbeck, Swanage, Dorchester and the New Forest

Go for it!It is a lovely area although the town itself is not what it used to be:stag and hen parties most week-ends and Friday nights by the pier can be a bit raucous.Southbourne looks lovely but I know Westbourne and Durley Chine better and they are delightful.My 3 children have jointly bought a flat at Durley Chine 2 minutes walk from the sea to escape the stresses of the Reading area and my daughter especially uses it a lot as for the twins it is heaven to be so near the sea.If you are planning to downsize it is good as we find we can leave all the stresses of a big house and garden behind as housework can be done in a flash.

With regard to area,it really depends on where you are coming from and your life in London is probably very different from ours in the Berkshire countryside .We are not even on a bus route here but to be able to get on and off buses using our bus pass is a real treat and they are so frequent and never crowded.Swanage,Wimborne,the New Forest,Poole,Salisbury etc.are easily accessible by just hopping on a bus. We can walk to the cinema and theatre in less than half an hour.The sea front is not crowded if you go to the chines and if you have children, the beach is sandy and safe.Alum Chine is a favourite of ours and there is a paddling pool and a park area there with swings.I sound a bit like a brochure but I really like it there and we would have retired there (my DH comes from Wimborne )if it hadn't been for the fact that our 3 children and their families all live within 10 miles of us now (the middle one moved back from London last year ) and we feel that family is more important than area.

Hadn't, read the 2 messages above when I posted (I type very slowly !! ) but we seem to agree.I'm all for a meet-up sometime!

Thank you so much to all who took the time to reply to my query. We are planning to have another look at the area this week so the comments were very helpful - if we do decide to move I would love to meet up with other GNs and will be in touch.

Bananas and Gorki next time you visit private message me I live in Westbourne!! it is a nice little area - almost a village in fact. A lovely coffee shop has opened in competition with Starbucks and Costa. It has a branch in Winton and one in Southbourne - super popular with a funky interior it's our favourite. We could go there for coffee. Re the buses to Swanage and Salisbury, we do go using our passes of course BUT in the high season both buses get very crowded. However, do what the locals do and avoid stuff like that from June to end September. There are stag and hen dos and they have in somepart ruined Bournemouth town centre at night, but they do bring in much needed cash. We are a holiday town afterall. Where I live only a 20 minute walk through 'The Gardens' to the town centre - we don't have any of that at all. I think most towns have been spoilt by this binge drinking ethic. BTW the Imax on the sea front is almost completely down - should be just a gaping hole/lovely view of Poole Bay by the summer. Look forward to meeting you all.

dorsetpennt will do, middle of May is my week. I do agree about the hen and stag dos our apartment is on the East Cliff. Having made the mistake of having a meal in Bournemouth itself on a Friday night we now avoid the town centre like the plague, particularly week-ends when it becomes quite feral such a shame. Drinking does little to enhance most of our UK town centres. Happily you are out in lovely Westbourne which is probably too quiet for them.

Visited a friend in Christchurch last year and thought what a nice place it is.

dorsetpennt Great idea! I can pop down virtually anytime and a meet-up would be a good excuse .Could time it for when BAnanas is there in mid May.I agree that Westbourne is lovely:a nice flat walk for me or I can hop on a bus.It feels a very safe and friendly place .Bournemouth Gardens are lovely too and ,apart from July and August, when you have to be careful not to get mown down by bikes along the "prom",the area has a lot going for it.I can see why you like living there dorsetpennt.

DH worked in Bournemouth/Poole for 9 years from 2001-2010 but we didn't move as I had my job here. However I loved going down for weekends- partly to save him the drive back on Friday nights but also becasue I love the area. I particluarly liked where he lived in Westbourne, also Christchurch, Wimborne, and Ringwood on the edge (I think) of the New Forest. I wish we could have afforded to buy a flat there and kept it on after he had to give up work through ill health, but . Still like going down to visit friends in Dorset and to go to the Light house in Poole especially for the New Year's Day Gala concerts. Good luck - good choice!

I think it is individual tastes.
I can understand why some like Bournemouth for living in and why some like to be located outside.

dorsetpennt

I did not go to Bournemouth in the middle of winter out of choice.
I went on a course in Bournemouth and the company rented a flat for us to stay in which overlooked the sea.
I think it was in February.
It was serviced etc but I think it would have been better to stay in a hotel.

Frank