Peter Sykes of Swanage said John Stimson's postcard of the East Cliff lift printed on May 30 was one of the first pictures to be published after the lift opened in April 1908.
Then there was only a seafront promenade between Bournemouth Pier and the lift, even though Boscombe Pier had opened in 1889.
The lift, the first of its kind in Bournemouth, 'worked by electric power' had rails 'upon fifteen cross-walls of concrete'.
Bournemouth beach was much narrower in the early 20th century as a ring was let into the promenade sea wall every 15ft for mooring boats. Six years later Undercliff Drive was completed.
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