The task at hand is to write a column for the Daily Echo, of roughly 700 words, on a topic of my choice. I won’t lie, my first idea was shoes. I love shoes - stupidly high ones in particular. I could easily write 7000 words on them, let alone just 700! However, I wanted to choose a topic that wouldn’t just appeal to myself but hopefully to those who may read this as well. And what’s the one thing that we have in common? (Even though the likelihood is that I’ve never met you and you’ve probably never heard of me?) Is the fact that we live in/around, are visiting or have an interest in the area of Bournemouth; hence you’re reading this in our local paper! So what better topic to write my column on than my own home town?
Living in just one place for all of my 22 years could be seen as quite tedious, but when the place that I call home is the popular, vibrant, cosmopolitan town that is Bournemouth, I’m sure you’ll agree that the word tedious doesn’t come into the equation.
The humble town that I have been lucky enough to grow up in has some of the most renowned nightlife that the UK has to offer (this is probably my personal favourite part) along with the vast amount of different restaurants for those who love to eat, and for those who (like myself) love to shop, Bournemouth also offers a great variety of these too. Then we have the luscious green, award-winning gardens that run through the centre of town and the beautiful scenic countryside that surrounds us. And all of this is topped off with seven miles of golden sandy beaches which have won numerous awards for our seafront town. Talk about the cherry on top! Is it any wonder why when I was studying at Southampton University for three years I chose to live at home?
Sadly, I shamefully take a lot of what our town has to offer for granted. I recently met a girl who came from Kansas in America and was visiting family over here. When a friend asked how long it took for her to get to the beach she replied “Fifteen hours.” I was stunned. FIFTEEN HOURS? Was she joking? Now, admittedly, geography has never been my strongest subject, and even though I’ve visited America several times fifteen hours seemed a tad extreme. I clearly didn’t have a grasp on how big America actually is! Needless to say she wasn’t lying, and was subsequently VERY excited about the prospect of being less than 10 minutes away from the beach and being able to visit it whenever she wanted! I, however, was suddenly overcome with guilt. I’ve had this charming beach (quite literally) on my doorstep for the last 22 years and I haven’t made good use out of it at all. I normally avoid it like the plague in the daytime during summer, but not this year, oh no! This year I’ll be down there armed with a bucket and spade along with the thousands of eager tourists who visit every year. Some travel numerous hours just for the day; the least I could do is walk the twenty minutes it takes from my front door! I almost feel as if I owe Bournemouth beach and all the people who work so hard to keep it up to standard an apology for not appreciating it as much as it deserves. Sorry!
As the well-known song states “Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the Sea! So just let me be beside the seaside, I’ll be beside myself with glee.” The seaside, Bournemouth seaside to be precise, is exactly where you’ll find me as soon as the sunshine decides to stay for longer than just one day! And although I soon hope to leave and move on to join the hustle and bustle of London, there’s nothing quite like home, so that’s why I’ll always be a very proud Bournemouth girl! And who knows, maybe one day I’ll be making trips down especially just to use the beach!
Living in just one place for all of my 22 years could be seen as quite tedious, but when the place that I call home is the popular, vibrant, cosmopolitan town that is Bournemouth, I’m sure you’ll agree that the word tedious doesn’t come into the equation.
The humble town that I have been lucky enough to grow up in has some of the most renowned nightlife that the UK has to offer (this is probably my personal favourite part) along with the vast amount of different restaurants for those who love to eat, and for those who (like myself) love to shop, Bournemouth also offers a great variety of these too. Then we have the luscious green, award-winning gardens that run through the centre of town and the beautiful scenic countryside that surrounds us. And all of this is topped off with seven miles of golden sandy beaches which have won numerous awards for our seafront town. Talk about the cherry on top! Is it any wonder why when I was studying at Southampton University for three years I chose to live at home?
Sadly, I shamefully take a lot of what our town has to offer for granted. I recently met a girl who came from Kansas in America and was visiting family over here. When a friend asked how long it took for her to get to the beach she replied “Fifteen hours.” I was stunned. FIFTEEN HOURS? Was she joking? Now, admittedly, geography has never been my strongest subject, and even though I’ve visited America several times fifteen hours seemed a tad extreme. I clearly didn’t have a grasp on how big America actually is! Needless to say she wasn’t lying, and was subsequently VERY excited about the prospect of being less than 10 minutes away from the beach and being able to visit it whenever she wanted! I, however, was suddenly overcome with guilt. I’ve had this charming beach (quite literally) on my doorstep for the last 22 years and I haven’t made good use out of it at all. I normally avoid it like the plague in the daytime during summer, but not this year, oh no! This year I’ll be down there armed with a bucket and spade along with the thousands of eager tourists who visit every year. Some travel numerous hours just for the day; the least I could do is walk the twenty minutes it takes from my front door! I almost feel as if I owe Bournemouth beach and all the people who work so hard to keep it up to standard an apology for not appreciating it as much as it deserves. Sorry!
As the well-known song states “Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the Sea! So just let me be beside the seaside, I’ll be beside myself with glee.” The seaside, Bournemouth seaside to be precise, is exactly where you’ll find me as soon as the sunshine decides to stay for longer than just one day! And although I soon hope to leave and move on to join the hustle and bustle of London, there’s nothing quite like home, so that’s why I’ll always be a very proud Bournemouth girl! And who knows, maybe one day I’ll be making trips down especially just to use the beach!
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