Stationmaster Alex Nelson has been suggesting places to go by train each month and for October, he takes a look around Poole.
For several years we had a booking clerk at Chester-le-Street by the name of David Poole and I took him once to his ancestral town for an event at Bournemouth University, which despite the name is mostly located in adjoining Poole. As I recall, we returned by car through the night Ð not as good as the railway. By train from the north east, it is possible to go direct via Birmingham to Southampton Central or Bournemouth, and take another train into Poole. Alternatively, it is often faster and cheaper to travel via London, into King’s Cross and out of Waterloo with South West Trains into Poole.
I travelled again to Poole in September and travelled via London, arriving in Poole mid-afternoon with a First Class Advance ticket from Clapham Junction (with Annual Gold Card discount) following a visit to Southern Railway which has been hit by troubles recently. Poole station only has two platforms and not much cover and has been subject to development plans for years, but it is central and has a level crossing nearby which bisects the High Street which is quite unusual. I can only think of one other town, Paignton in Devon, which has a similar arrangement.
Poole is the headquarters of the RNLI, the Lifeboats charity, and they have a well-equipped training facility with a 60 room hotel attached. This is for training lifeboat crews throughout the country, but, if not all rooms are required, the general public can book in to the Training College and enjoy what is now the #1 hotel in Poole on TripAdvisor. The bedrooms all have a view of the harbour and a proper study area as well as a bedroom, and for reasonable rates too. And what other hotel invites you to board a lifeboat simulator and head off into the waves from Dover Harbour to see a ship on fire in the busy shipping lanes? I was holding on tight until I realised there was no needÉ
The photograph shows some of the RNLI training dinghies and on the right is the new Shannon Class lifeboat constructed in Poole for Amble in Northumberland. It is being prepared for its voyage to its new home, and is due to arrive in Amble on October 12th. Nowadays the RNLI builds its own lifeboats since the few boatbuilders that survive are mostly building pleasure craft. A modern lifeboat is more akin to a warship than a pleasure craft and finding no suitable boatbuilders for its modern designs, the RNLI has taken to building them itself.
Poole is a busy port town with ships sailing to France and to the Channel Islands, as well as pleasure boats sailing to local islands, one of which is Brownsea Island. Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell, a war hero from the Boer War, wanted to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys. Boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Recognised as the world’s first Scout camp, the event is regarded as the real origin of the worldwide Scout movement. As a result, the local scout troops are the oldest established in the country.
Poole also boasts one of the most expensive housing areas in the UK. Sandbanks was developed from holiday bungalows which were demolished and replaced with mansions for millionaires. There are many pubs and restaurants in the Old Town area, mostly with a nautical theme. Certainly one of the more interesting towns on the south coast.
