Shah of Persia Hotel

Poole Old Town

by johngayton

As with many characterful English towns the 1960's and 70's planners did Poole few favours. But then I suppose there's nothing new there in that the Georgian planners of the 18th century did similar things. Hmmm...but at least the Georgians had a bit of style.

That said though, Poole is overall quite an attractive town and some of the more modern developements have been sympathetic to its heritage.

Old Town Poole is a sort of Georgian enclave at the Quay end of the town and there are some georgeous (sic) examples of the town's heyday as an important port and pottery town. The Old Town is now a listed conservation area and the Guildhall, Custom's House and a couple of other buildings are welll worth taking the off-the-path wander. Especially so as there are some cracking pubs tucked away here ;)

Poole Borough

by LouiseTopp

"A history"

A busy Quay, the finest beaches in England & the spectacular natural harbour make Poole, Dorset a natural first choice on the South Coast. Poole guarantees you an thrilling Autumn getaway with its motivated programme of Autumn events. Poole is a quickly increasing town with residents resembling 140,000. Poole came of age in 1248, the year it was approved self government by the signing of the Longespee Charter by William Longespee II, the then Lord of the Manor and the great grandson of the towns founder.

The historic heart of Poole is centred on its most famous feature, namely Poole Quay, which has played a key role over the years. Poole has been a working port since the Tudor times, bringing employment & affluence to the town. During the Second World War, Poole played a important role, being one of the largest embarkation points for the D-Day landings& even now the port continues to play host to the Royal Marines. Today the port continues to offer employment, with regular freight & passenger services to France, Spain & the Channel Islands. Poole is home to a small but successful fishing fleet, with catches being landed on the Quay. Poole Harbour is the largest natural harbour in Europe & is the home to the many yachts, pleasure craft & working craft, such as Diving Operators which function alongside the wildlife that can be found in the water & along the coast & shoreline.

"Conclusion"

If you take a stroll along Poole Quay you will see great change taking place, with the expansion of new buildings & the increase of existing businesses. There is a broad mixture of activities carried out on the Quay, one of which is the production of powerboat & luxury leisure motor boats by the world renowned Sunseeker company who have a new construction provision on the Quay, so keep an eye out for their craft in the harbour & see how the rich spend their money ! If you're not quite so rich, but have a sweet tooth, you must pay a visit to Truly Scrumptious, Pooles' best time-honoured sweet shop where you'll find the biggest selection of traditional sweets you could ever imagine ! A recent departee from the Quay is the famed Poole Pottery factory, which has been demolished to make way for a new advance of flats & retail units, though at present the pottery shop & tourist shop remain. Other local business interests comprise the world famous Lava Lamp manufacturer, whose Website is an award winner, Siemens, the HQ of Barclays Bank International, the RNLI HQ as well as the international racing car company Penske.