Winton Forum

Welcome to Winton

Winton Forum is a focus point for community action

We meet regularly and take up a range of issues with the Council and other authorities on behalf of our members. See here for more details.

Our public meetings deal with topics of interest or concern to the community. If there is something you would like raised, we can normally get in the experts.

Tell us what you want.

Lark Rise to Candleford

The acclaimed Sunday night television series is back on BBC 1 with its affectionate portrayal of a time when things were so much simpler.

If you didn't know already, the significance for Winton is that a century ago the woman who wrote the original book lived here, did her first writing and virtually educated herself in the newly opened Winton library.

Her name was Flora Thompson and her husband worked in the local post office - a bit like the one she made the centrepiece of Candleford.

We've got lots about her, including pictures of the houses in the three Winton roads where she lived at different times. Maybe one is close to where you live? Click here to read more.

When the Wild West came to Winton

A hundred years ago, Britain was in the grips of cowboy fever. Buffalo Bill's travelling Wild West Circus was firing the imagination of millions. The show came to Bournemouth but didn't quite make Winton.

But it didn't matter. Winton had its own Wild West spectacular. And it was at the junction of Alma and Wimborne Roads where the Hop and Kilderkin now stands.

Read all about it. We've even got a photograph!

Government announces action over Winton student housing problems.

The government is to give councils more power to deal with the kind of housing problems that raise concerns in Winton. The Winton Forum played a role in the campaign that has prompted this result. Read more here.

If you need to contact the University about student behaviour or other issues, telephone (01202) 524111 or email community@bournemouth.ac.uk.

The telephone contact is the general number for the University who say it will be answered 24 hours a day.

During office hours, you will be connected to the section most relevant to your call.

Night Time

Out of hours, security staff will connect you to an answer phone.

If you are contacting the University about student behaviour, the matter will be investigated and followed up with both students and complainant.

You should also call the Council Emergency Service on 451145.

Extra option

During the day you could also try ringing the University student letting agency on 01202 965385.

Ice Cream Mania

They queued all the way down the road.

They forgot the war.

One boy had to be rushed to hospital.

Yes - it was nearly a hundred years ago and ice cream had arrived in Winton.

Read how they got the hots for ices.

All that and much much more of Winton across the ages. Our history is just a click away.

All the other Wintons!

They are everywhere in the English speaking world. Take a look.

There is a Winton in just about every kind of setting you can imagine from deserts to frozen forests.

If you happen to know of another Winton, let us know.

Winton on the web - still growing in popularity

This website is continuing to attract increasing numbers of visitors. Over the course of 2008 we recorded a total of 1,351,960 hits - more than twice the previous year's total. Latest figures from our server show that in 2009 the numbers went up again - edging close to one and a half million hits a year.

Check the figures in detail.

The site has around 200 pages with news, history and message board among the most popular.

For the technically minded, our statistics show that 90% of visitors were using a PC while only 8% used a Mac. Most popular browser is Internet Explorer (66%) followed by Firefox (21%), and Safari (7%). Just starting to show in the figures is Blackberry with 0.5%.

The most popular search engine is Google - and the most common search phrases that find us are Winton, Winton Forum, Winton history and Benny Hill !!!

New Look Moderne

Bournemouth Community Church have released an artist's impression of the way the restored and refurbished Gala Bingo Hall could look in its new role as the BCC Life Centre.

Several colour schemes are being considered, but the main aim is to keep the original Art Deco look and feel of the building when it was built in the 1930's as the Moderne cinema.

BCC are very keen to hear from anybody who has photos of the interior of the building when it was still a cinema. If you do have any old snaps, email us here at the Forum and we will pass the message on. Any pictures can be copied and returned to you undamaged.

Pictures could include shots taken at one of the many functions that took place in the cinema's restaurant. One lady writes on our "Moderne Memories page" that her wedding reception was held there.

Take a look here for a history of the Moderne, and here for a guided tour of the building just before Gala closed down. For ongoing coverage of the development, click here.

We have teamed up with the Queens Park and Charminster Community Forum to provide a special section dedicated solely to Queens Park and Charminster.

You'll find facts, figures, addresses, local history and lots more - making this the most comprehensive local website in the area. Click here to visit the Queens Park and Charminster section of the site.

New service to combat anti-social noise

The Council has launched a new service to deal with noisy parties on Friday and Saturday nights. For the details, click here.

Search the site

Want to look up something about Winton but can't be bothered to browse the menus? Saw something somewhere, but can't remember where? We now have an easy answer for you - we've installed a search engine. Just click here to search the site. There is now a "site search" button at the bottom of the menu bar on the left of every page.

Traders - click here to advertise on this site