My wife and I spent a day in Bournemouth and took in the town centre. Bournemouth is where we both grew up and it will always be home to us, even though we have lived away for 30 years.

The beach was deserted as expected in Winter, but it remains one of the best beaches in Europe.

The town centre, however, is so far removed from even a year after Covid that it is unrecognisable. So many shops boarded up, so much grime around that makes it all feel a bit dirty and homeless, and drug addicts everywhere. I feel so sad for these people and am sure a lot of their problems are not their own making, but when it is dominating a town there is not much that can be done.

This article sums it all up nicely. Bournemouth used to be amazing- the nightclubs, the variety of food, cultures and entertainment made it an unusual and special place, but that has all gone.

The local football team is riding high and there is money in the town, but I suspect it will not be able to come back from where it is today.

What’s really sad is that there are so many towns like this in England thanks for the politics of the last 14 years.

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