The cliffs between Southbourne and Boscombe are not that high (about 95 feet according to my GPS). All the same, they draw numberous paragliders who manage to get airborne from here and float up and down the coast. Because they are so close to the ground it is possible to get some great shots of them with their colourful canopies and their gossamer-like lines. I have never been paragliding but it is something I’d love to try one day.
As for the cliffs themselves, there are goats living there. Yes! There is an area of cliff which is fenced off and which is a permanent home to goats. As we walked into Boscombe there they were, munching on the cliffside scrub.
What do you mean you can’t see them? Well, I suppose they are quite difficult to spot. You need to be an extremely accomplished photographer to catch them. “Great!” I thought, “I’ll put my accomplished skills to the test!” Here is my best shot of the day:
I decided that perhaps I should brush up on my accomplishments and come back to this another time. Either that or those goats need to eat a bit more scrub. I went off to look at the brightly coloured beach huts instead.
From this point it was only a short walk to Boscombe Pier.
The gates to the pier beckoned us in, but we decided to save our walk along the pier for the next time. Stage 71 of our walk around the coast of Britain ended here.
Points on this part of the walk (copy and paste the co-ordinates into Google Earth):
- Boscombe’s Goats: N 50° 43.240 W 001° 50.200
- Boscombe Pier: N 50° 43.130 W 001° 50.580
Walk #71 Statistics (of which this post forms the final part):
- Date of Walk: 3 May 2014
- Walk #71 total distance covered (excluding ferry): 12.44 miles
- Coast of Britain Walk Total Distance Covered: 619.14 miles
- CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO INTERACTIVE MAP!!!
The Coastal Path 
Is the goat trying to climb a tree? I saw them in small trees in Morocco once……
No, they’ve always been on the ground when I’ve seen them. I think this one was stood up on its hind legs trying to nibble something.
Ah, Boscombe. Principle produce: shy goats, paragliders and helpful mammals (I was born there).
I twitched when I saw you had tagged it as Dorset. Which it is. But it was Hampshire back then. And part of me still regards that change with all the tantrum-throwing denial of the four-year old I then was.
By many definiions (it’s an imprecise term) reaching Dorset
if it is Dorsetalso means you’ve reached the West Country. So congratulations on that!Obviously, I meant I was a four-year old when they moved the border, not when I was born. Tsk. grammatical imprecison; I shall go combust with the shame of it..
Not all Boscombian mammals are helpful, Ju, otherwise those pesky goats would have moved to open space and allowed me to get a good picture of them!
I never knew Boscome was part of Hampshire once!
ps – Just tried to post a commment on your blog and was told I was spam! Oh, the brazen affrontery of your filters! (Though I accept my comment wasn’t exactly Shakespeare, and probably nothing to enrich the lives of your readership…)
Yes. Christchurch and Bournemouth were once Hampshire, whilse Poole was Dorset. When the towns largely merged together it was decided (rather sensibly, I think) it made sense to have them part of the same county rather than a county border through the middle of a conurbation. Hence Bournemouth and Christchurch boroughs became part of Dorset.
Oh, I’m sorry it thought you were spam. I have no idea why that happened. 😦
Transferring Bournemouth and Christchurch to Dorset made perfect sense since they form a continuous conurbation with Poole. I can’t fault the reasoning but my inner four year-old objects. Conversely, my older self is slightly annoyed that I missed being born in the West Country by about two miles or four years…
Ah, the beach huts and numbers.
Yes i can be guilty of odd ideas when walking the coast, i was traveling in the opposite direction from Bournmouth and on passing beach hut no 1 and noticing the numbers climbing fast i wondered (for no apparent reason) if there was a beach hut number 1066, and yes there was plus a lot more. just how many in total i don’t know, did you count them by any chance?
Cheers J.P. (who will return to passing beach huts as soon as time allows).
I’ll have another look at my photos, John. I recall seeing a number in the 1280’s…
Iv lived here for over 20yr and never saw a goat on the cliff tops. Iv lived in southborne boscombe and Christchurch where and when is the best time to see them
Hi Sharlene – To be honest I’ve never seen them there either, but there again I live in London so I’m rarely in this neck of the woods. However, I do visit Bournemouth quite regularly and I’m sure I have seen the goats on the stretch between Bournemouth and Boscombe, so maybe have a look round there. Good luck! Nic