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Admittedly, it looks a little shabby. A wooden slat next to the front door and a window pane are missing and a lick of paint would definitely not go amiss.
But in the seaside town of Bournemouth there is disquiet at the prospect of the structure – beach hut number 2359 – being razed when structural work on the nearby pier begins.
As its blue plaque outside attests, this is not any old wind-blasted, salt-stained building but the first municipal beach hut in the UK, dating back to 1909.
Hattie Miles, who gives walking tours of Bournemouth, said it should be saved. “It seems really odd to me. My view is it can’t cost a lot to just preserve a beach hut, for goodness sake. All they’ve got to do is pick it up and move it.”
The hut is a feature on Miles’s hidden secrets of Bournemouth walk. “When I tell people this is the first municipal beach hut, they are very interested. I’ve always felt that there’s a lack of appreciation of Bournemouth’s history. In the Victorian age everyone came here.”
Hut 2359 stands in a row of two dozen on Bournemouth East Beach. They are small and basic and have usually been used by local families, a home from home on the golden sand.
Though the huts are empty and locked up at the moment, one of their fans, Richard, was to be found this week sweeping windblown sand away from what used to be his and his mother’s beachfront retreat a few doors down from 2359.
They have been given another but Richard is drawn back. “I still like to keep the old hut neat and tidy,” he said. “I don’t think they should knock these down – there are so many memories here.”
Andrew Emery, who has written a book about the history of Bournemouth seafront and did the research for the plaque on hut 2359, said it would be a shame if it was not retained in some way.
“There were some private beach huts before it, but this was the first time a local authority built beach huts, or beach bungalows as they were known. You’ve got a lot of residents who love the huts. They’re so iconic for the town.”
The plaque on the hut says: “Bournemouth beach bungalow constructed 1909. First municipal beach hut in the UK. Designed and built under the guidance of Frederick Percy Dolamore, chief assistant borough engineer and surveyor.”
Oddly, one of the arguments put in its defence by the local authority, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, is that despite the evidence of the plaque, it is not the original structure.
Emery accepted 2359 was “a bit like Trigger’s broom”, a reference to the road sweeper’s brush in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, which had 17 new heads and 14 new handles but was still considered – by Trigger at least – to be the original one.
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“The roof and sides have been replaced but there are old bones underneath and certainly the design is as per the original,” said Emery.
Kathryn Ferry, a founder of the Seaside Heritage Network, which celebrates all things to do with British beach resorts, has some sympathy with the council.
She said: “I’m a fan of beach huts but you have to look at it in the round. The beach huts might have been there since 1909, and they were important because they were the first municipal huts, but the pier has been there since 1880. It’s really important the pier continues to be viable for the Bournemouth seafront.”
The council is investing more than £9.5m of levelling up funding into the pier, mostly to secure the substructure.
Rich Herrett, a council cabinet member, said: “As part of these essential works, 29 beach huts may need to be removed to build a compound for site storage and staff welfare. It is unlikely they will be rebuilt.”
