Is Poole High Street Really That Bad? 

I was in Poole last year and thought it seemed much more nicer then what Bournemouth town centre is nowadays

I have lived in Poole for 82 years and my parents and grandparents were also born and raised in Poole. I remember attending the Amity located in the high street. I had a relative who was the Captain of a ship trading with Newfoundland. I was very proud of our town especially of its history. However, in my opinion, the magic of Poole has gradually diminished and with the help of BCP the speed of its decline is gathering pace.

Thank you for the video. I have lived in Poole for 9 years and things have changed since we first arrived. What you have failed to show is the very large number of charity shops, barbers and vape shops that we have. There are also still a large number of empty premises which you also didn't show. Many places seem to be on short leases and the turnaround from full to empty is quite high as in Bournemouth this is due to high rents and rates. These are not the sorts of places that will keep the tourists happy. I have heard comments from tourists as I have walked down the high street saying in is such a shame that it has gone downhill. Also by going on market day you have missed the state of the walkways. Most of the bricks are loose and cause for concern especially for those with prams, wheelchairs and rollators. The council seemed to think it was better to spend thousands on temporary chiristmas decorations than to spend the money on more permanent repairs.

Lived in Poole all my life, I'm only 27 so of course a lot of commenters and watchers will have likely seen Poole more so in it's prime than I have. One of the biggest issues I've always been told by others was the fact the rental price of stores inside Dolphin and the high street itself are insanely high, and thats why many retailers cannot remain there for so long. Luckily seeing some of the big shops open inside there in recent years has picked it up a little bit. The idea for a cinema, or some sort of complex where Argos used to be (the area on the right hand side at the start of the video) to compete with Bournemouth has seemingly fell through, as it's been talked about for years and nothings happened. Otherwise, I've never had any issues in Poole highstreet itself. The Bus Station has become safer as More took over from Wilts & Dorset, with more people and security present. The high street itself is usually quiet, I've not really experienced it at night so I can't comment. Poole Quay has always been lovely, especially in the summer and for Bike nights and other events. I'm not really a person who goes out much into Poole or Bournemouth, but as growing up in both of them, Bournemouth is lovely for the beach and the gardens in the sunshine, otherwise it doesn't have much to offer. It's a tourist spot, and that's why it's recieved so much income and upgrades, while Poole has seemingly withered, but it's not affected the spirit.

i was born in Pool hospital october 1942 i now live in the fenns i do remember all the trains runing down the roads and quay side and the gas works (school visit) and the potteries another school visit left in 1960 nothing stays the same ..

Great of you to shout out all the independent shops btw

Thanks for this, I live in Dorset and have a fondness for Poole and have many memories of working and leisure time there. I still enjoy a day out there. Yes, parts of the High St have gone and changed, as everywhere, but still like it.

I moved to Poole about 13 years ago. Poole is actually very gradually improving with the addition of some independent shops and some good places to eat at the quay. There’s some life here - they need to carry on with what they’re doing and attract more independent and arts business as parts are still a bit depressing and the bus station is grim. Poole has loads of potential and the old town is beautiful. Bournemouth on the other hand is unrecognisable, empty units and drug problems. When I moved here I used to almost always shop in Bournemouth, now almost always Poole.

Best bits of Poole are the Quay with commercial businesses near it and the railway crossing in town. Local transport by bus and train is good too.

I used to work in Poole Museum in the late 80s , always loved the history of this place. Poole has a lot of character.

Great video, more Poole content please! It seems much nicer now than it did a few years ago

Thank you for taking the time to explore Poole High Street. We moved here 8 years ago and love Poole High Street And Poole Park. Lovely walks along the shore also. I think people who don't like it are people who only shop in large shopping malls.

I live between Bournemouth and Poole and much prefer Poole for shopping. There are hardly any shops left in Bournemouth now.

..thank you for your brilliant videos, love them, and the details you see that we might miss! 👏🏽👏🏽 x

Great video Loved it when you said more empty shops than in Bournemouth I always go to Boscombe as everything i need but will check Poole out

I always loved Poole. Thanks for this.

Ok, yeah I was surprised, not what I was expecting at all. Looks fine . Lots of shops . Thank you very much for the vid mate 👍🏼

Hi ,,,we live in Poole and totally agree ,,more going on here than bmth ,and a whole load safer to walkabout ,, 14:25

The Poundland was actually a furniture shop called “Cantors” and a huge fire ripped through it in the mid 1990’s when my dad was working there.. it was knocked down and replaced with another furniture shop which is why the building is a different style to the rest. Although I can find no history on that massive fire.

There can't be too many people who've not been into Boones to get some hard to find bit of hardware. Think it's the oldest shop in either Poole, Bournemouth or maybe even Christchurch

I remember years ago when there was the game station and game on the high street definitely more nostalgia for me then most places getting the train from Wareham with my Nan. 28 years old now and would give anything to go back to those simple times

I used to go in Poole on my day off..thank you for giving me memories 😊😊

Great vid again! Cheers 👍👍

Nice one Jamie. Poole seems to have regenerated itself more than Bournemouth. I have a mate who says '' there are not many empty shops now in Poole as opposed to Bournemouth. With Bournemouth, it's TK Maxxs and Primark and thats it. The reputation especially linked in with the Lower Gardens and town centre being deemed as a ''No Go Area'' at night and I have met many people who won't go to Bournemouth at night. And on Friday 14th of April , Police were called to the Pier Approach area of reports of youths fighing with knives as reported in the Bournemouth Echo.

Whenever I holidayed in B'mth, I'd always take time for Poole - great shopping, docks, pubs and fresh seafood. Always enjoyed it. And I hate shopping, ordinarily.

I used to work for the service side of 'Visionhire' which had a shop in the high street just before you went inside the dolphin centre. Used to get my lunch from the 'Wimpy' which was roughly were Greggs is now, before doing my collections from 'Apollo 200' electrical store up the road. John Menzies inside the dolphin and the wooden animals in the main walkway. All back in the 80's & good old days! Really interesting to see what it's like now with your brilliant walk around. Thanks for that, very enjoyable.

I have to say that I am quite impressed. I grew up in Poole and lived most of my 65 years in the area and the last time I went it was a complete dump but it certainly looks like it might be recovering, the influx of indepenent retailers is a breath of fresh air. Bournemouth will never do this because the council is too greedy, the rates are too high and all they want is students. However what they have got is huge gangs of illeagal immigrants selling drugs and commiting crimes.

That independent retailer area looks nice I will check it out next time I am round there. I did enjoy browsing the charity shops and the Dolphin was OK but I didn't find much apart from that. Bournemouth is so disappointing now used to have fabulous shops and department stores but very little there now.

Love the video brought memories growing up in poole love it and still do ❤ The nero cafe place use to be a bank lovely building

In Bournemouth, we used to say Poole centre is horrible. Now, we all say “it’s nicer than Bournemouth”.

12:45 You walked past Grope Lane. The name tells us what it was used for centuries ago.

This Setchfields and that hardware store has been around for a long time.

The smart looking Poundland used to be a BitZ a very long time ago 😂

I shop in Poole sometimes but never Bournemouth, daughter just moved to Boscombe so will have a look at those shops soon as they seem interesting and she says that area is improving now the notorious dodgy landlord has stopped letting bedsits to druggies.

I like Poole shame so many shops have closed haven’t been for a while but interesting video thanks for sharing

love this im from poole u rock

I went there in 91 and remembered a leisure centre and cinema. ❤

I use to live in Poole few years ago

It’s good to see the independent shops surviving against all the odds. The problem with so many of our town centres now is that they’re full of charity shops, barber shops, nail parlours etc. Plus, lots of bad planning decisions in the 1950s onwards have resulted in a mish mash of mediocre architecture. It’s many years since I’ve been to Poole, but its heart seems to have survived better than many towns of similar size here in Kent.

Westbourne is a lovely spot with its little arcade.

I used to work in the King Charles in the late 80's.

You missed out the wonderful traditional sweet shop in Old Town 😢

Iused to go to Bournemouth on Saturdays with my son when he was little during the 2000's As the years went by Bournemouth became less and less attractive so we moved towards Poole end and much prefer it now. They were supposed to be re developing the Dolphin Centre and Falkland Square area a couple of years ago but i havent seen any movement on this as yet.

I love Poole my late granddad lived here ❤️❤️❤️❤️💙💙💙

My wife already settled at poole. I will fly with my child's. Hopefully poole will be my next home town. Live you lovely poole. See you soon

Poole High Street has a lot of history and compared to many others is really not so bad. Was born and bred in Poole but spent half of my life in the city with the largest Natural Harbour Sydney.Since returning have noticed lots of complaints about Poole and Bournemouth but thesedays Poole wins hands down.

❤

Parkstone is hands down one of the nicest regions of Poole. It is safe, has low crime rate and a wide variety of shops, restaurants and old fashioned pubs

I've lived in Poole now for 10 years and seen few things come and go. I personally like Poole town over Bournemouth. Before here I lived in Bracknell and left just as the started to knock the down down and rebuild so Poole was nice refresh. Personally love the old town bit too By way, Sweet Caroline dinner been closed for a number of years now. Shame really

Lived in Poole for 20 years now and have seen the changes. Poole is still far, far better than Bournemouth though. I still tend to avoid both in the summer months as they can get rammed and at night in Bournemouth is a no no, about the only time I go there is to the BIC to see a band or for the air show, shame really as it use to be nice, well it still is, it's just the idiots you get there now, stag parties and that, people getting pissed up and aggressive. I still like going to Poole "Out of season" and walking along the Quay, having a few beers in the numerous pubs and something to eat in the many good restaurants, not cheap (apart from Wetherspoons), but good grub. Oh and the geezer that owns the that model shop is more grumpy than me LOL, went in there to get some modelling supplies and all he did was moan, went to pay by card and he moaned about how much that cost him, moaned about no one using cash anymore, moaned about suppliers and the prices, moaned about basically everything. I only use it now if I need something that day. After all that I love living here.

I haven’t been to Poole in years, but used to live nearby. Setchfields model shop used to be an art shop. Poole actually doesn’t look as bad as I’d thought. As you said, way better than Bournemouth.

Nice video of my home town, but I was disappointed that you walked past both Scaplens Court and the Almshouses without even mentioning them. They're possibly the oldest buildings in Poole!

The Cafe Nero building used to be the Bradford and Bingley building society. Before then I think it used to be the Wessex Building Society.

Too many 30 something yobs on push bikes, with their hoods up drug running and openly smoking dope. The homeless tend to congregate at the empty end, especially as dark approaches and the food bank shop closes, to use the doorways to eat and sleep in. The Bowling Ally Lane tends to be used as the toilet. Some homeless people with mental health issues were living on the main town roundabout for months. Money needs to be spent on the place and people need to be looked after. The council has patrolling officers to prevent anti social behaviour. The bridge steps are steep, and slippery in the rain and many won't risk the crush. The Poundland shop was a furniture shop...and then a fabric and furnishings shop before a business selling Chrosshatch puffer jackets and sweat shirts and hoodies took over.

Poundland used to be a bed shop I believe I think dfs or something like that

Largest natural harbour in the world. AFAIK Sydney have reclaimed so much land from their harbour that Poole is now the largest

Unfortunately many high streets in the UK have become run down and shabby over the years.

I live here 😢

1:05 Falklands Square was better when the Dolphin Hotel was there.

I live in Sandbanks, Dont know what the problem is, pooles lovely 😉

Wow,just tat markets and shops.hardware shop was the best..Very sad we need better shops,independants will change everything.

They need to bring the cars back into town….people can’t be bothered to walk…thats why out of town shopping centres are popular….let disabled car drivers in at least..

save yourself 14:25 - 'yes'

It's much better than Oxford Street in London ! Great to see small local traders doing business ❤️

I live there go at night

Its a dump, like Bournemouth and Boscombe. Smell of weed everywhere, children vaping on the high street, no worse than where I live now I guess

No worse than Bargoed town centre in Wales (My home town).

I moved to Poole just over a year ago because of my job and I honestly hate it down here (Dorset in general). The drivers are insane, ragamuffins populate the town centres and much of the area is in various states of disrepair. My contract is up next year and I can't wait to escape. Bournemouth is basically Swindon with sand...

I live in Poole go there at night mate 👿👿👿👿

Would never want to see poole town centre again. Totally down market. But good enough for the people who live there

Looks depressing

Poole 7 out of 10 Bournemouth 6 out of 10

Rates are too high.