Brownsea Island

A beautiful, tranquil getaway from the hustle and bustle of Poole or Swanage. Have visited twice for a couple of hours each time and saw red squirrels on both occasions you just have to sit quietly, eat some food, and wait until they come to visit you! The bird reserve on the North of the island is also good, so take your binoculars along.

Brownsea island: You can get here from Sandbanks by small ferry boat or from Poole quay. Wonderful place to be on a sunny day with a picnic.

Wer in Bournemouth ist, sollte auf jeden Fall mal eine Bootstour nach Brownsea Island machen. Ein idyllisches Inselchen, welches auf schönen Spazierwegen leicht erkundet werden kann. Bekannt ist die Insel außerdem als Wiege der Pfadfinderbewegung, worüber man an mehreren Orten informiert wird. Auch ist die Insel ein Refugium für die roten Eichhörnchen, denen ja sonst von den grauen Verwandten arg zugesetzt wird. Auf der Wanderung über die Insel kann man auch noch viele andere Tiere entdecken und die Natur genießen. Ein Café gibt es natürlich auch, und bei einem Cream Tea ist die Entspannung dann komplett. :-)

A trip to brownsea island is a great treat for the children, the boat ride isn’t too long and the sea is very clear sometimes so you can spot fish off the side of the boat. The island itself is very restful and there is plently of wildlife to be observed including the red squirrel.

Brownsea Island is a favourite place of mine to visit. It can be accessed by ferry from Sandbanks or Poole Harbour and if you are a National Trust member then you can get on the island free. Just remember to bring your membership card. there are loads of walks to do once on the island and a small church to visit. You can also visit the Baden Powell centre which has a seating area and education centre and small shop. You can visit another education centre of the island too and has great heaters on cold days! The island has its own traditional sweet shop and gift shop but both are tiny and get extremely busy. Great day out for all ages a must if you’re in Poole!

Brownsea island is almost a good enough reason to visit Poole. Poole is like the armpit of Dorset, with a few millionaire’s houses nearby to make it seem even worse, but brownsea island is great.
There is a private mansion on the island where the staff of a London department store get to spend quality time, so there’s a bit of elitism there.
It was reasonably sunny when we were there, there were about ten red squirrels running round. The best time to see them apparently is september or autumn in general because they’re more active when it’s cooler.
There are massive attempts made by the guys who work here to clear the rhododendron bushes that choke all the other wildlife and were just in the gardens when it was a private island.
There was a pottery here at the start of teh 20^th century and on one side of the island near the sea you can see the remains of the small village and all the bits of bowls and plates they made.
The scout camp has a sort of permanent enclosure with totem poles. Shame they can’t light fires any more, but at least it stops people smoking.
There are wild domestic chickens everywhere as well, which is odd, but i did see a mother hen teaching a whole brood of chicks how to scrabble for insects in the soil.
As you might imagine this trip is mostly popular with the older members of the population, but once you get free of them you’re all right.

Brownsea Island has a very interesting history but is probably most famous as the birthplace of Baden-Powell’s Scout movement. Scouts and Guides from all over the world still visit the island today although, as naked flames are banned on the island, no more camp fires, I’m afraid.
The island is accessible by ferry from several places on the mainland, including Poole Quay and Bournemouth Pier and there is an entry fee of about £5 but it’s worth it. Once there you are free to wander around the woodland areas on your own. We took some kind of squirrel tour and our guide was a mine of information about the island and where best to spot the shy red squirrels. And we saw quite a few of the little darlings, if only fleetingly. We also had sightings of other animals and fowl whose antecedents had been domesticated but set free by one of the island’s eccentric owners in the 1930s, I think.
On the day that we went it was a bit rainy at times but we still had a great time. There is the customary National Trust gift shop where you can stock up on all the squirrel and scout related items that you need while you’re waiting for the ferry back to the mainland and, of course, a tea room.
I would go back just for the squirrels. Aaaah.