My best mate Natalie and I have known each other for about 18 years. We met at University through the Ballroom Dancing Society and kept in touch after I graduated. We probably really became close friends around 12 or 13 years ago and have gone on many adventures together, seeing new places, learning new things, supporting each other when times are tough, celebrating each others’ successes, carrying the drunk one home, providing much needed sage advice and getting involved in as many silly or fun things as possible.
When writing the list of 40 things, which we did during an 8-hour drive to Southport last summer, it was a given that Nat would be coming along for the ride on a lot of the adventures. I wanted to see Lincoln Christmas Market (I’d not been for 20 years) and invited Natalie to see my home town. In return, we realised that I’d never seen Nat’s heartland either. Bournemouth’s supposed to be a beautiful place, especially in the summer (voted best beach in the UK in 2012 and has consistently featured in the top 10 every year) – yet I’ve never been there. So onto the list it went.
Agreeing a date was difficult, but we managed to find a clear weekend at the end of July when neither of us were rushing off to other stuff, and so tootled down to the coast. Or at least, we crawled slowly in torrential rain!
The day started off badly, I was aiming to be at Nat’s for 10:30 but pulling out of my street, ran over a screw so had a flat tyre. Luckily for me, a mechanic was walking past at that exact moment and changed my tyre for me, what a hero! A quick trip to the tyre fitters and I was off again with a new tyre.
The downpour had abated by the time we arrived at Christchurch, the first stop on our journey. We looked around the quaint town, taking in the shops and restaurants and admiring the buildings. We stopped for lunch at a lovely pub called soho, after being told of over an hour’s wait at the first two we tried, apparently so popular you need to book! Nat commented that the town’s become a lot more trendy recently! It was practically hipster with little boutique coffee shops and shops packed with curios.
We visited the Priory, the source of the town’s name. Originally a Saxon town named Twynham, the Normans built the priory on the site of an old church. By the 12th century some stories of miracles surrounding the church had arisen which eventually led to the town becoming known as Christchurch. The Priory is enormous, almost as long as Westminster Cathedral, and has some stunning stained glass windows and statues. We were especially impressed with a beautiful epitaph written about a woman who died in 1815 – unusual in that it lauded her accomplishments rather than beauty or function as a wife/mother.
We had a bit of a wander around the castle ruins and then moseyed along the river to see the Ducking Stool. Engraved on the stool is a poem: “Of members ye tonge is worst or best – an yll tonge oft doeth breed unrest” – Apparently ducking was a common punishment for scolds (nagging wives)!
After Christchurch we drove past Nat’s old school on our way to Bournemouth seafront. Blowy, but simply beautiful!
Heading into Bournemouth itself, we visited “Cropp Corner” (a bit of road/street planning that Nat drew when on work experience, that got actually built in real life!) then down to the pier. We relived our Vegas moments with a few goes in the amusement arcades and I had a go on a helter skelter (never done one before!) Yep, stupid idea. So I’m terrified of heights and I climb up this rickety thing and brick it all the way down. Horrible.
Finally we went out for a curry at the Taj Mahal Westbourne. Wow, just amazing food, and dishes we’d never heard of! Alongside the usual Korma and Bhuna were dishes such as Sally, Kalayani and Asari – all super tasty… honestly I have never enjoyed a curry as much. 100% recommended!
Finally we turned in for the night, being kindly hosted by Nat’s brother and courtesy of her parents’ room.
The next day dawned fairly dry and we headed into Poole. After checking out all the fancy boats and we hopped on the ferry to Brownsea Island. Site of the first Scout camp and now a National Trust preserve, we joined a guided tour in the hope of learning much more about the island and the amazing work of Robert Baden-Powell. Our National Trust guide was about 100 years old and knew lots about the island (weirdly not much about plants!) It was a bit slow going but very informative!
It started raining just as we set off to head home around 4-ish. Final little detour to see Sandy Balls *snigger* and then home. Highlights from the journey home were steam powered tractors and a drive-thru Costa. You have never seen me so happy as when I got that coffee!
I had a brilliant time in Bournemouth and whilst the weather wasn’t exactly beach-worthy, it was still absolutely beautiful and well worth the visit. In some ways I was glad it wasn’t too hot or the beach would have been swarming and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it quite as much!
It’s also really interesting to see the roots of someone important to me, it helps put into context all those myriad life experiences that they had which shaped them and made them who they are today.
For more information:
- Christchurch Priory
- Taj Mahal Westbourne – brilliant curry!
- Brownsea Island
40 things... 