Weather
Was Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson right to blast Bournemouth? (From Bournemouth Echo)
When news happens text pix and video to 80360. Start your message with BE then leave a space.
Was Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson right to blast Bournemouth?
7:50am Wednesday 10th June 2009
CONTROVERSIAL motormouth Jeremy Clarkson has added Bournemouth’s traffic to the never-ending list of things he hates.
In a typical rant he slated slow-moving traffic, road signs to “places you have never heard of” and claimed the town is full of old people who “went there when they were young but simply couldn’t get out again.”
The Top Gear star used his column in The Sun to slag off journey times in the town but said local radio station The Coast kept him sane because “they broadcast the contents of my iPod.”
It is hard to tell whether Clarkson, who regularly pokes fun at his own taste in music, clothes and just about everything else, was paying a compliment to the station or not.
He said: “Some people say Tokyo is the world’s largest city but they are wrong, because it’s Bournemouth. The last time I was in Tokyo I got from one side to the other in less than an hour. “To get from one side of Bournemouth to the other on Monday night took me more than twice that.
“The south coast metropolis is often billed as a safe place for people to retire – rubbish. It’s full of old people who went there when they were young but simply couldn’t get out again.
“All the sign posts point to places you have never heard of and the traffic has to be seen to be believed.”
But there wasn’t much in the way of support for Clarkson on the streets of Bournemouth yesterday.
Shirley Davies, 52, a shop worker from Boscombe said: “He’s always slagging off everywhere he goes. It doesn’t surprise me to be honest. Wherever you go, the traffic is bad, so I don’t know why he’s picking Bournemouth to have a go at.”
Builder Simon Howe, 19, of Kinson added: “People always say it’s bad here, but as long as it’s not rush hour, I don’t think it’s that bad. There’s a lot worse places to drive than Bournemouth.”
However taxi driver, Tim Longworth, 46, of Parkstone, said: “He’s got a good point. It’s a nightmare to get anywhere here.
“Petrol is so expensive too, so it costs us a fortune to do our job.”
More News stories
- Rapist Dennis Fitzgerald jailed for eight years
- Swanage's out-of-hours medical service set to run for a year
- Helping Haiti’s hurt, one person at a time
- Highlighting the effects of climate change
- British Airways cabin crew strike to go ahead
- Bournemouth Air Festival 2010 launched
- Firefighters launch bike patrols to slash heathland arson attacks
- Father in collision with people carrier as he tends child.
- Local residents enjoy half-price entry at Oceanarium during March
- MP calls for mine sweep of Dorset coast - with video
Your Say YourEcho
Martin Kitcher, West Parley says...
7:36pm Tue 9 Jun 09
poppy60, southbourne says...
7:48pm Tue 9 Jun 09
dopey, says...
7:49pm Tue 9 Jun 09
silverking, Bournemouth says...
8:39pm Tue 9 Jun 09
X Old Bill, Sunny South Coast says...
8:53pm Tue 9 Jun 09
It does occur to me that IF he thinks that he was driving though a city then maybe he was including Christchurch and Poole (at which point maybe I should duck out of the way of missiles from residents of those two boroughs!)
Now if he tried to drive from Highcliffe to Hamworthy at 3 pm on a FRIDAY then you really could believe him.
PokesdownMark, Bournemouth says...
10:01pm Tue 9 Jun 09
GB1980, Southbourne says...
10:08pm Tue 9 Jun 09
“Petrol is so expensive too, so it costs us a fortune to do our job.”
Who ever said cabbies were grumpy?
I hardly think Clarkeson has "blasted" Bournemouth, rather illustrated that he doesn't know his way around here.
KLH, bournemouth says...
10:09pm Tue 9 Jun 09
pete woodley, bournemouth says...
10:14pm Tue 9 Jun 09
KLH wrote:And big issue sellers.
Clarkson should try and walk from the Triangle to th train station and see how many times he is stopped by beggars, chuggers, Scientologists and he'll be glad he's in a darn car!
Lakesblue, Kinson says...
10:31pm Tue 9 Jun 09
Linguist, Bournemouth says...
1:42am Wed 10 Jun 09
Lakesblue wrote:Are you sure it's a not a freelander recovery?
His head is shaped like a Range Rover - ugh.
Mediclogan5, Bournemouth says...
5:58am Wed 10 Jun 09
KLH wrote:LMAO KLH!!... Well done Clarkson now the council can see what everyones been saying for the last 20 years And your still undertaking traffic surveys!!
Clarkson should try and walk from the Triangle to th train station and see how many times he is stopped by beggars, chuggers, Scientologists and he'll be glad he's in a darn car!
lemontree, France says...
7:17am Wed 10 Jun 09
Chriswood, Westbourne says...
8:35am Wed 10 Jun 09
Nickolai, Bournemouth says...
9:09am Wed 10 Jun 09
Our local elderly drivers seem to have 15mph limiters on their cars, on any road !
pebble, bournemouth says...
9:10am Wed 10 Jun 09
Trifecta, Southbourne says...
9:14am Wed 10 Jun 09
So are you saying that the Echo LOVES the traffic in Bournemouth ?
Clarkson said nothing that was untrue except maybe about The Coast, which although my favourite local radio station, can make you slip into a coma with all the A.O.R. it pumps out of an afternoon.
Zzzz, Poole says...
9:27am Wed 10 Jun 09
Nickolai wrote:Yes, it's so rare to see someone indicate properly when entering and leaving a roundabout these days. Yet these same lazy gits are probably fuming when they have to wait to get onto the roundabout while watching car after car turn left without indicating…
Well, the quality of driving is shocking in our twon - does anybody here actually understand what indicators are for ?
Our local elderly drivers seem to have 15mph limiters on their cars, on any road !
Then again, maybe these are also the same morons who don't even look to see what's coming and just drive straight onto a roundabout no matter what!
terry1965, bournemouth says...
9:49am Wed 10 Jun 09
He had to stick to the speed limit due to all those bl***y speed, oops sorry, "safety" cameras on every stretch of road!
Seriously though, he probably found himself driving down that car park known as Castle Lane West which needed a relief road 30 years ago!
How Bournemouth Council got away with approving Castlepoint when they knew how poor the surrounding road infrastructure was beggars belief!
No doubt some back handers paved the way.
free wessex, Bridport says...
9:50am Wed 10 Jun 09
davep1, Dorset says...
10:27am Wed 10 Jun 09
wobblywheel, poole says...
11:10am Wed 10 Jun 09
If he was in charge at the council here, we would not be discussing cyclists versus pedestrians on the prom!!
KLH, bournemouth says...
11:33am Wed 10 Jun 09
Security word - pass coal. you would if you ate charcoal.
Limestone, Bournemouth says...
11:35am Wed 10 Jun 09
bmouthrob, Bournemouth says...
11:42am Wed 10 Jun 09
WTF??!?!!
dunketh, Portland says...
11:42am Wed 10 Jun 09
One encounter with the ridgeway or littlemoor traffic lights and he'll be singing Brownmouth's praises from the roof tops!
anna007, Queens Park says...
11:43am Wed 10 Jun 09
PoisonedPen, says...
11:44am Wed 10 Jun 09
Driving around this town is a nightmare.
With a road system designed to make traffic flow from A to B, the council decided to put in rafts of 'traffic calming' measures to stop it... and they wonder why the traffic is bad.
With no proper ring-road and no dual carraigeway arterial route from the centre of Poole to the centre of Bournemouth, and Castlepoint being likewise ensconsed in single lane roads, traffic is a nightmare... and you try driving through Pokesdown into Boscombe.
- and that's before you add the old people into the mix, clinging to the wheel of their Nissan Micras doing 10mph with white knuckles.. and the Kevins going up and down Westover Road in their Vauxhall Nova chavmobile with holes in the exhaust, blacked out windows and a body kit that screams 'I am a ****'... and the silly fish badge brigade that is supposed to be something religious I think but actually has the effect of making the person in the car drive like they can't get out of first gear.
jazziewoo, Bransgore says...
12:18pm Wed 10 Jun 09
PoisonedPen, says...
12:25pm Wed 10 Jun 09
jazziewoo wrote:It's not free.
What a grumpy miserable lot you all are. The sun is shining, you have the sea to the south, forest to the east, glorious walks through beautiful chines and countryside, and it's all free! Stop moaning, get out your cars and get a life
Not since the locals councils all put parking meters everywhere you might want to go.
- and you try getting to the sea, the forest, or to the Purbecks in the summer anyway.
You can't because of all the damned Grockles.
jazziewoo, Bransgore says...
12:32pm Wed 10 Jun 09
PoisonedPen wrote:and what about walking, cycling and taking a picnic. If you're not happy, move to a nice inner city flat without a garden - that should stop you moaning and won't see many grockles there! Happy times!!
jazziewoo wrote: What a grumpy miserable lot you all are. The sun is shining, you have the sea to the south, forest to the east, glorious walks through beautiful chines and countryside, and it's all free! Stop moaning, get out your cars and get a lifeIt's not free. Not since the locals councils all put parking meters everywhere you might want to go. - and you try getting to the sea, the forest, or to the Purbecks in the summer anyway. You can't because of all the damned Grockles.
PoisonedPen, says...
12:55pm Wed 10 Jun 09
If God had meant Man to walk, he wouldn't have given him the internal combustion engine.
Seriously - it's just not practical is it. Walking or cycling anywhere for a picnic with 2 pre-school kids? What am I, a pack mule?
billythereb, B,mth says...
1:11pm Wed 10 Jun 09
stuartc73, Parkstone says...
1:19pm Wed 10 Jun 09
Traffic is awful in the area. Try commuting from Poole to Christchurch every day. No viable public transport that would get me to work on time at a reasonable cost.
John T, Poole says...
2:19pm Wed 10 Jun 09
poolebabe, poole says...
3:06pm Wed 10 Jun 09
Nowthatsabigone, southbourne says...
3:26pm Wed 10 Jun 09
wobblywheel, poole says...
3:48pm Wed 10 Jun 09
3:26pm Wed 10 Jun 09
I suggest he has a rubbish satnav.
I don't think his wife was in the car at the time!
504gld, Bournemouth says...
4:09pm Wed 10 Jun 09
Nickolai, Bournemouth says...
4:33pm Wed 10 Jun 09
PoisonedPen wrote:If only the short-sighted and self-serving transport policies of the 60's hadn't happened !
He's right. Driving around this town is a nightmare. With a road system designed to make traffic flow from A to B, the council decided to put in rafts of 'traffic calming' measures to stop it... and they wonder why the traffic is bad. With no proper ring-road and no dual carraigeway arterial route from the centre of Poole to the centre of Bournemouth, and Castlepoint being likewise ensconsed in single lane roads, traffic is a nightmare... and you try driving through Pokesdown into Boscombe. - and that's before you add the old people into the mix, clinging to the wheel of their Nissan Micras doing 10mph with white knuckles.. and the Kevins going up and down Westover Road in their Vauxhall Nova chavmobile with holes in the exhaust, blacked out windows and a body kit that screams 'I am a ****'... and the silly fish badge brigade that is supposed to be something religious I think but actually has the effect of making the person in the car drive like they can't get out of first gear.
Then a t least we would have more railway services across our conurbation and trains to Wimborne, Ringwood, Broadstone, Ashley Heath, West Moors and out to West Dorset, an alternative to endless traffic jams, created by closing the railways !
Steve McQueen, London says...
5:35pm Wed 10 Jun 09
thecho.co.uk/news/44
28566.Was_Top_Gear_s
_Jeremy_Clarkson_rig
ht_to_blast_Bournemo
uth_/
WIGGINSv, Boscombe says...
6:14pm Wed 10 Jun 09
Nickolai wrote:Have you been to the station recently and tried to use those automatic ticket machines? nightmare, especially if there's a queue of foreign students that like me haven't a clue how to use the things.
PoisonedPen wrote: He's right. Driving around this town is a nightmare. With a road system designed to make traffic flow from A to B, the council decided to put in rafts of 'traffic calming' measures to stop it... and they wonder why the traffic is bad. With no proper ring-road and no dual carraigeway arterial route from the centre of Poole to the centre of Bournemouth, and Castlepoint being likewise ensconsed in single lane roads, traffic is a nightmare... and you try driving through Pokesdown into Boscombe. - and that's before you add the old people into the mix, clinging to the wheel of their Nissan Micras doing 10mph with white knuckles.. and the Kevins going up and down Westover Road in their Vauxhall Nova chavmobile with holes in the exhaust, blacked out windows and a body kit that screams 'I am a ****'... and the silly fish badge brigade that is supposed to be something religious I think but actually has the effect of making the person in the car drive like they can't get out of first gear.If only the short-sighted and self-serving transport policies of the 60's hadn't happened ! Then a t least we would have more railway services across our conurbation and trains to Wimborne, Ringwood, Broadstone, Ashley Heath, West Moors and out to West Dorset, an alternative to endless traffic jams, created by closing the railways !
Vikki27, Parkstone says...
6:45pm Wed 10 Jun 09
However, like some others have said, it's the lunatic drivers that make driving difficult. I still cite passing my driver's test as one of my greatest achievements and ALWAYS make a conscious effort to drive safely. Shame others don't follow suit!!
This might get deleted, as I'm about to make mass generalisations but there are specific driving archetypes that ruin my driving experience:
- The elderly who forget to signal, forget to turn their signals off and drive at 10mph below the speed limit, in the wrong gear and with the handbrake on.
- Young drivers (usually the boy-racer types, let's be honest), who drive up my exhaust pipe if I'm not doing 10mph ABOVE the speed limit, force their way through my right-of-way areas, park on double yellow lines so I can't pass, overtake me when they shouldn't and give me the finger if I don't drive like a maniac to avoid them.
- Pretty much 80% of BMW, Mercedes and Audi drivers, the majority of whom seem to believe that my 'poor little peugeot' isn't fit to be on the road because it's more than 5 years old. These are the ones who mercilessly tailgate me, cut me up at roundabouts and cause me endless problems while they attempt to negotiate dangerous roads while talking on their mobile phones.
I love driving.....but the experience is ruined by thoughtless and inconsiderate drivers. And it's these people who cause people like Jeremy Clarkson to make comments like this about Bournemouth.
PoisonedPen, says...
8:19pm Wed 10 Jun 09
Vikki27 wrote:They're right about your Peugeot though...
He's right about 90% of it. The traffic isn't great (although to be fair, like someone else said, the signs and road marks aren't clear).
However, like some others have said, it's the lunatic drivers that make driving difficult. I still cite passing my driver's test as one of my greatest achievements and ALWAYS make a conscious effort to drive safely. Shame others don't follow suit!!
This might get deleted, as I'm about to make mass generalisations but there are specific driving archetypes that ruin my driving experience:
- The elderly who forget to signal, forget to turn their signals off and drive at 10mph below the speed limit, in the wrong gear and with the handbrake on.
- Young drivers (usually the boy-racer types, let's be honest), who drive up my exhaust pipe if I'm not doing 10mph ABOVE the speed limit, force their way through my right-of-way areas, park on double yellow lines so I can't pass, overtake me when they shouldn't and give me the finger if I don't drive like a maniac to avoid them.
- Pretty much 80% of BMW, Mercedes and Audi drivers, the majority of whom seem to believe that my 'poor little peugeot' isn't fit to be on the road because it's more than 5 years old. These are the ones who mercilessly tailgate me, cut me up at roundabouts and cause me endless problems while they attempt to negotiate dangerous roads while talking on their mobile phones.
I love driving.....but the experience is ruined by thoughtless and inconsiderate drivers. And it's these people who cause people like Jeremy Clarkson to make comments like this about Bournemouth.
Who in their right mind buys a French car?
jqne123, says...
9:49pm Wed 10 Jun 09
samjdavis, Bournemouth says...
10:40pm Wed 10 Jun 09
bkiddus, Poole says...
6:45am Thu 11 Jun 09
GB1980, Southbourne says...
10:31am Thu 11 Jun 09
PoisonedPen wrote:Me.
Vikki27 wrote:They're right about your Peugeot though...
He's right about 90% of it. The traffic isn't great (although to be fair, like someone else said, the signs and road marks aren't clear).
However, like some others have said, it's the lunatic drivers that make driving difficult. I still cite passing my driver's test as one of my greatest achievements and ALWAYS make a conscious effort to drive safely. Shame others don't follow suit!!
This might get deleted, as I'm about to make mass generalisations but there are specific driving archetypes that ruin my driving experience:
- The elderly who forget to signal, forget to turn their signals off and drive at 10mph below the speed limit, in the wrong gear and with the handbrake on.
- Young drivers (usually the boy-racer types, let's be honest), who drive up my exhaust pipe if I'm not doing 10mph ABOVE the speed limit, force their way through my right-of-way areas, park on double yellow lines so I can't pass, overtake me when they shouldn't and give me the finger if I don't drive like a maniac to avoid them.
- Pretty much 80% of BMW, Mercedes and Audi drivers, the majority of whom seem to believe that my 'poor little peugeot' isn't fit to be on the road because it's more than 5 years old. These are the ones who mercilessly tailgate me, cut me up at roundabouts and cause me endless problems while they attempt to negotiate dangerous roads while talking on their mobile phones.
I love driving.....but the experience is ruined by thoughtless and inconsiderate drivers. And it's these people who cause people like Jeremy Clarkson to make comments like this about Bournemouth.
Who in their right mind buys a French car?
Citroens may have been rubbish in the past but there's nothing wrong with Peugeots.
I had a nissan once and it was the worst car I ever had, so should I now assume that all Japanese cars are like that?
Whatever you say I would rather be accused of having a French car than fall into the same category as Audi or BMW drivers... Or bland, unimaginative Golf drivers.
What's the difference between a hedgehog and a BMW?
Rich4thGen, Bournemouth says...
2:50pm Thu 11 Jun 09
LionelBlair, Poole says...
4:43pm Tue 16 Jun 09
It once took me a week to cross from Branksome to Boscombe. Mind you I was riding a hedgehog.
Does anyone know Barry from Boscombe?
CONTROVERSIAL: Jeremy Clarkson
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
golden mouldie, Bournemouth says...
7:04pm Tue 9 Jun 09