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Boscombe
Boscombe maps
Historic maps of Boscombe and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Boscombe maps
Boscombe area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about Boscombe and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Boscombe
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Boscombe.
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A 1969 Student
For a very enjoyable year I lived at no 17 in Florence Road, a turning halfway down to the beach and off Sea road in Boscombe (see photo). I became one of the first persons in the country to study for a Higher National Diploma in Tourism. My college was then called Bournemouth College of Technology, situated at the Lansdowne, Bournemouth. One of my classmates was John Donaldson who went on to be the Head of Thomas Cook's, the International Travel Agent.
Sailing Leaf Boats
I was born in August 1939, my brother was born in 1936, we lived at 5 The Crescent, Boscombe and my brother and I used to walk down Old Christchurch Road to the lake in Boscombe gardens quite frequently. We used to try and get the bamboo leaves that came from the island in the lake. If we got one we would push the stalk bit through the leaf and sail them as boats, how innocent and safe it was then even though the war was on. After sailing the boats we would go and play in the pond in the front grounds of the Lido in Old Christchurch Road as we made our way back home. Grand days for kids our age.
14th Bournemouth Cub Scouts (St Saviour's)
I moved to Bournemouth in 1954 when my dad got a job there with Williams Deacons Bank. He bought a house at 84 Petersfield Road, Boscombe. I went to Southbourne Junior School which was about two miles away so most of my friends were the ones I met in the cub pack at the St Saviour's church hall - the 14th Bournemouth.
It was great fun - I was just 8 when I started so they taught me to catch a ball, go for long cycle rides, to skip, to play 'wide games' in the fields and to explore the area. There was so much that we eight and nine year olds could do together on light summer evenings. Sometimes we went as far as Boscombe Pier!
Our cubmaster was Mr Babcock and he had a son in the cubs too. I wonder where all those boys are now as we must all be senior citizens now!
Youth Club And Cadets
I have had some wonderful memories brought back to me durting the last few days. I attended St George's Youth Club for a number of years and had great fun at Christmas when we produced a pantomime in the Church Hall.
I spent several summer holidays working at the Overstrand, washing up, clearing tables and eventually selling sandwiches, coffee etc. at exhorbitant prices.
My brother played euphonium, trumpet and eventually trombone in the silver band, later leaving home to join the Royal Artillery at Woolwich as a bandsman. He also played cello for his orchesteral appearances. One year he and a mate brought the house down at a parents concert by playing tea for two on harmonising teapots with mouth pieces in the spouts.
Another memory has just popped up, not strictly Boscombe, I was in the CCF at Bournemouth Scool and our annual camp in 1966 was in Germany when England won the World Cup.
Most years the Youth Club had a... Read more
38A Keswick Road, Boscombe
My parents Evelyn and Tom Williams rented this flat from the owners on the ground floor from 1961-1962. It was a lovely place with a marvelous view of the cliff top.
Woodland Avenue
My parents Evelyn and Tom Williams purchased a Guest House on Woodland Avenue around 1946-7 while I was just a toddler.
Dorset memories
Summer of 64
In June 1964 a group of us Belfast grammar school boys crossed the sea to Liverpool and took the long coach journey south to spend the school summer vacation working in the Bournemouth beach cafes.
Three of us shared a bedroom at Pat and Alvin's, a short bus ride from the town centre. Our "digs" cost just £1.10s a week each, out of a wage of £5 at the beach cafes. The cafe provided lunch and in the evening we dined at the Golden Griddle in the Square. We all smoked in those days and were able to buy clothes out of our pay packets:the fashions that summer were bell-bottom jeans, pink shirts and grey crewnecks. We grew our school regulation short-back-and sides down to our shoulders.
In the two months we stayed in Bournemouth it rained one afternoon, that was all. Of course we were incarcerated in the dark steamy wash-ups of the cafe during the blazing daytime hours. But the... Read more
