Frequently Asked Questions...
Please click on any of the following links for more information.
• Students
FAQ's - Beach Huts
Q. How can I buy a beach hut on Mudeford Sandbank?
A. Of the 354 huts here, about a dozen are sold each year, selling at present for £100,000+. The bad news is that the value of huts is under pressure from new council policies over transfer fees (see Mudeford Sandbank News for Summer 2002) and there is no security of tenure. Huts do not enjoy mains drainage, water, sewage or electricity, are usually no bigger than a domestic garage and although sleeping is permitted, it is only allowed from March 1st to the 30th October.
Nevertheless, demand outstrips supply from the well to do. The annual site licence fee of some £1,700 must still be regarded as good value by those who are buying into this idyllic lifestyle, or those who have not (yet) sold up.
If you are still interested, then sales are usually achieved just by word of mouth, or by advertisement, or a local estate agent.
The beach cafe (called 'The Beach House', telephone Bournemouth 01202 423474) will carry advertisements on its noticeboard, but huts for sale, if any, are outnumbered by requests to buy. Local estate agents, e.g. Humphreys and Orr, may act for vendors for a several hundred pound fee.
Q. OK, I want a beach hut somewhere else
A. The web-site www.beach-huts.co.uk is a good place to start. Approach the council in your area of choice direct, and/or ask for details of any possible Beach Hut Owners Associations. Most huts are day huts, i.e you may not be allowed to sleep in them overnight. Beach huts have fast become an object of many peoples aspirations and prices reflect this. Prices for day huts locally to the east or west can be less than a thousand pounds or as much as ten thousand pounds. E-mail the editor for some contacts if you like, subject to time available. But, whatever the area be aware of problems of access, maintenance, storm damage, and security issues!
Q. OK, I would like to just rent a hut at Mudeford Sandbank
A. Nowadays very few hut owners deign to let their huts, for a number of reasons. In a nutshell, people who have bought a hut for £60,000+ are unlikely to need a rental income. But again the noticeboard in the Mudeford Beach Cafe ('The Beach House') could help (Bournemouth 01202 423474). The demand outstrips supply nowadays by a factor of perhaps a hundred to one.
FAQ's - Your Input
Q. I would like to write an article or let you have an illustration for the paper/website.
A. Articles are welcomed. Articles should not normally exceed 3 pages of A4. Subjects must be relevant or of interest to the areas of Mudeford Sandbank, Christchurch Harbour or Hengistbury Head. Even poetry or music may be of interest.
You may wish to provide your choice of (non-copyright) illustrations to accompany your text, or you may wish to leave the choice of illustrations to the editor, with your agreement
if required. Artissts illustrations likely to be of interest are welcomed. For the newspaper clear black and white illustrations are most favoured. Colour, or photographs annoy the printer. Wood cuts, pen and ink or line art that photocopies well is likely to be OK.
Rates for text vary according to market forces, but a sum (half the NUJ rate), of approx. 5p a word is likely for whatever is accepted for publication, subject to editing and single use in print ( with normal subsequent web archiving). For art-work a professional artist might recieve £50 for a commissioned piece, but realistically £10 is more usual for a chosen item, subject to single use and web-archiving. Intellectual property rights (copyright) is negotiable.
Selection of your work is at the editors discretion. Artistic and Literary licence is claimed as are requests for revision if thought necessary. Chosen work is subject to space. Please contact the editor with your suggestions or enquiries. So far writers and artists seem to have been kept happy and changes have been almost unknown!
Q. Can I post a message onto your site about anything?
A. Yes, on any subject you like, preferably concerning or relevant to Mudeford Sandbank, Hengistbury Head or Christchurch Harbour. For example, if you want to advertise a hut for sale or to rent then you might like to submit a photograph of it, perhaps as a small 72dpi JPEG or GIF file. At present there is no charge for this facility. Postings are subject to the attention of the webmaster and will not appear immediately. Click here to load the message board.
FAQ's - Students
Q. I am doing a school/college/university project and need your help.
A. Happy to help but first get what you can from the usual public or semi-public sources. See the LINKS page for many of the following.
For example, the Hengistbury Head Centre is a specialised educational provider actually on the site with splendid resources, expertise and courses. Both Bournemouth Council and
Christchurch. Council are responsible for managing the area, a public open space and have produced excellent literature in the past. Each council is required to produce a management plan. Bournemouth Council produces every few years an updated and exhaustive Hengistbury Head Management Plan.
Christchurch Council produces the Mudeford Sandbank Management Plan (some 60 pages). The Mudeford Quay Management Plan and the Stanpit Marsh management plans are also published by Christchurch Council. You should offer payment for these reports,because they are so substantial, or seek out copies deposited in the local public libraries.
Hengistbury Head has its own resident Ranger, employed by Bournemouth Council and the professional Ranger Service has some educational responsibility, with a full programme of walks and talks.
The new Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre And Interpretation Centre is a resource planned to fulfill this function. There is a newly formed 'Friends of Hengistbury Head' to whom enquires may be directed. Similarly in the harbour Stanpit Marsh has a friends organisation, called the Friends of Stanpit Marsh.
Intermittently articles in our newspapers refer to books and materials of interest. See the archive index under bibliographies. Such books, even when out of print, may be available through your local public or institution library, usually for a small fee. The local museums are known to have resources of value, although they are at present not usually on show to the public. Bournemouth boasts the Russell-Cotes Museum and Christchurch the Red House Museum.
Because the area is on the border between Dorset and Hampshire, both County Records Offices need to be consulted by the serious researcher. Dorset County Records Office is in Dorchester and Hampshire's is in Winchester.
Local educational providers, for example the Bournemouth & Poole College of Further Education, and Bournemouth University, have libraries and departments for the determined enquirer. Christchurch and Bournemouth each have at least one Local History Society and there is the excellent Bournemouth Natural Science Society with its two libraries for the student with plenty of time.
Do not forget organisations like English Nature and English Heritage. It is, for example, possible to visit the National Monuments Record at Swindon in Wiltshire, if you have sufficient time and determination.
Specialist subjects usually have a responsible national or local body to approach, for example the Dorset Herpetological Trust if you are interested in reptiles.
On the web are a growing number of sites of interest (see the LINKS page for a few), but bear in mind one serious enquirer recently took 12 hours to find the map he wanted. Perhaps he should have spoken to me, for your editor has some 200+ files most of which he is happy to make available on a need-to-know basis to the bona-fide enquirer (see Press Pack for list).
Be warned, you will first be expected to have searched this site and visited at least the local public libraries with your enquiry, if at all possible.
FAQ's - Advertising
Q. I would like to advertise in the newspaper.
A. Contact the editor with your needs, after checking out the section on advertising in the latest issue.
Q. I would like to advertise on the website.
A. Contact the editor, with your needs, for guidance.
