PPM revisits Manchester's Belle Vue amusement park - Picture ...

The first coach and
horses service operated in Bournemouth
under the name “Tally Ho” provided by Henry Laidlaw.
The famous Royal Blue company (now part of National
Express) was started by Thomas Elliott in 1880. He began
operating using a stagecoach and had up to 200 horses
stabled in Norwich Avenue. This card probably dates from
1910 and is taken from outside Hankinson & Sons. The
card is unused with no indication of publisher.
The pier, opened in 1880 by the Lord Mayor of London,
was 858 feet long, 35 feet wide terminating in a hexagonal
head with landing stages to embark and disembark passengers
from paddle steamers and pleasure boats. The
boat seen here is the “Balmoral” built in June 1900,
scrapped in 1945 having served through the war. The toll
for the pier in 1892 was 1d and in 1892/93 more than
£6,000 was collected with one and a half million people
paying admission. This card another Louis Levy no.24 was
posted in Orpington, Kent on May 2nd 1910.
ng to come to Bournemouth
by train had to take a horsedrawn
carriage from the stations
at Holmsley,
Christchurch or Poole until
Bournemouth Central station
opened for passengers in
1888 ( after much opposition)
where there was a service to
the Royal Bath Hotel. The
Victorian glass structure of
the station is now a listed
building. Except for a few
amateur photographers,
there were only four photographers
of note - Robert Day
(1822-73. His son W.J.Day
carried on the business until
1920 when the library purchased
the collection), the
Spinney brothers William
(1860-1933) and Henry (1882-
1962) who, although amateurs,
were very professional
in their approach to photography
and produced a fine set
of pictures of the Centenary,
and Martin J. Ridley, who in
partnership with Harry Miell
had a studio in Old
Christchurch Road. Miell was
a portrait photographer and
Ridley’s speciality was view
cards which can be recognised
by the letters ‘M.J.R.B.’
at the bottom right hand corner
of the cards. He travelled
the whole of the U.K. and
when he died, his daughter
had to dispose of several
thousand glass plates and
view cards most of which
were destroyed. The town
coat of arms was granted to
Bournemouth on 24th March
1891, the motto ‘pulchritudo
et salubritas’ meaning ‘beautiful
and healthy’. The earliest
recorded postcard from
Bournemouth is dated 15th
April 1897 printed in Holstein,
Germany (my own earliest is
a court card from 25th Feb,
1899). The two earliest piers
were destroyed by storms
and gales. A new iron pier
was started in 1878 and
opened by the Lord Mayor of
London in 1880. It had a
bandstand, facilities for
steamship passengers to
embark and disembark from
excursion trips, a roller skating
rink provided on special
flooring, seating all down the
length of the pier and facilities
for refreshments;
just over £6,000 was
taken in tolls of 1d in 1892
alone. Excursion trips were
very popular and the first regular
steamer service was provided
by the “Heather Belle”
in 1871. By 1880, two companies,
Cosens of Weymouth
and the Bournemouth South
Coast Steam Packet Company
were competing for business
(a whole article could be written
about the paddle steamers).
The “Belle Vue Hotel”,
built in 1838, provided some
of the first accommodation
for visitors. It had a library
and was used as a venue for
meetings. Ideally situated
close to the sands and pier, it
was demolished in1928 making
way for the Pavilion
which was opened by H.R.H.
Duke of Gloucester on March
19th,1929. The “Mont Dore
Hotel”, opened in the summer
of 1885, was very luxurious
with 120 rooms
and a separate suite for royalty.
It was used as a military
hospital during the First
World War and in 1920 was
bought by Bournemouth
Council for £33,000 for conversion
to a town hall which it
still is today. It was not until
1907 that the first section of
the promenade, from the pier
to Meyrick Road, was opened
by Lady Meyrick and gradually
new sections were opened.
Today it runs from Southbourne
to Alum Chine and on
to Poole.
Bathing machines were
a common sight on the beach
in the 19th century. It was the
place for families and children,
there were pierrots and
Punch and Judy shows - the
last being performed by Freddie
Beale in about 1996 - and
kiosks to buy ice creams and
soft drinks. The original Winter
Gardens, built in 1873, had
terrible acoustics and was
extensively altered and in
1893 the Bournemouth
Municipal Orchestra, the first
in England, was formed
under Dan Godfrey (later Sir),
who was appointed head of
the town’s entertainments.
Sadly, it no longer exists. The
Coronation of King Edward
The central station opened in
1888 when the link to
Bournemouth East Station
was finally made although
passengers could reach
Bournemouth West Station in
1874. The Victorian glass
structure is now a listed
building and the single span
over the 350 foot long platform
is 95 feet wide and 45
feet high with each of the 12
girders weighing nearly 18
tons. The card is Louis Levy
no.72 of “The Central Station
- interior” and is
unused.
continued...
Picture Postcard Monthly July 2010 15