Poole Harbour

Pirates and pottery are the two main things for which Poole is famous - in fact, the present day speedway team is called Poole Pirates.

The most famous pirate was Harry Paye, whose activities resulted in the Spanish attacking Poole in 1405 and burning it to the ground.

If you've ever watched an antique show, chances are you've seen some Poole pottery, but the pottery isn't just about antiques.

Pottery is still produced today, but you'll need a very flexible friend to buy the examples on the right.

The Sunseeker boat-building factory in Poole harbour. The company, who employ around 1400 people, make luxury motor-yachts, one of which is seen in the water. A friend of ours fits the kitchens.

You'll need a flexible friend that bends over backwards and ties itself in knots to buy one of these.

Serpentine Road, Poole, has seen many changes, but it's where Chris spent his early years.

Says Chris: I can remember looking out of the window at the railway yard, and seeing tanks in desert colours, loaded on to flat wagons. This would have been around 1950. The photo shows Poole Station in British Rail days, date unknown.

Chris and parents then moved out to Sturminster Marshall, and Chris' dad worked at the Cheese Factory at Bailey Gate, which in it's heyday was the largest cheese-producing plant in Europe, emplying 250 people.

It was served by the Somerset & Dorset Railway - the photo shows a train passing over the crossing at Bailey Gate.

The factory site and railway sidings are now an industrial estate.

The family home as it was in 2003, in Station Road in Sturminster Marshall. The present owners have done a lot of remodelling since Chris lived there with his mother and stepfather, his own father having died in 1951.