Bournemouth (and Boscombe and Swanage) – 19-21st June 2026
Report and Photographs by Oliver Mills
This last weekend, incorporating both the Summer Solstice and Fathers’ day, was devoted to an excellent Annual General Meeting trip around Bournemouth. Adventure Attractions (a division of the Openwide Group), operators of Bournemouth Pier, provided an impeccable welcome for the Society and offered their substantial “Key West” function facilities for the programmed events over Friday and Saturday.
The weather on the Friday afternoon was fair and pleasant, showing both Bournemouth and Boscombe Piers in a somewhat gentle, sleepy light; a prevailing atmosphere which would be banished in the “peak” period over Saturday and Sunday. Another critical characteristic of this coastline, however, was the almost unbroken wildness offered by the heavily wooded cliffs on the shoreside of the Undercliff Drive (Pictured below). Aside from an interesting and varied array of beach huts (including the first purpose-built municipal beach hut, erected 1909*), and a very occasional cafe or visitor facilities building, the shoreside was solely populated with billowing bushes, wild goats, sonorous blackbirds and amorous wood pigeons. Where most other resort towns might be backed by a hard frontage of boarding houses and hotels, each with their inevitable curtain twitchings, the seafront here between the two piers enjoyed a rare quality of freedom from surveillance. In the day, the resultant atmosphere was relaxed and decidedly non-urban. Late at night, one could discern unlit assemblies of people, with barbeques and bluetooth speakers, dotted throughout the blackened beach. Cars parked along the Undercliff Drive, headlights piercing this blackness, stood in display with their lowered suspension and astonishingly noisy music. Boscombe Pier itself had been transformed, through unofficial agency, with portable disco lights placed beneath it: whether it liked it or not, it was now a flashing and luminous raving place.
*This beach hut, in early 2025, was supposedly to be demolished, along with 28 others, to enable a temporary site compound for Bournemouth’ Pier’s repair works – See BCP Council planning reference 7-2024-15059-AF.
Above: The Key West venue on Bournemouth Pier, with the distinctive geometrical plaster and concrete dome forming the seaward end of the Bournemouth Pier Theatre development (by Elisabeth Scott and the Bournemouth Borough Architects’ Department, 1960). In the Friday Evening Reception, local historian Steve “Buy my book” Roberts gave a very welcome talk about the nuances of the area formerly condensed under the Borough of Bournemouth. An especially welcome observation was that the attitude that “Bournemouth has no history” (i.e. pre-Victorian) is a myth, although over the course of the weekend I had no opportunity to see this for myself.
On Saturday morning, after members had eventually overcome the trouble in defining the meeting point “Pier Entrance” (difficult when there are three apparent entrances!) and met again at Key West, Adventure Attractions CEO Rory Holburn delivered a very thorough tour of the pier’s present-day attractions (Pictured below). This included the seaward-end funfair, which was deemed more practicable to outsource operation to a dedicated funfair operator; the Rock Reef climbing activity centre (converted from the Pier Theatre), and the very well-known PierZip. Much was said of Adventure Attractions’ relationship with BCP Council, who own the pier property, and several instances of conflict between the two parties were highlighted. Regardless, it could be seen that the pier was a lively and successful attraction, and probably a considerable degree more successful than it was 20 years ago. Much, also, was said and discussed on the conservation of architecture and traditional activities, with particular emphasis on the conversion of the Pier Theatre to the Rock Reef attraction in c.2012. Plainly, with Bournemouth also furnished by the Pavilion Theatre and the Bournemouth International Centre, the Pier Theatre had become underutilised and unprofitable. The use of the space to expand the pier’s otherwise limited under-cover visitor facilities was instead opted for, and as the photographs below might suggest, the conversion of the Theatre to an activity centre has proved to be less fraught and architecturally damaging than might be initially feared.
Below: Several period details around the former Pier Theatre, including original door ironmongery and a decorated grille in the auditorium (probably screening former speakers or a ventilation system – not a theatre organ grille!).
Above: The former stage, fly tower and proscenium arch of the Theatre auditorium, now wholly converted to the Rock Reef climbing activity centre. The relationship between the building and the imposed activities is quite happy, particularly with the array of hoists, pulleys and free-fall installations erected in the former fly-tower.
Below: Galleries have been erected along the East side of the auditorium, offering a new perspective of the surviving details of the interior. The finishes appear to have remained untouched since the building’s time as a theatre, with the stepped ceilings finished in swirly Artex and glossy magnolia paint. Alongside the electrifying neon-style lights and squealing activity seen in the picture above, this is the definition of a mixing of the “old and new”.
Below: Some NPS members took advantage of the offer to ride along the PierZip. I was tempted myself, but of course these photographs would not have materialised if I had done so.
The weather improved further into the afternoon, leading to the formal AGM itself which was passed successfully and relatively uneventfully, with representations from Rory Holburn and the Swanage Pier Trust. Many books were sold at the NPS Sales table (below left), including a new hardback edition of Martin Easdown and Caroline Bilson’s Seaside Splendour. By the early evening, society members began arriving again at Key West for the Gala Dinner. This was preceded by a delightful period with welcome drinks in the outdoor seating, seen below right.
Below: long-standing members Martina and Paul playing Ping-Pong with their impressive pier knowledge and memories of past AGMs. The vigorous energy with which dates and facts were dispatched was inspiring, but take care not to cross the line of fire!
Below: After the excellent Gala Dinner, several traditional NPS activities followed, ranging from the sedentary (the excellent NPS Quiz) to the sprightly (Caroline Bilson’s inimitable dancing).
The weather had improved further on the Sunday, when the Society first arrived for a brief visit to Boscombe Pier (Below) before continuing to Swanage. Effectively a Post-War pier, it has a stark, glassy quality which came across perfectly on this glistening morning. The pier furniture certainly succeeds in avoiding the obstruction of the perfect seascape on this part of the coastline.
Following the lengthy bus journey to Swanage (Via Corfe Castle, once home to everyone’s favourite composer, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji!), a detailed tour of the pier was given by trustees of the Swanage Pier Trust. Naturally much reference was made to the Gribble Worm, the cause of the pier’s repeated cycles of ruin and restoration. Fundraising is presently ongoing for another programme of repairs and renewal to the pier’s Greenheart columns. Amongst the sequence of Swanage photographs below is a view of the Old Pier of 1859, with a clear representation on what happens when the Gribble Worm is allowed to win, but still the prospect is very beautiful.
And that is the end of the 2026 AGM – Next year’s AGM will be held at… what a coincidence… PAIGNTON! Although this was covered in the newsletter last week, I would be delighted to see more of the town and to form a favourable picture of it next year. Events planning is presently ongoing and so booking opportunities will probably not begin until midway into next year.