About Boscombe

Boscombe, near Bournemouth on the South Coast of England is the UK’s most innovative seafront attraction.  The Overstrand beach front complex, designed in 1958, has been transformed into a year-round leisure facility catering to water sports enthusiasts in the winter and traditional beach visitors in the summer.

Boscombe Beach June 2009

Boscombe sits along Bournemouth’s seven miles of golden sand and "the Best Beach in Britain," as voted by the readers of Coast Magazine in 2008.

The mid-20th modernist "Overstrand" building has been restored. The complex now houses the best beach huts in the UK: the Boscombe Beach Pods.

Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway MBE of Hemingwaydesign and “Red or Dead” fame have interior designed the pods, which feature mains electricity, hot and cold running water and mod cons. They are available for sale on a 40-year lease.

Gerardine and Wayne Hemingway in a beach pod

The Overstrand public facilities offer benefits to both surfers and beach-lovers; changing rooms, toilets, warm showers, Sorted Surf Shop and School and Urban Reef restaurant.

Nearby stands the 20th century Boscombe Pier, with its clean, angular lines and dubbed by Wayne Hemingway as “the coolest pier in the UK.” The end of the Pier offers outstanding coastal views, naturally framed by the Isle of Wight and Isle of Purbeck and a fine spot to fish from, or simply watch the sun going down over the reef.

Boscombe in the 1950s

Public artwork, a renovated Pier entrance building with shop and food outlet, extensive re-landscaping and Edwardian terrace nearby has transformed Boscombe Pier Approach.

Opposite the pier, the Green Flag award-winning Boscombe Chine Gardens feature a children's water-play area, mini-golf course and café. Land trains operate from the pier and gardens every day in the summer, linking up to Bournemouth Pier.

Boscombe Chine Gardens

A short walk takes you to Boscombe town centre which offers a vibrant cultural scene. Quirky independent shops, cosmopolitan cafes, a bustling market, live music venues and fabulous property developments are turning Boscombe into one of the most desirable places to visit and live.

The O2 Academy, Boscombe