Young records that though the new Urban District Council discussed changing the name, and took the poll in 1896,
“the proposed change of name to Pinecliffe was not approved by the Hants County Council, who felt that there was not sufficient concurrence of opinion to justify the change of name, and so the matter was dropped. It is curious that the word Pokesdown should raise such dislike, so that even at the present time [1988] many would object to saying that they live in Pokesdown”.137b2
Changing the name of Pokesdown Station to Southbourne didn’t go ahead because “there were objections from a postal point of view” and a “great diversity of opinion on the matter”.137c
Bridget Baldwin’s ‘Historical Guide to St James the Greater, Pokesdown’, includes the information that in early 1931 “the Ecclesiastical Commissioners [Church of England] were asked if All Saints Church, [Oxford Avenue] Pokesdown could become All Saints Church, West Southbourne.” Baldwin describes All Saints as the “newly-built church set in an area of wealthy householders” as opposed to “the ageing Church of St James set in a poor, working-class area”. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners replied that they did not have the authority to change the name to West Southbourne.138a
Tony Crawley’s 1963 article on Pokesdown starts by saying:
“Pokesdown conjures up many pictures in people’s minds. It’s Little Pokesdown to many – unfair really, as it’s a widespread, bustling area of industry and social life. It’s the place where the trains don’t stop – to those who are glad they don’t. And, let’s be honest, to the majority, it’s the subject of ridicule in many a joke. Example: Q: Where are you spending your holiday? A: Pokesdown by the sea. And so on. It goes without saying, these ideas are wrong.”139
The copy and paste citation for this page:
The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: the name, Page 5. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-the-name-5/
The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: the name, Page 4. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-the-name-4/
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
Did you know there’s a ‘Pokesdown Song’, from 1929-39, by Cumberland Clark?!
Pokesdown, on the Christchurch Road, has grown a lot of late, With the populace increasing at a very rapid rate. It’s a suburb now of Bournemouth, and a pleasant neighbourhood; It is laid out very nicely, and the architecture’s good. It once was known as “Puck’s Down,” in the happy long ago, Suggesting scenes of fairyland, where sweet romances grow; But of gorgeous wooded scenery poor Pokesdown is bereft, And I’m very much afraid there can’t be many fairies left.
Yet I call to mind the Pokesdown Wood; in memory I see its grace and charm, which some while back brought happiness to me. I have lingered in its shadows, mid a wealth of trees and flowers, And communing there with Nature, I have passed some happy hours. There were banks of moss and lichen, every kind of luscious growth; There were violets and anemones, a plenitude of both; And the sunshine glinting through the trees and brightening their green, Made a picture for the gods, a splendid transformation scene.
Where the wood was once a glory, there are houses now and streets; And there’s nothing much that’s sylvan in the scenery one meets. In my leisure moments often, since the site was built upon, I have wondered, rather sadly, where the fairies have all gone. Does it bring the fairies sorrow? Does it do them any good, When the builder’s in possession, and they’re exiled from their wood? Do they whisper farewells to us when at last they have to go? I have wondered, but I don’t suppose that I shall ever know.137
Christchurch Road, Pokesdown, looking east from Parkwood Road. The image used for the sign now on Pokesdown Green! Source: front cover of John Young’s booklet ‘A History of Pokesdown: Part 2, The Town’. Postcard is date stamped 1908.
Sign on Pokesdown Green, next to the Bell Inn. Photo taken 9th March 2021 for RPBC.
What’s wrong with the name “Pokesdown”?
“Some inhabitants have begotten a fancy that their locality suffers through a name they have got to believe is deficient in euphony and attractiveness; others declare the place is without a ‘down’, and are gulled by the far-fetched association of ‘pokes’ with ‘pigs’; others continue to love the old name…” ~ Christchurch Times, 29 August 1896137a
A debate about the purported lowly reputation of Pokesdown, and/or the unattractiveness of the name “Pokesdown”, has been going on for the past one hundred and thirty years! This has led some locals, businesses and estate agents to claim their properties are in Southbourne, West Southbourne, Boscombe East, or some other district name instead -because they feel that sounds better- and a repeated return to discussions about whether the name, of the area and/or the Station, should be changed altogether.
The “Pine-” based names made sense at the time because “a considerable area of Pokesdown had been planted with pine trees early in the 19th century, including much of the land along the overcliff”.137b
The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: the name, Page 3. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-the-name-3/
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
But why would people be “seeing”, or thinking about, pixies/puck/pooka specifically in Pokesdown??!
Being “pixie-led” (or “piskie-led”) refers to being mis-led, lost in familiar surroundings, losing time, never arriving at your destination. Such as what happens if you spot a light in the dark of night, somewhere there are no sources of manufactured light about, and head towards it, thinking the light is guiding you to a safe place…. But the light keeps moving, and in trying to follow it, you end up more lost than ever.134a
I feel like I’m being pixie-led, trying to back-trace the stories behind the theories of the origins of the name “Pokesdown” following paths here, there, and everywhere, and never reaching a definitive conclusion!
Those wispy lights, spotted on commons and moors at night, are thought to be the product of gases produced by organic decay, and this is not a “modern” interpretation. In 1596 Ludwig Lavater wrote a chapter called “many naturall things are taken to be ghoasts” which included reference to Willo-the-Wisps.134b “Visual and perceptual illusions of motion”134c also need to be factored in.
In Welsh folklore, this “fairy fire” is carried by a puca; in the Devon and Cornwall traditions the “pixie light” is carried by a pixie.134b The 19th century-coined serious term for this phenomena is “Ignis Fatuus” which is Latin for “Fool’s Fire”.134c
An engraving by Josiah Wood Whymper, published in 1849. Source: Science Museum Group.
Jefferey Lindell at the Indiana University Folklore Institute has compiled a list of names used to describe this same thing, and just in English there are 250 of them! They include: Will-o’-the-wisp; Kitty with the wisp; Kitty Candlestick; Jack-o’-lantern; Hob-with-a-lantern; Hob Puck; Devil’s lantern; and all of the pixie and puck variations.134c
A Pokesdown local, farmer Richard Dale, who was born in 1794, recorded his memories in the booklet Reminiscences of Stourfield – Stourfield being an early part of the development of Pokesdown. In Reminiscences he says about seeing134d
“what was commonly called Kit Candlesticks” which he had the good sense not to try and follow “as I have been told by many they had been led into difficulties and lost their way from attempting to follow, supposing that they were going in the direction of some house. Many people were kept riding about all night after them.”
I haven’t found a Bournemouth or Christchurch newspaper reference to Kit Candlesticks, but I did find an 1847 Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard article, quoting a description from 1691:134e
“Ignis fatuus, called by the vulgar Kit of the Candlestick, is not very rare on our downs about Michaelmas.”
The 1847 journalist then adds his own note to the end of this: “These ignes fatui, or Jack-o’ lanthorns, as they are popularly called, are frequently seen in low boggy grounds. In my boyish days I was often terrified by stories of their leading travellers astray, and fascinating them.- J.B.”
To know that “Ignis Fatuus” was a familiar enough sight in the Pokesdown area for it to have a name it was commonly known by – “Kit Candlesticks” – adds credence to the theory of “Pokes-“ coming from puca/pixie/puck.
The Complete Book of Devils and Demons has these notions mixed-in together in its introduction to Minor Supernatural Creatures of Britain:134f
Puck, Robin Goodfellow, Queen Mab, Tom Thumb, and many equally fanciful creatures who have not been given personal names, such as Kit with The Candlestick, Hop o’My Thumb, bugs, bogeymen, bull- beggars, fetches, sylens, firedrakes, pookas …. The pooka in Mary Chase’s play Harvey is a six-foot rabbit invisible to everyone except Elwood P. Dowel and a fine farce it makes. Some of these creatures were considered malicious, some not.
An alternative explanation for the association with fairies or pixies is, as Calkin explains, the theory that
“fairy tales are often based on ‘folk memories’ concerning some previous race which has since disappeared. It is therefore possible that the name [Pokesdown] preserves an ancient tradition about the very people whose graves have come to light during this present century” – by which he means the Bronze Age burials discovered in the Pokesdown area in the first half of the twentieth century.134g
In 1906 Rudyard Kipling published a book called “Puck of Pook’s Hill”!135 I wonder if that, in part, helped cement the connection in people’s minds between “Pokesdown” and pixies/fairies?! A Bournemouth Guardian article from 1906 mentions this book, locals bumpy relationship with the name “Pokesdown”, and a theory that the name was something to do with “pigs”:
“Pokesdown” is a name of doubtful origin… Examples of earlier uses or forms of “Pokesdown” would help toward a more definite pronouncement but in the meanwhile the name should be treasured as one of the few within the borough boundary which long ante-date enclosure.136
The copy and paste citation for this page:
The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: the name, Page 2. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-the-name-2/
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
Which parts of the area are included in Pokesdown?cont’d
A PDF of the maps is available here where they can be enlarged for easier viewing. Images can also be clicked on to open a higher resolution image in a separate tab.
This is the modern-day political ward of “Boscombe East & Pokesdown”. It was previously called just “Boscombe East”, even though it always included Pokesdown, but the name was changed in October 2018:152
Click on image for higher resolution version.
This map shows the modern-day (2021) boundary of the suburb or district of Pokesdown – a much smaller area than the other Pokesdown boundaries, but Rosebery Park Baptist Church is still in it (both current location and site of original chapel)! The original C of E parish church, St James, is still here too.
Map of suburb or district of Pokesdown today (2021), including showing original parish church of St James.153 Click on image for higher resolution version.
The next map shows the modern-day boundary for the Parish of St James, Pokesdown, over-laid with the boundaries for the 1895 to 1901 Pokesdown Urban District, the 2018 Boscombe East & Pokesdown Ward, and the area locals today might consider to be the suburb or district of Pokesdown. And this is why it’s difficult to say where Pokesdown begins and ends – what year and which aspect are being discussed?!154
Click on image for higher resolution version.
By postcode boundaries, Pokesdown is split, with the north side of Christchurch Road falling into BH7, and the south side into BH5, so postcode boundaries are not a help in defining where Pokesdown is! BH6 starts just to the east of Southbourne Road.155
Click on image for higher resolution version.
The copy and paste citation for this page: The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: its boundaries, Page 2. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-boundaries-2/
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
Which parts of the area are included in Pokesdown?
A PDF of the maps is available here where they can be enlarged for easier viewing.Images can also be clicked on to view higher resolution image in a new tab.
Here is a map showing the 1859 boundary of the then new Parish of St James, Pokesdown – based on the description given by J.A. Young147 – note, it covers a MUCH larger area then we are used to considering as Pokesdown!
Click on image for higher resolution version.
When Pokesdown became an Urban District in 1895, the boundaries were defined as running from the sea front to Wollstonecraft Road, and just east of Crabton Close Road, along south of Christchurch Road to Warwick Road, along the railway, which was crossed to take in Clarence Park, and so over part of King’s Park to beyond Harewood Avenue. It then re-crossed Christchurch Road and the railway, running alongside the line to Cranleigh Road, after which it turned towards Southbourne Road, between Irving and Watcombe Roads. It then turned into Belle Vue Road and along Clifton Road to the sea front. Thus it included the Shelley, Portman, Stourwood and Stourfield Estates.148
Click on image for higher resolution version.
The boundaries of Pokesdown seem to have always been blurry! As early as 1896, Rev. Dr. Moore White stated “for all practical purposes, none can tell where Boscombe ends and Pokesdown begins”149, and in 1916, Mrs Arthur Bell described Pokesdown as “a mere continuation of Boscombe”.150 The boundaries have also retracted, and today’s Pokesdown covers a much smaller area than it did in 1895.
For example, Fisherman’s Walk was originally part of Pokesdown. Where we now have the Fisherman’s Walk Zig Zag to take us down to Fisherman Walk’s Beach (Southbourne), that used to be Fisherman’s Walk, Pokesdown leading to ‘Fisherman’s Steps, Pokesdown’, aka ‘Pokesdown Steps’, leading to Pokesdown Beach! The steps, first constructed in 1891, were replaced by a carefully engineered sloping path in the early months of 1906.150a We can see in the Palladium Cinema advert (on page 3 of History) that the district address of Fisherman’s Walk was given as Southbourne by 1932, which could be evidence that this change happened a long time a go… or it could be another example of someone choosing their preferred district name!
Steps Postcard by Pictorian Stationery, date: c.1905. Source: Alwyn Ladell Flickr Cliffs & Beach, date: unknown, but the refreshment kiosk (the little round hut) was new in 1907. Source: Alwyn Ladell Flickr.
This is the modern-day (2020) parish boundary of St James, Pokesdown. The 1859 parish has, over the years, been divided into multiple parishes:151
Click on image for higher resolution version.
The copy and paste citation for this page: The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: its boundaries, Page 1. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-boundaries-1/
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
Earliest known written records with the name “Pokesdown”:
Year: c.1586. Evidence: Richard Morris of Pokesdown, Christchurch on a list of people fined for buying pirates’ goods (part of The Cecil Papers).124d
Year: 1660. Evidence: Henry Mantle of Pokesdown elected a churchwarden of Christchurch Priory.
Year: 1662-63. Evidence: churchwarden accounts record the receipt of one shilling from Henry Mantle of Pokesdown in payment “for a place for his wife where his mother did sit”.125
Year: 1734. Evidence: Christchurch Poor Rate Book, includes the line “The Lady’s Mews for Bugby’s at Pokesdown“.126
Year: 1800. Evidence: the will of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Stourfield House – she left an annuity for the Widow Lockyer of PokesdownFarm.127
1870 map of Pokesdown showing earliest recorded settlements of Pokesdown Farm (date unknown, but pre-dates Stourfield House) and Stourfield House (est. c.1766). See Sources note 128.
There is no definitive answer about the origins of the name “Pokesdown”, but the different theories are:
It might be a corruption of ‘Peaksdown’ – ‘Peak’ – a high point in the downs (‘down’ meaning low hills covered in grass);129
It may have been a persons name associated with the down – ‘Pocs’ Down’, or the Old English surname ‘Puca’, as in ‘Puca’s Down’ has morphed into ‘Pook’ in Middle English, as in ‘Pook’s Down’;130 or if derived from the Saxon personal name “Pok” or “Pokok” then Pokesdown would mean “the hill of the Pok family”;130a
It could be from ‘Pooks Down’ where ‘pooks’ is the local dialect word for ‘haycock’ (cone shaped pile of hay). But Coates says “the 13th century with a medial ‘-s-‘ speaks against this”;131
It’s from ‘Pig’s Down’, from the days when people were allowed to keep pigs at will, before it was banned as part of the urbanisation;131a
It was an area for “poor souls stricken with the pox” = “Poxdown” (but I haven’t found any corroborating evidence);131b
The most popular (if unsubstantiated) theory is that Pook’s (or Puck’s) Down was referring to the fairies or pixies or goblins living on the downs! ‘Pook’s Down’ is Middle English for ‘Goblin’s Hill’.132
The fact that the “pig theory” is only in the newspapers and isn’t in any of the history books makes me think, either (a) it’s a theory made up by residents with local knowledge, but rejected by the academics, who are carefully analysing the etymology (the study of the origin and history of words); or (b) the academics were studying the name “Pokesdown” fifty-years-plus after the locals who could remember pig keeping at Pokesdown had passed, but years before the British Newspaper Archive was online with a searchable database of newspapers reporting on Bournemouth life, and therefore missed this titbit.
The theory about “Pox-down” comes from the Holdenhurst Village History website, which says “It is recorded that there was a Leper Hospital in Christchurch, the owners of which owned land and a cottage at Holdenhurst during the reign of Edward III [1312-1377] – it is thought that centuries ago poor souls stricken with the ‘pox’ were brought from ‘Poxdown’ (Pokesdown) for treatment at the then named ‘Hospice of St Mary Magdalen'”. But I have been unable to find the source of this theory, or any corroborating evidence, and it’s not mentioned in the history books. If you know of any information backing this theory, let us know!
Pooka, Puck and Pixies…
When it comes to the favourite theory, Your Irish Culture explains:133
The meaning of Pooka, pronounced poo-ka, is from the old Irish word ‘púca’, which means ‘goblin’. There are many variations of the spelling Pooka including Púca, Plica, Phuca, Pwwka, Puka, and Pookha all of which are totally acceptable. It is possible that the origin of the word Pooka may come from the Scandinavian word, Pook or Puke meaning ‘nature spirit’… A Pooka is a shapeshifter and can take any form it chooses. Usually, it is seen in the form of a horse, dog, rabbit, goat, goblin, or even an old man.
The Pooka has been imagined in cinema as the large rabbit-type creature, called Harvey, in the 1950 James Stewart film, and a far more disturbing rabbit-type creature in the 2001 Jake Gyllenhaal film, Donnie Darko!
But, going by the newspaper articles which discuss the name “Pokesdown”, where there are references to folklore or mythological creatures, it’s not giant, scary, malevolent rabbits (Pookas) that people are imagining, but rather, “Puck” and his fairies!
Tracing the etymology or folklore wandering path(s) that led from “pooka” to “puck”, the Encyclopedia Britannica says of “Puck”:
Puck, in medieval English folklore, a malicious fairy or demon. In Old and Middle English the word meant simply “demon.” In Elizabethan lore he was a mischievous, brownielike fairy also called Robin Goodfellow, or Hobgoblin. As one of the leading characters in William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck boasts of his pranks of changing shapes, misleading travelers at night, spoiling milk, frightening young girls, and tripping venerable old dames. The Irish pooka, or púca, and the Welsh pwcca are similar household spirits.134
Rudyard Kipling says Puck is living in Sussex! Published in 1906. Source: Good Reads.
“Puck” outside the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, USA. Source: David Flickr.
The copy and paste citation for this page:
The History of Rosebery Park Baptist Church and Pokesdown – Pokesdown: the name, Page 1. Author: Michelle Fogg. Date: May 2022. Url: https://roseberypark.org/history/pokesdown-the-name-1/
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
Our Morning Service starts at 10.30am.
Our church building is almost exactly opposite the Parkwood Road turning off Christchurch Road, if that helps you to picture where we are!
We are a ten-minute walk from the Boscanova end of the pedestrian area of Boscombe and a five-minute walk from Pokesdown Station. We don’t have our own car park so if you come by car, you’ll need to find parking. It’s usually possible to find a space in the streets behind the church to the north or leading off Parkwood Road to the south. We are on the main bus route along Christchurch Road, including More Buses 1, 1a, 1b, 2, and m2, with Parkwood Road stops, east-bound and west-bound, nearby.
When you arrive you will be met at the door to the entrance foyer by one of our greeters. Wheelchair access is via a door on the left side of the building. If you come in a wheelchair, one of the welcomers will open the side door for you.
There is a disabled access toilet (and baby changing facilities) towards the front of the main church on the left side. This is in addition to a ladies’ toilet and a men’s toilet in the entrance foyer, and another toilet in the adjoining hall.
Hand gel is available in the church. A few members of the congregation continue to wear face coverings but very few continue to observe social distancing or avoid shaking hands.
You will be given an ‘Order of Service’ which is a handout listing what part of the service is happening when, what songs we will be singing, and what Bible verses we will be looking at. Here is an example:
We currently have about 25 to 35 adults attend, and a small number of children. Some people dress smart-casual, others casual – come as you are!
The service starts with an opening prayer and is followed by about twenty minutes of praise and worship (singing). We sing a mix of traditional hymns and more contemporary praise and worship songs to the accompaniment of an organ, keyboard, or guitar. Song words are displayed on a large screen.
On the first Sunday of each month we take Holy Communion, which is where Christians eat a small piece of bread and drink a tiny glass of red grape juice (standing in for wine) as a symbolic and blessed reminder of Christ’s body given for us and Christ’s blood poured out for us. You can read more about this in the Bible, book of Luke, chapter 22, verses 14 to 20.
Children can attend ‘Sunday Fun’ in the adjoining hall or remain in the main church hall where we have some children’s books, colouring books and simple play items. All our children’s workers are DBS checked and have passed their safeguarding training.
Usually the Minister, Simon, gives a sermon, but sometimes it is one of the other church members or a guest speaker. The sermon is about 25 minutes long.
The whole service lasts about an hour. Afterwards, we hope you can stay to join us for teas and coffees, and a chat, in the adjoining hall.
Typically about 15 adults attend this service. It is more informal than the morning service and we have almost entirely contemporary praise and worship songs, rather than hymns, and they are accompanied on the guitar.
As it is a smaller congregation, the talk is usually in a more interactive format. Simon may ask questions and members of the congregation often ask questions which Simon can’t answer.
This service is also about an hour long, sometimes slightly less.
After this service we also have tea, coffee and other refreshments – and in the afternoon service we usually have real coffee!
Here is an example of an Order of Service:
In some of our 4pm service on Sundays we will be showing ‘Alpha’ videos, about aspects of the Christian faith, which are about 25 minutes long, followed by time to discuss and ask questions in small groups. These sessions are due on Sundays in 2023: 16 April; 14 May; 11 June; 9 July; 13 August. Read more about our ‘Alpha’.
You can find us along the Christchurch Road, half way between the Cafe Boscanova end of the Boscombe pedestrian area, and Pokesdown Station.
Sign at the top of Parkwood Road, almost exactly opposite the church.
SAFEGUARDING: Rosebery Park has policies in place to ensure compliance with legal requirements such as safeguarding. All church members working with children have had safeguarding training and are DBS checked.
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF. Also online.
What’s the task of a church? The church is a group of people who have made
Jesus Lord. So they present themselves
for service. What does Jesus want to
do?
He wants people to accept him as their rightful Lord and King.
He wants people to grow to be like him. After all, God created us in his image!
He wants people to show compassion to others. The world is full of hurting people.
He wants people to fight for justice, to oppose the oppressor.
He wants people to take care of the wonderful world he has entrusted to us.
As a church we don’t do all of these things. But they are aspirations.
Rosebery Park Baptist Church, 812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF. Also online.
812-814 Christchurch Road, between Boscombe and Pokesdown, Bournemouth, BH7 6DF
Rosebery Park Baptist Church is a community of people who are seeking to follow Jesus Christ. We’re a community, not a building. Admittedly, on the front of our building, in Christchurch Road, Pokesdown, are the words ‘Rosebery Park Baptist Church’. But the building isn’t the church. We – the people – are the church. (Photo: Rev. Simon Bartlett & Priscilla Bartlett)
We’re the church on Monday as well as on Sunday, and we would be the church if we had no building. We’re quite a mix: young and old, different nationalities and different backgrounds. We’re trying to follow Jesus but none of us is perfect. We have specific beliefs about who Jesus is. Our beliefs are expressed in a formal statement by the Baptist Union of Great Britain. But a very brief expression of our beliefs could be, ‘JESUS: LORD. LOVE. LIFE. HOPE’. (Photo: Coffee Morning)
We could describe the few hundred metres between the church and Pokesdown Station as the Portobello Road of Bournemouth. There’s a concentration of antique shops selling everything from bric-a-brac to high-class antiques, and a great selection of bakeries, cafés and restaurants. But good as all this is, we hope that at Rosebery Park you will find something of even greater value! (Photo: Church building)
