The Heritage Cycle Route
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Further information on cycling in Poole at www.boroughofpoole.com at Poole in cycling on information Further cer 01202 262066 01202 cer fi Of Cycling Poole of Borough website see 21 Agenda Poole Contacts: form without permission from Poole Museum Services. Museum Poole from permission without form Photos reproduced with permission from and thanks to Poole Museum Services. Not to be reproduced in any any in reproduced be to Not Services. Museum Poole to thanks and from permission with reproduced Photos visiting places of historic interest. historic of places visiting Printed on recycled paper. Designed 2000, updated 2008 by Andy Hadley, Poole Agenda 21 www.pa21.org.uk 21 Agenda Poole Hadley, Andy by 2008 updated 2000, Designed paper. recycled on Printed A cycle ride of approximately 7½ miles, 7½ approximately of ride cycle A cult diffi walking nd fi who those Group and the Borough of Poole of Borough the and Group Festival Project Festival Giving freedom of movement to to movement of freedom Giving between Poole Agenda 21 Transport Transport 21 Agenda Poole between a Millennium Millennium a The Route is the result of co-operation co-operation of result the is Route The Cycle Route is is Route Cycle O B M I The Heritage Heritage The L P I O T H Y S Poole Quay c.1911 Quay Poole with bicycles c.1915 bicycles with Poole Studio portrait of two young ladies ladies young two of portrait Studio Poole There is also a walking ‘Cockle’ trail around the central portion of Poole Old Town. Old Poole of portion central the around trail ‘Cockle’ walking a also is There on foot. The red bus 128 stops at the Country Park. Country the at stops 128 bus red The foot. on 26 www.yellowbuses.co.uk run to Poole Town Centre, from where the route can be joined joined be can route the where from Centre, Town Poole to run www.yellowbuses.co.uk 26 Many Wilts and Dorset Buses, www.wdbus.co.uk and the Yellow Bus numbers 1b,1c and and 1b,1c numbers Bus Yellow the and www.wdbus.co.uk Buses, Dorset and Wilts Many for the route. Parking charges may apply. may charges Parking route. the for Car parks at Upton Country Park, Whitecliffe Park, Baiter, and Poole Park are convenient convenient are Park Poole and Baiter, Park, Whitecliffe Park, Country Upton at parks Car Hamworthy Station is a short cycle from the Upton Country Park terminus. Park Country Upton the from cycle short a is Station Hamworthy Poole Railway Station, on the London Waterloo to Weymouth mainline is on the route, and and route, the on is mainline Weymouth to Waterloo London the on Station, Railway Poole cycleways across the conurbation is available. is conurbation the across cycleways et showing showing et fl lea A Cycleways. Poole of network the to link trail cycle the of ends Both et. fl lea this in mentioned sites of sample the beyond explore route. We hope you will, however, take time to enjoy the heritage along the route, and and route, the along heritage the enjoy to time take however, will, you hope We route. Without tea or pub stops, the Heritage trail is around a one hour cycle, or a 3 hour walking walking hour 3 a or cycle, hour one a around is trail Heritage the stops, pub or tea Without Poole Heritage Cycle Route Cycle Heritage Poole Upton Country Park to Poole Town Centre Town Poole to Park Country Upton Poole Heritage Cycle Route Route Cycle Heritage Poole POOLE HERITAGE CYCLE ROUTE Approaching the town, the Victorian houses to the left, on Sterte Esplanade show the historic shoreline, but these too are on land reclaimed when A circular route between Upton Country Park and Poole Town Centre. the railway arrived. To the right used to be timber wharfs, a relic of the Most of the route now forms part of the National Cycleway Newfoundland trade, most now replaced. JJ Nortons yard has become the Asda Route 25 from Frome to Poole. Throughout the tour, the store. You will also see the national headquarters for the RNLI, with their new numbers refer to points on the map. Look out for the penny national training centre and workshops. At the entrance to the Asda carpark, farthing signs along the route. we need to cross the dual carriageway via the Toucan lights towards the Poole railway station, and turn right. Upton Country Park provides a good place to start your heritage trip, either ALONG THE (LONG GONE) NORTHERN DEFENCES arriving by bike on the Trailway/Roman road, or the Hamworthy cycleways, with the bike on the car or by other means. Refreshments can be obtained at a We enter the town under the kiosk at the house or in the heritage centre. The Peacock Art Gallery upstairs in Towngate Bridge(2), next to the the Heritage Centre, has regularly changing exhibitions. railway station. (Photo B) The entrance to Poole used to be We start at Upton House defended by a dyke and a fortifi ed (Photo A), an early 19th century gate around here. These defences mansion which is a Grade II withstood the Royalist forces listed building set in over 100 throughout the Civil War when acres of woodland, parkland and Poole was staunchly for Cromwell shoreline. (1) This was built for and Parliament. Once we get to Christopher Spurrier, one of Baiter, on a clear day the Royalist Poole’s “Merchant Princes” and stronghold of Corfe Castle can be MP for Bridport. The wealth seen nestling into the Purbeck B. Men working on line at Poole station c1960 of the Spurriers came from the hills across the harbour. Newfoundland trade which was A. Back of Upton House c.1920’s - 1930’s based on salt cod. This trade Having passed along Vanguard Road under and then alongside the fl yover, went into decline at the end of we emerge in North Street, and ahead one is faced with the impressive bulk of the Napoleonic Wars and in 1830 Spurrier was declared bankrupt. It is said Beech Hurst (3) built for Samuel Rolles in 1798. that he even lost the family silver in a bet on a maggot race. Subsequent owners Cross the High Street (Photo C is included the Doughtys and the Llewellyns. the historic view left from here). Near the Heritage Centre you can glimpse the gravestones of a pet cemetery Around the corner in Lagland amongst the fl ower beds. Street is the magnifi cent Victorian edifi ce of the Free Library, School The Heritage Centre has interpretative panels on the fl ora and fauna of the of Art and Museum (4) given to the lovely gardens. Close by is the Romano-British farm, an archaeologically correct Borough by the redoubtable timber reconstruction of the sort of building that might have stood here 2000 years ago. merchant JJ Norton in 1887. We The thatched building is used by schools as a centre for educational activities. cross the roundabout and enter Green Road via a cyclepath link. DOWN TO THE TOWN We now pass along Green Road Returning up the drive you can now cycle along the shores of Holes Bay passing and Emerson Road to emerge on C. Towngate Street, showing level crossing and Pergins Island. Originally this was known as Longfl eet bay, Parkstone bay being the edge of Poole Harbour itself. Tram terminus c1910 called Holes Bay until the 19th century. Soon the Old Town becomes visible on This great harbour, one of the low ground projecting into the great Harbour. The Tudor antiquary Leland said largest in the world, lies at the heart of Poole’s history – it is from here that of Poole that “it standith almost as an isle in the haven”. The view has changed Poole traders, pirates and smugglers left to make their fortunes. greatly in recent years. BAITER PARK storehouse known in Northern Europe. The Town Cellars are now part of Turning right at the Waterfront Museum (10) where you can learn more of the story of Poole. end of Green Road, the cycleway leaves the road, and you can explore MANSIONS OF OLD POOLE the open land of Baiter. Thames Street takes us into the heart of Georgian Poole. If we pause at the Historically, Baiter was a junction with Church Street we can see a group of buildings that form a narrow peninsula. (Photo testament to the prosperous days of Poole’s dominance of the Newfoundland D) The ancient maps of trade in the 18th and early 19th centuries. This trade saw goods and men the area show a windmill shipped from Poole across the Atlantic. Off Newfoundland the most prolifi c (near 5) on Baiter and the fi shing grounds in the world were exploited for millions of cod which were dried town archives refer to a and salted. Poole ships then took the salt cod to the West Indies to feed the slave D. Fishermans Dock looking east, showing old Lifeboat station, storehouse for gunpowder plantations and to the Catholic countries of southern Europe. Back came wine, Gasworks and Baiter Peninsular c1930s at a safe distance from salt and olive oil to the port of Poole. Vast fortunes were made by families such the Old Town (6). as the Lesters who built the Mansion House (11) and the Slades who built West There was also an isolation hospital in use until 1936. The National Cycleway End House (12) at the far side of the square. continues towards Poole Park (Photo E), Lilliput, and the Route 2 linking Bournemouth to Swanage and Turning right to go up Church Street we have St James Church (13) on the the Purbecks via the chain ferry, left.