NEW generations will share in Poole's maritime history thanks to events held at the quayside, traders say.

The Poole Harbour Boat Show, which took place between June 8 and 10, drew thousands of people to the area.

Anna Doyle, landlady of the Lord Nelson pub, said: "The show's absolutely brilliant for Poole Quay.

"I think the more there is for the public to get involved in, the better. We need to make the Quay busy again.

"There's plenty to do here and we want visitors to come and see it all.

"If people come once for a big event like this, they tend to come back. That's we want."

Rotarian Don Nutt is one of the volunteers behind history project Pirates, Castaways and Codfish, which charts the lives of three key figures from Poole.

"Our maritime heritage is so important," he said.

"We're glad to celebrate it with events like the boat show. People don't always know very much about Poole, even when they grew up here.

"We had people asking us the names of some of the alleyways here at the Quay, and there are some fascinating stories behind things like that."

Geoffrey Edwardes, chairman of the Poole Maritime Trust, said the boat show allows locals to celebrate their home.

"It's all for future generations," he said.

"So much gets lost. Our job is to build an archive of material that helps people learn about their shared community history."

In October last year, Poole Pottery’s quayside store closed its doors for the last time, bringing the end to an association with the town stretching back more than 140 years.

Marie Cooper, who lives in the town, said she feared the area would be badly hit by the closure.

"It was the end of an era, and I was very worried for the Quay," she said.

"Things like the boat show bring new life, and it's wonderful to see people enjoying all the wonderful things we have here in Poole."

Tracey Payne of the Poole Harbour Commissioners said the event aims to inspire visitors to "get out on the water".

"On the Friday, we had 25 per cent more visitors than last year," she said.

"We sold out of marina space in the exhibition area back in January, so we had to extend it.

"There's been so much interest and that's absolutely brilliant."