between 1954 and 1962 I used to spend a fortnight with my aunt in Bournemouth. Then it was a lovely place. Fine gardens, wide avenues, a pleasant beach. I have many happy memories. By 1980 it had been wrecked by corrupt councillors - developers who got themselves elected on to the council, and forced through a raft o really unsuitable developments, including a bypass that went through the centre of town. These days we never visit, although it is only 40 miles away (the hospital is excellent, though)

There are a few things that you missed out in this. I used to work on the Beach and in the early 2000s the council decided to fixate on what they called the 'Nighttime economy'. They wanted the stag and hen parties to come to Bournemouth but the downside of that was families stopped coming because of the large groups of drunk people. The 'party' crowd are not the ones using the shops so they suffered. Families that i had seen every year told me that would no longer come because of it. Now add in that Central Government (When the Tory party started their austerity drive) cut local government funding by around 50% meaning the local councils were somehow supposed to cover the shortfall. Finally we have the missmanagment of the council, they blew millions on a surf reef that never worked by a company that had never built a working surf reef (and were in the middle of a case for another failed surf reef).

This ai voice gets on my nerves, endless repetition of the same facts.

Government policies like pedestrianisation, the University ,HMOs ,Ruthless taxation on shops and dumping  drug takers for rehab in the town because it was not a Labour constuency killed it.I grew up there and I never go back it's too depressing

In 1995 I lived in an old hotel called Tregonwell house on Tregonwell road in Bournemouth. 🇬🇧

Used to go a lot in late 80's to early 90's then went in 2019, couldnt believe the difference and not for the better

LoL. Nobody wants to visit the south coast anymore? Is that why locals fear  being unable to park their cars when they return home from work, why beach car parks are full by 10 am, and why we avoid driving anywhere during school holidays if we can help it.

Beales closed its last remaining department store at the Dolphin Centre in Poole, Dorset, on May 31, 2025 so, its not functioning as stated.

I can assure you that, as someone who has lived in the area all my life and studied the history of the town, his name is pronounced 'Tre - gone -well', not 'Tregun - well' and I have never heard of 'Percy Bye Shuh Shelley'. AI slop.

I love it here

I've read through the comments here. You all have valid viewpoints. Facts are though, there is gang controlled begging on the high streets and throughout other areas of Bournemouth. It is not homelessness, it is organised crime. I have met plenty true homeless and they do not beg. They fade into the background, some being ashamed that they cannot work or make an income. I get off the bus and have people ask me for money, 50p for petrol or bus fare. Then I see their mates sitting on the wall outside drinking strong cider. I have witnessed groups parking in local car parks and setting out their patches for the day, others outside The Ivy working out their routine for the day. Others drop by in cars and collect their begging proceeds. If I know these people, local agencies must, but make no effort to close them down. My colleagues and I have been threatened with violence as a result of asking people not to expose themselves in public- defecating in public areas. High street areas are patrolled by teens who have not grown up but are let loose to harrass adults. I now work outside of Bournemouth town centre, and while I enconter theft and ASB, it's nowhere near the level in Bournemouth square. When I moved here Bournemouth seemed to be a great place. Then Tony Blair decided to rehome people 'with needs' to Conservative areas (not that we are now, and there are weeds in the street because of our lazy council, although it must be said that road sweepers went by at around 20 mph so never really cleared anything). But the legacy of moving drug users and habitual thieves to the South Coast is costing. For my money close all high street stores and let them go online. That will at least reduce store front theft. For those that remain on the high street, one theft should be a hand removal. A second theft should be sterilisation so that they cannot produce offspring  that will continue to steal. Bournemouth is a cesspit now. I initially thought that the BCP project would bring savings, but, like Blair's devolution project, it has only added bureacracy- although I expect that was his intention, bigger government. Perhaps the BCP should be broken up as it is clearly unable to deal with the challenges facing it.

I don't think Skerryvore was still standing in 1958, it was destroyed by a bomb during the war, in November 1940. Today it is an open space.

Bournemouth, Poole, and Christchurch's Lib-Dem leaning council has spent millions on cycle lanes and anti-car road planning, yet extorting anyone who finally gets to the town and actually wants to park their car. Bournemouth town centre is awash with homeless people and drug problems. Retail units are being abandoned en-masse, and the whole place is beginning to look grimy and unloved. There is no plan or effort to help the situation. The former waterside gem of Poole Park has had one of its entrances arbitrarily closed against the wishes of residents, and the marine lake is now so neglected there's nothing much left but a vast stinking algal bloom. I have lived here for 40 years and I am ashamed of the place.

It's TRE GON WELL

I thought there were more Londoners coming down for a holiday than Brummies.

Many of thiose so very critical of Bournemouth now have no idea what life is like in the industrial Midlands and further North. Why don't you book a long weekend in Middlesbrough and then complain about what a 'hellhole' Bournemouth is?

What this video, when commenting on Bournemouth today, does not cover, is the following, which must have a direct link to falling visitor numbers.
The town is now notorious for rough sleepers, beggars, the intoxicated and the drugged, making a nuisance of themselves, and making unacceptable types of contacts with visitors and locals. BCP council do not appear to have made any effort to control this behaviour, and it is not directly linked with asylum seekers. If Bournemouth hopes to increase its visitor numbers, then this problem must be solved, regardless of their financial problems. Increased visitor numbers will help to increase BCP revenue, which with the debt level stated in this video, they desperately need.

Give it a rest. Bournemouth's problems are like the rest of the country brought about by the economic change to a service economy by one Margaret Thatcher.

Lol indeed. WHY???? such lovely folk frequent now.🤮🤮

Rubbsh! Bournemouth was full of visitors this year. Iv'e lived here for 20 years and seen the beaches get more crowded. Like a lot of towns, online shopping and high business rates has meant a lot of shops are closing and the high street is depressing. Exorbitant parking costs doesn't help either. Like other seaside towns, Bournemouth  has a poverty industry and runs a series of HMOs,  mainly in Boscombe , a former spa town, which has brought a lot of mentally ill homeless. Greedy redevelopment has also blighted the town ridding it of much loved venues such as the Winter Gardens, and its many lovely Victorian  and Edwardian houses.  But Westbourne and Southbourne are thriving, and people tend to go to either for their  evenings out .