OAsk a committed surfer if he fancies visiting Boscombe Pier, and he’d probably respond by saying something like, “Killa Warra! I’m gonna grab ma’ beef, check out the shark chuffers, and hopefully not get bullwinkled!” That’s because the phat waves of Boscombe give these grinning, unintelligible wave-jockeys an uncut hit of pure ‘surf nirvana’. It’s a pity that some of this childlike excitement isn’t directed at the pier itself – unfortunately, much of it has been closed to the public for over 10 years.

Boscombe Pier was opened to hearty, drunken cheers on the 29th of July, 1889, by a simpering Duke of Argyll. The robust but plain pier was believed by some to lack entertainment value, so the Boscombe Pier Company put a 65 ft whale skeleton on it. The kids loved it, and it remained on the pier for several years. Eventually it began to annoy people, so it was removed and ground down to be used as fertiliser.

Like many of Britain’s piers, Boscombe was initially a wood and iron structure. However, over the years both the neck and head have been rebuilt using reinforced concrete – much to the hand-wringing chagrin of pier traditionalists. To make up for this, Bournemouth Corporation built both a theatre (‘The Mermaid’) and a restaurant at the pier head in 1962. The theatre was actually a skating rink owned by Cleethorpes Amusements, who turned it into an amusement arcade 3 years later. Today it is closed to the public and used by the council to keep things in.

Despite this, many locals have high hopes for the future of Boscombe Pier. A sneak peek at some of the council’s brainstorming sessions reveal plans for “the front of the pier to be turned into a Mediterranean-style piazza … [with] tailor-made annual events such as lantern processions.” In addition, serious thought is being given to building an artificial reef – the “Boscombe Pier Reef”, as it would be known. This would delight the surfer types, and at the same time (according to environmental eggheads) help to prevent coastal erosion far better than the traditional wooden groynes. [Pier Talk: groyne (noun), a timber framework or low broad wall built out from a shore to check erosion of a beach.]

Check out the Boscombe pier surfcam at www.sortedboardriders.co.uk/surfcam.htm

Did You Know?

Boscombe Pier is an enroute stop for the summertime open top buses running between Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth and Alum Chine.

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