Earlier this year signified 15 years of living in Bournemouth. This is the longest I have lived anywhere and since making the long trip down from the North East it has been a brilliant time.

At first people wondered why I'd be moving to what was perceived as a resting place for the purple-rinse brigade. I took to his place straight away and that first summer in 96 was a fantastic sunny spell, that started around April if I recall. To be honest, we kept it as our little secret.

Funny how once our friends started to visit that they couldn't get enough of the place and our flat and then house became Hotel Fong. Some liked the place so much that they then bought a place of their own. A mini-influx of Northerners, and who could blame them.

The picture above was taken in October on what was still a warm and sunny day. Plenty of people out and about enjoying the beach and plenty of surfers bobbing in the water. I think it nicely captures one side of Bournemouth.