1985/6 Poole Park to Hamphire Centre, Bournemouth

1985 Poole Park Train, then a drive to Bournemouth past the then new B.I.C.and Old Swimming Baths next to the pier, through Charminster and Queens Park Avenue to The Hampshire Centre ( now Castle Point )

[@richardsmall7893]

Great video,but it brings terrible sadness to my eyes.The way things have changed so horribly now.I mean everything was different back then,it look at great time to be alive.Is anyone feeling the same way I am?

[@sliperysid]

Why? Because society has been changed so much by globalisation, social media, mass immigration, political correctnes and identity politics?

[@johnnyfrisco5354]

Yes, I think I know exactly what you mean and what you're feeling Richard.....

[@seamasterist]

Totally agree Sir, I could go on and on about the state of things today, but suffice to say the developed world has lost it's way and as for large parts of the developing world, well what's changed, shame on us all!!

[@cycleSCUBA]

Put it this way, toasters were built to last in those days, and they could be repaired if necessary, unlike today's throwaway electrical.....[etc, etc]

[@lodersracing]

Absolutely, back then you could at least pretend to have freedom.

[@taylorius]

God what beautiful memories. I used to ride on that Poole Park train with my Mum, probably in exactly that time period. Also the drive over the crest of Evening Hill, heading towards Shore Road and Sandbanks. My Mum would tell me about how she saw flying boats in Poole Harbour during and just after the Second world war. Quite emotional to see such an old memories brought to life! Thank you Rod Bean for posting this.

[@rodbean4226]

It is definitely 1985/86 as my 2 sons are on the train and they are now 36 and 38 years old. 👍

[@MrDuncl]

I was surprised to see the BIC but Google says it opened in August 1984 so was a brand new attraction back then. Bring back the pool with the wave machine. I wonder if it is still there under the floor.

[@tobyliddle87]

This is pure gold. Only watched on a random youtube surf but wow.....my grandparents out for their usual walk opposite the golf course and by the end of Broad Avenue. Unbelievable! 😁

[@andypugh2000]

I remember those times. No phones, no Instagram freaks and people spoke to each other and didn’t type “lol” in everything

[@Mabes2027]

Lol

[@joannesaltfleet2071]

The lol thing is just laziness!

[@colinlock-lv9vv]

100% no mobile phones no internet, nobody knowing your business.

[@IanLanc]

No road rage with anyone! Bring back these times...PLEASE.

[@peteterry2877]

What are you talking about? There was just as much road rage back then in the 1980s.

[@iainamurray]

Fewer cars

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

@@peteterry2877 actually... there wouldn't have been. And I say that, owing to the method in which motor cars are constructed. Just as one aspect. In essence, human psychology has been played on to cause driving to feel like an unhealthy, and gluttonous experience (overly comfortable, leather, heated seating, automatic climate control, overly stimulating LED touch screen technology, automatic emergency braking - even things which can cause hassle if they break, such as electric windows). The physical appearance of cars can even resemble "faces" (both at front and rear) to induce certain primal reactions when "wronged". Loads of different factors at play.

[@MrDuncl]

@@letsdiscussitoversometea8479 It has been said that the safest ever car would have a dagger mounted pointing towards you in the middle of the steering wheel. I'm absolutely sure it wouldn't have a touchscreen.

[@Cous1nJack]

Just parking all over the place to contend with.

[@Mudefordguy]

The old diving swimming pool by the pier brings back memories, they still have never replaced those baths on that site with anything worthwhile, remember the Imax LOL!! Great video, thanks

[@sugarbertie1143]

Happy memories for me. My aunt and uncle lived in Lower Parkstone. In the 70s and early 80s we were never away from Poole although we lived in Derbyshire. The times ive spent doing that journey along Sandbanks Rd, on the miniature railway in Poole Park, playing with my remote control boat on Poole Park Lake whilst watching the trains climbing up the bank....fabulous happy memories with mum, dad, and family all now passed on. What fun we had! If only we could live those happy times again when we hadn't a care in the world!

[@colinlock-lv9vv]

sorry about loss for most people cant forget what happy childhood most people had. love to go back to childhood.

[@april19551]

Being local I enjoyed this immensely.. I was a bit sorry to see that it was post Woolco !! lol.. I was also amazed at how many Orange coloured cars there were on the roads.. lol.. Thank you for sharing this

[@paulyflyer8154]

Just to think that those kids on the train in the beginning are in their 40's now...scary

[@IanP1963]

I came up with a friend from Southend On Sea to Bourneo on a day out in 1985 and bought a 1930's HMV gramophone player from a guy who was using it to prop the door open at his shop - Lol !!!!!

[@lagavulinman]

I totally love your videos, but they REALLY tug at my heart-strings! I grew up in Southbourne and I was a teen during the 70s (best time EVER!). These clips are like time travel to me. I know there's a lot we didn't have back then, but what we did have was incredibly special. I could list The Village Bowl, The Palace Vaults, Junipers Coffee Shop, The Criterion, The Pinecliff Bars, Jumpers Tavern... shall I go on? Thank you SO much for posting these - they're absolute gold dust.

[@anntaylor3131]

Brought back lovely memories of how Bournemouth and Poole looked when my late husband David and I enjoyed many holidays in that area. What a treat .

[@philipnesbitt3334]

I remember when the Poole Park train was hauled by a steam loco. Many happy days spent travelling on it, playing crazy golf, going out on the pedalos, feeding the ducks and geese and so much more including falling into the pond by the cafe and just to the right of the station. Later on I played cricket on the pitch by the park entrance. Possibly one of the best parks in the UK.

[@TonyPayneUK]

Same here. I lived in Lilliput so used to go in the park a lot. Whenever we drove through the little bridge to Whitecliff by Dad would open the windows and we would all yell "Cuckoo!" to hear the echo.

[@cornfrog3603]

Very calming video from a time when life was worth something. Thank you

[@kenjewell3889]

Love the health and safety of the train, the kid with the leg hanging out :-)

[@rodbean4226]

I have put more video’s on both KZbin and Facebook, look in Memories of Old Poole & Bournemouth😊

[@ReclusiveDuck]

I was expecting to see "Woolco" at the end 🤣🤣🤣

[@jefthing]

Me too! When I stayed with my grandparents in Ringwood on holiday I always prayed for a rainy day so we could go to Woolcos for an Airfix kit. Even now my family refer to rainy summer days as ‘Woolcos days’.

[@johnmason1050]

Great post, I love seeing all the old cars. Brilliant.

[@iainamurray]

I did a vehicle check on a couple of them. The red Hillman seemingly died soon after this video!

[@guppy3278b]

Just before my time as I was born in 89 but its so good to see how different Bournemouth and Poole use to be

[@michaelhitchen3064]

Superb we are lucky people filmed everyday life, but I wonder if people in 1985 looked back to 1955 and said the same things, times changes, I agree simple times, something better, some worse?

[@chaosandisorder68]

Summer 1985,was 16 left school,shortly followed by my dad kicking me out,started a YTS scheme,lived on my own for the 1st time.Always skint & hungry but it built my resilience.Funny my dad is still alive,he's 89.Used to go to the Hampshire center a lot through my childhood,wandering around Wolco's.In my mind it was far superior than that Castlepoint rubbish,they built in it's place.Thanks for sharing this.

[@mrwan7010]

I remember Woolco and The Hampshire Centre as it was. It definitely had a small town feel to it. However, Castlepoint isn't bad considering what the town centre is like.

[@seamasterist]

Brilliant, driving around Gateway at the end, with the radio on, just fantastic. I was doing my A levels at the time in another part of the country where I grew up and lived back then. Thanks for the posting, just wonderful.

[@joshgifford428]

I remember Bournemouth like this as if it was yesterday

[@martinh8679]

One of my earliest jobs was as store manager at Freezer Fare which was the first shop on the centre's parade.In the same row was a piano shop, Fads diy and Augustus Barnett wine store. Happy memories.

[@qrphfradio7753]

Arthur Scargill, who remembers the power cuts when the miners were striking...Boy those were fun times, i was 20 years young in 1986, those times will never return unfortunately.

[@knightowl3577]

What I noticed most was that people talked to each other rather than gazing at a phone screen.

[@cycleSCUBA]

I wasn't in the park that day as i was at home trying to fix my toaster.

[@DasTubemeister]

I lived in Christchurch from 82 to 87, and know the area well. Better days indeed.

[@barrelrolldog]

this one goes deep man.... deep into my childhood!

[@paulwoods4094]

Great video. enjoyed it very much. Looks like it was much easier to find parking spaces, and Bournemouth/Poole looked a lot tidier and you can sense a friendlier vibe back then!

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

No social media, no expectations of confirming, no GTA, nothing like any of that insidious rubbish. Definitely better. And more likely to make real friends.

[@peternagy-im4be]

​@letsdiscussitoversometea8479 Absolutely correct. The streets free of trash if you can read between the lines

[@stevenwilliams8545]

I bet most of these classic old cars were sent to the scrapyard years ago. It’s a shame how times change and not always for the better, it’s nice to see people outside and enjoying themselves without the blasted masks being worn. Great video.

[@joannesaltfleet2071]

Back in September when local lockdowns got announced for us here in Wales for me it had felt like a right smack in the face as we had just resumed face to face socialising a couple of days previously and having that announced was like having an office door slammed shut in my face! Anyway we had ended up doing a movie day at home that day the plans to go out were supposed to have happened after emotions had settled and had a think about how perhaps the government had accidentally done me a favour announcing those lockdowns as at home I had been spared from having to have worn those wretched masks whilst out and about and saved some cash as well!

[@peternagy-im4be]

I never wore one and indeed never will.

[@nigelh3253]

Some great vintage footage of 35+ years ago - really captures the atmosphere of the period. Glad you put this on. Priceless.

[@MrDuncl]

Thanks for that. I have lived here since 1989 but had never seen the Pier Approach swimming pool. I did see a couple of films in the infamous Imax which replaced it and regularly went swimming in the BIC (the wave machine was fun). All gone now 😞

[@markw2640]

Brilliant, thanks for the memory's, born in west parley ferndown grow up Bournemouth Poole, simple times, love it thanks again

[@clearvision2196]

So many memories with my dad and mum thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️

[@GEricG]

Brilliant video. Thanks for all the videos that you've uploaded. Some great memories.

[@phillwainewright4221]

1986 - the year I passed my driving test. The roads were a lot quieter back then ... You certainly took the long way round from Poole Park to Castlepoint!

[@MrDuncl]

The Hampshire Centre as stated in the title 🙂(even if it had been in Dorset ten years when this was filmed ). I bought my first ever CD there back in 1989 before they knocked it all down and built Castlepoint.

[@caerleon9176]

Takes me back, I was at Seldown Boys when you filmed this in the mid 80's. Now live in London, get home sick alot. Thanks for posting.

[@inlimbo6019]

they see Arthur Scargill,coming from a Scottish mining village,i remember the miners strike vividly,hard hard times ! love seeing the old cars in your video mate

[@pogoz2005]

I wish I could have experienced the time where everything was natural and people where happier

[@Sidneyyoungblood75]

Life is life at any time, for any generation. It's how your mindset wants times to be; whether happy, positive or miserable and negative. Don't think that everything was glorious back then. There were many good bits and many bad bits. The one thing that was the same back then as now was how spoilt and lucky we are yet moan and moan and moan as if we are hard done by.

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

​@@Sidneyyoungblood75"spoilt AND lucky"??? They mean the exact opposite thing to the other! And being told - all the time - how "lucky" one is, is going to cause unpleasant feeling. Everyone has a right to protest about something that goes against what's agreeable to them. Solving it isn't a matter of "luck" - particularly, if the solutions already existed beforehand, but were then erased from public consciousness.

[@iainamurray]

It’s strange how little it’s changed. Every time it skips I immediately recognised it. (Except for Gateway and B&Q!)

[@MrDuncl]

I remember that B&Q. I also remember exploring the area in Bristol where I was buying a house back in 1986 and seeing an almost completed B&Q store and thinking "I wonder what they are going to sell". They weren't sure themselves back then as along with DIY they had a place a bit like MFI selling furniture, and a place repairing cars (who did a good job on my 1980 Ford Capri).

[@Clivef213]

the care free days :) how i miss them

[@metheusdeacon1326]

Unbelievable this brings back memories, I moved to the Bournemouth area in 1985 when I was 8, I remember seeing all this many moons ago now 😂

[@kathrynboniface3455]

Someone coughed on the train and there wasn’t a mass panic!

[@TheWellington2006]

Think of the amount of phone's that would be filming these day's, hardly a camera in sight. Great vid.

[@LR_84]

I wish I could've experienced this. Just superb 😊❤️

[@uries15]

How many billions of videos are there on KZbin? This is one of my favourites of all time. This is my mid-teen years exactly.

[@MsBananasmel]

Wonderful. I lived on Castle Lane West at this time.

[@stevo728822]

This film has some rare footage of the old Pier Approach swimming baths befoe they were knocked down.

[@DavidWilliams-km5xu]

The red Hillman imp. What a slow coach! I was 14 years old .1985 great times!

[@michaelcrawford5477]

My god how have I only just found this that was back in the days when there use to be a zoo in Poole park brings back so many good memories

[@darthdave666]

Bournemouth used to be the best kept secret now with so called progress its starting to look like Croydon by the sea with all the office blocks and sprawling uni campus shame :(

[@onionhead9414]

Lansdowne is becoming a real dump with the stuff they are building

[@jonathanbrown9482]

Old Victorian properties bulldozed for ugly apartments great progress

[@gabrielphelps1555]

Plus is becoming very tawdry in appearance, manners, behaviours of people who live in town and holiday makers.

[@joannesaltfleet2071]

Bournemouth town sadly has gone to the dogs! Lots of shops have shut down and gone to castle point. The gardens and the Bourne stream are great though!

[@MrDuncl]

@@joannesaltfleet2071 I wonder how many beggars there were in the town centre back then. In my memories you were more likely to find a guy selling "Socialist Worker".

[@ibanez856]

brilliant, thank you

[@dexietyy7922]

Just look at all the old cars 😢

[@andy44646]

1986 is the year I left school. Thanks for the memories

[@peternagy-im4be]

Same here

[@vistamedia1283]

I drive that route regularly and just been uploading some videos to my channel of the same areas! Its not changed as much as I thought.

[@dexietyy7922]

Oh wow I wish I was alive back then 😢 look how lovely everything was it’s so upsetting 😢

[@peternagy-im4be]

You are definitely not wrong

[@dexietyy7922]

@@peternagy-im4be it’s a horrible place to live now sure there’s worse places but it’s not nice at all.

[@mistofoles]

A Hillman Imp holding the entire road traffic up !

[@speakfreeley4473]

The W123 Mercs that appeared in this are probably the only cars you're likely to come across today more or less.

[@jasonharris1137]

I absolutely loved this video. So many memories. I forgot how popular the Ford Fiesta was. There was loads of them in that video! Also cemetery junction looked a bit different then but couldn’t work it out....I didn’t realise the old swimming baths were as big as that. Not sure what all the fuss about the IMAX was about. It must have been a similar size to the old baths?

[@marshallh9]

I spent one summer holiday working at the Hotel Romantica at cemetery junction. A very unglamorous address for a hotel with that name! It was demolished when the junction was upgraded and expanded.

[@markw2640]

The old swimming baths were a elegant building, as you drove down the hill you got your first view of the sea, magical for a little lad, then they put up a ugly building no more sea views, I'm 55 still remember my old man driving down the hill and seeing the sea, lovely

[@MrDuncl]

The problem with the Imax was that the side facing Bath Hill was a blank wall made using Breeze Blocks. It also didn't help that the actual Cinema was years late opening. A Trojan Horse to get some restaurants built ?

[@paulaustin4370]

Spend a few days every year next to Poole park,wonderful place.

[@historicmilitaria1944]

amazingly as of feb 2021 the red hillman imp FEL205L and the white morris marina estate CRU835L are still listed by the DVLA as road tax expired in 1986 and 1989 but have not been scrapped, so they are still out there somewhere.

[@MrDuncl]

I thing things were a bit more lax then without anything like SORN. A former colleague described how he cut up a Ford Escort with an Angle Grinder and took it to the tip ! When I asked why he didn't sell it to a scrap yard he said they wouldn't collect cars that couldn't be pushed onto a trailer.

[@bailey2913]

Good ol days..... I miss them

[@RazSux]

Wonderful video! Any chance of more to come?

[@stephenkerley3395]

How lovely not a phone in sight.

[@rickyraw5457]

Looks like a different world compared to what it's like now...... Ethnic diversity and multiculturalism is the reason why it's so vastly different.🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@peternagy-im4be]

A very deliberate plan to flood the UK with assorted scum from all over the world. A dreadful country now absolutely appalling.

[@Puddingtops]

Enjoyed that 👍

[@dansxyou]

Dam the roads are clear now look at it .

[@MsBananasmel]

5.15 nice Marina !

[@qrphfradio7753]

i spotted a few ladaghinis in that video 😃

[@savetommyrobinsonfreespeec7660]

For me this is just before the world changed! This was the year I left school!

[@Richard-pe4cx]

all those British cars made here lots of jobs ! not just making them but keeping them on the road not just mechanical but body wise ,yes i worked in a body shop

[@stephenandrew8387]

Beautiful time, being 20 is far better than 55.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Tell me about it.

[@DanBmthUK]

Didn’t stay as Gateway for long!

[@hassankhan384]

People say future is bright but I say passed was much brighter then what it is today, today is more in darks and it getting darker more every day. I wish I was back then in the 80s and 90s when every one was happy together and enjoyed time and less trouble also nice cars today's cars are shit wholes really no style no strength at all just show off. And so much traffic because young people buying cars on finance which I hate.

[@RustyGames777]

Shame everywhere here now is so busy. That looks like 7am traffic on a Sunday morning in comparison.

[@jamesstead4448]

Great to try and name all the cars. Hardly any signs and no speed cameras, driving used to be enjoyable.

[@robwood5105]

What was the building beside the pier where the imax used to be?

[@rodbean4226]

That building at the side of the Pier was the Swimming Baths.

[@JBbka]

That looks so old i live local

[@badjemima]

Bloody hell - it jumps about a bit, doesn't it?!

[@thesecretofbeef]

Roads looked a lot bigger back then

[@vwgolf9826]

The cars were just smaller.

[@scrapyardwarriorvlogging]

The red Hillman Imp (FEL 205L) only lasted until February 1986 according to DVLA.

[@MsBananasmel]

Probably crashed :(

[@trabali5168]

or overheated!

[@betaman7988]

You forget how common the Imp was into the 80s. Quite a rarity now

[@harrygatto]

Probably got rammed up the rear by another driver following too closely and written off, if this video is anything to go by.

[@MrDuncl]

Probably rusted away. That was the fate of most 1970s cars. The Japanese ones were worst. I recall seeing a Datsun 280Z less than ten years old full of holes.

[@stephendines1936]

To think those children would be pushing 40 now

[@peternagy-im4be]

And?

[@Sam_Green____4114]

Charminister road at 06:25?

[@phillipc3286]

Oh the Hants centre lol

[@pooledaicen508]

Poole park?

[@phina8392]

No mobiles, no tattoos, slim people happy kids

[@MrDuncl]

Around this time a colleague moonlighted as a doorman at a Bristol Nightclub "Romeo and Juliet's" enforcing their policy of "No Jeans, No Trainers, No Tattoos". He said that he would occasionally suggest to couple that if the guy put on the girls cardigan then he could let them in without breaking company rules. I don't think girls having Tattoos was even a thing back then.

[@thomasmason3483]

The tax on the Hillman Imp, FEL 205L, ran out in March 1986 so this would have been 1985.

[@stephenkissane4268]

Ford Sierra!

[@scotty87able]

cavaliers Cortinas sierras fiestas and escorts everywhere u looked

[@peternagy-im4be]

I love escorts!!

[@KarronAngel]

i am during this covid

[@simonbiggs9102]

All children out playing and not been stuck in bedroom on PlayStation

[@peternagy-im4be]

Yes and the 70's were even better. Everyone outside doing something. Appalling country now full of freeloaders and assorted scumbags. Despicable little jobsworths etc etc

[@EllisPerhaps]

ahh i wus 'opin to find ma fatha in dis videao

[@georgepenn8922]

Did they have a Zoo there?

[@davidphillips8933]

It did indeed!!! can't remember what year it closed though

[@JacarandaMusic]

On the other side from the duck lake, by the cricket green.

[@JacarandaMusic]

PS I can still remember the smell of it!

[@georgepenn8922]

Thanks for the replies, we stayed a flat opposite side of road near the entrance and I went in every morning with my cousin, great time feeding the birds. On one occasion a Spider monkey caught a Sparrow and took a bite out of it.

[@jamesconnolly9591]

FamilY HolidaYs In SouThBourne ThrouGh 1980/87 WeaTher WaS HoT And SunnY GiVe Or TaKe A Couple Of DaYs Bournemouth Was A LoVelY ToWn WiTh ManY AtteacTionS... Remember TucKTonia... MaGicKal TimeS MaGicKal.........

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

I visited Southbourne a couple of times - in '94 and '96 - seem to remember the nearby amusement arcade close to the beach, the "Hot Chocolate" pub, and visiting Christchurch's teddy bear museum. Would love to return but from what I understand the area's changed dramatically since even then. ☹️

[@delirivmdeep7594]

This can't be 1985 because there is a 3 year old me and my mum at the front of the train (which was strange to find) it must be 1995

[@rodbean4226]

It is definitely 1985/6 my 2 sons are on the train and they are now 36 and 38 years old👍

[@MrDuncl]

I moved here in 1989 and the Pier Approach Swimming Pool was gone by then and Gateway had become Asda.

[@togodbetheglorybelieveinje3786]

😁

[@RA9gaymore]

Shame how it has now all been changed

[@peternagy-im4be]

Infinitely for the worse....

[@sliperysid]

4:40 Could that guy go any slower... Bloody Grockles.

[@philipnesbitt3334]

Hillman Imps weren't exactly built for speed! From the registration number it is a local car in any case.

[@harrygatto]

@@philipnesbitt3334 Yep, EL was Bournemouth.