10.4km on the inland route and 6.7km along the promenade
Total from home of nearly 30 miles each along the coast and inland in 5 days
Another bright and sunny day and the wind had dropped and moved to the South West and so was much warmer. We started quite early and parked in Shore Road, Sandbanks. The Official coastal path through Bournemouth runs along the cliff-top for much of this part of the route, although there is a promenade for the whole length between Bournemouth and Sandbanks.
So we started back towards Bournemouth Pier and followed the route on the map. This takes you around all of the Chines. Chine is a local word, mainly in South Central England meaning a deeply incised river valley that leads to the sea – they are well known on the Isle of Wight and in Devon, and in Hampshire “Bunny” has almost the same meaning.
Canford Cliffs Chine 
There are about 7 chines between Sandbanks and Bournemouth Pier and the coastal path goes inland around most of them, making the route considerably longer than the fairly straight promenade. Bournemouth, which only really came into existence following the railway boom in the 1800’s, has preserved much of the slopes as parks and open space. Each of the Chines are different and all have a path down to the sea. The largest, Alum Chine has children’s play area at the top and a tropical garden lower down. We didn’t have time to explore the Chines on this trip but it would be worthwhile sometime later.
You approach the Pier through West Cliff gardens and there is a Cliff Lift, though it was not operating. There is now lots of open space around the pier entrance which has recently been re-developed but it was quite busy.
Bournemouth Pier 
It’s an easy walk back along the promenade towards Sandbanks with the sand on one side and the cliffs, with a surprising variety of plants, on the other. Most of the promenade is backed by beach-huts which come in an interesting variety of shapes and sizes, with a collection of shops and restaurants in clusters around the bottom of each chine.
As we walked from Bournemouth into Poole, the promenade is a little less developed and softer – the sand remains pristine and lots of people were enjoying the autumn sunshine, including a few mainly serious swimmers.
“Working from home?” 
Sandbanks is a curious mixture of luxury houses and flats – millionaire row, with just a few older properties remaining. I had heard of the “Art by the Sea” festival was going on, but with a much reduced number of entries and there was an installation on Sandbanks beach call “In Memoriam” to remember those who had died from the virus, and the NHS staff who had looked after them. Although interesting from ground level, the pictures shown on the TV made it look more impressive.
“In Memoriam” 
Sandbanks sea front
So across Sandbanks beach, which had some interesting shells washed up by the tide and across some rocks to the Chain Ferry, which would take us to the Start of the South West Coastal Path at Studland – but that is for another day. So we continued around Sandbanks with views across Poole Harbour, to Brownsea and the other islands, and back to Shore Road.
Sandbanks chain ferry 
Poole Harbour
