 Bournemouth Town Hall
Bournemouth Town Hall
Bournemouth is located directly to the east of the "Jurassic Coast", a 95 mile section of beautiful and largely unspoilt coastline recently designated a World Heritage Site. Apart from the beauty of much of the coastline, the Jurassic Coast provides a complete geological record of the Jurassic period and a rich fossil record.
The section of the coast both to the east and to the west of Bournemouth was very important during Coventry) and German bombers were known to unload their spare bombs on the town; 219 local people were killed by bombing during the war.
Just east of Bournemouth is the New Forest, designated a National Park in 2005. These popular tourist sites, as well as the Dorset countryside and the beach, have helped keep Bournemouth's tourism based economy alive through the second half of the 20th century when tourism in seaside towns declined.
Bournemouth is in Hardy country, and is Sandbourne in Thomas Hardy's novels. Tess lived in Sandbourne with Alec d'Urberville, and the town also features in The Well-Beloved and Jude the Obscure.
Bournemouth is a unitary authority area, and is included within the lieutenancy area of Dorset. Traditionally in Hampshire, Bournemouth was annexed to Dorset by the Local Government Act 1972, before becoming a unitary authority in 1997.
Bournemouth has a large student population and many young people are drawn there by its extensive nightlife. Its slang name in these circles is BoMo.
Bournemouth is known throughout the United Kingdom for its extensive nightlife,including a large gay and lesbian scene. The town has many nightclubs and pubs, most of which have taken advantage of the recent change in licensing laws to stay open after the traditional pub closing time.
Transport
The area of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch shows increasing congestion and some roads are very busy all day.
There is no motorway within the county of Dorset, although there is dual carriageway from Bournemouth Town Centre to the A31 dual carriageway leading to the M27 and London. Fast access may also be gained to the M4 north of Newbury, Berkshire.
Glasgow. Flightlink serves Heathrow Airport with connections to Gatwick and Stansted Airports.
Bournemouth is well served by the rail network with two stations in the town, Chichester, Worthing, Hove and Brighton are served and trains continue to Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.
Frankfurt (Hahn). 2005 saw the advent of new operators basing themselves at the airport offering an even wider range of European destinations. The airport found fame in February 2006 when explorer Steve Fossett landed here following his successful attempt to fly around the world in his plane "Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer".
Bournemouth does not have its own harbour, but there are extensive ferry services to the Poole). During summer, fast cat services operate to Cherbourg, Guernsey and Jersey, making it possible to enjoy the "booze cruise" that is more typically associated with the Kentish ports of Dover and Folkestone.
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