Welcome to Branksome (From Bournemouth Echo)

Welcome to Branksome

7:00pm Tuesday 9th December 2008

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WHEN I first moved down here 30 years ago, I lived in Branksome. Little knowing that I had picked a plum.

There are some people who may be impervious to the charms of the Poole suburb that’s centred around the railway station, seeing only a few shops, a supermarket, pubs, churches and some pleasant houses. But they would be wrong.

I liked Branksome and still have a soft spot for it. It may not have Westbourne’s grace or Parkstone’s variety but it holds its head with pride.

Now, two lads have done for Branksome what many a multinational firm spends millions trying to achieve.

Fraser Bennett and Hugo Farrant have put Branksome on the map.

Their tune, Branksome Rap has already attracted 15,000 views on a website and a clip suitable even for such delicate ears as mine, the vicar’s and your gran’s, can be listened to on the Echo’s website.

Apart from the remarkable rapping rhymes (eg “we’ve got five shops serving yer” with “two selling furniture”) what commands respect is the sheer enthusiasm. It may have started out as a joke but Fraser and Hugo’s Welcome to Branksome number is so catchy it could prove worth its weight in visitors’ gold.

Meanwhile, civic leaders in Branksome’s mighty neighbour Bournemouth have put forward a suggestion for attracting people to the resort. They are campaigning for an ecological attraction similar to the Cornwall’s Eden Project.

That, too, is an exciting, imaginative concept, though the Eden project did cost a fortune to get off the ground. Whereas the Branksome Rap cost peanuts.

Mind you, even the most fervent Branksome admirer might struggle to compare the suburb to Eden.

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