Bournemouth Boys and Boscombe Girls by Danny Winter

If you weren’t around on the south coast during the late 70’s and early 80’s I’d honestly give this book a miss. This book has been published for the people who shared those years to be able to keep a record. These are the stories, some told in very funny poetic format, of those years. And it’s that unruliness which has kept us young. But they look at us with a strange curiosity, because in comparison – although they’re often very successful at ‘fitting in’ – they lead lives that are drab, dreary and monotonous. They don’t really want to say it to our faces because every now and again we can still be a little unpredictable. People occasionally talk about us in hushed tones, whispering that we’re a bit of a loose cannon. The flip side of this, I’m well aware, is that at times it may make some of us feel as if we’re outsiders, a lone wolf so to speak. We were carefree at an age when you’re supposed to be carefree. We’re not crazy, none of us (well, those in prison and mental asylums might be), but none of us on the ‘out’ are, but we had lively, buoyant and animated fun. Yes, at times they were tough, but we stuck with each other through thick and thin, and especially afterwards when we travelled the globe together.

Now, for the first time ever, I think I understand what was so special about those years. I’ve always loved wild people and wild places, always been drawn to them, and here are some of the stories. If you’ve worked holiday towns as a seasonal worker, either in the UK or abroad, then you’ll ‘get it’ or if you’re looking to work a season in Spain or Portugal or the South coast of England, then these are the tough but crazy times you can expect. Now if you’re reading the above and are thinking this was some kind of school reunion with a bunch of old codgers on Zimmer fames, playing inflatable ball games and drinking Dandelion & Burdock, mate, you’ve got it all wrong! There were even people who’d missed each other first time around, yet all of us have a very rare and exceptional connection. And do you know what, it was as if we hadn’t skipped a beat. This book recalls those days and tells the story of bringing a special group of people back together again after almost 40 years. We lived off our wits and, yes, from time to time we were rogues, but we had each other’s backs and we had some laughs.

Many worked the deckchairs, some worked hotels, pubs, bars, or nightclubs, either as bar staff or bouncers. We were seasonal workers during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in Bournemouth. In the lead-up to a recent reunion party, many of the old stories came out. We’re the oddballs, weirdoes, comedians, eccentrics, head cases and hard cases, and this book is for those who ‘get it’

Bournemouth Boys and Boscombe Girls by Danny Winter