Earliest? - that's a difficult one!

I have lived in Bournemouth all my life (I'm nearly 60 now), and my parents and grandparents before me.

As a child, we lived just north of Castle Lane, in what is now Muscliff.

I do remember going down to Throop for picnics, and at that time there was only farm land north of Castle Lane - no Chesildene or Shillingstone Drives -no Townsend - no Castlepoint of course!

I remember riding down Tip Hill on the back of my father's motorcycle.
Tip Hill - where's that?

The old Holdenhurst Road was a single carriage way that went from the Lansdowne to - well -Holdenhurst actually.

And the bit that went past Queen's Park golf course, and downhill to join Castle Lane (now the Cooper Dean flyover) was known as Tip Hill.

If memory serves me correctly, the road met Castle Lane at a crossroads, and Castle Lane was the minor road!

I think I'd better shut up - I do tend to go on a bit - sorry!