Gemma's Blog

For my Professional Writing Unit, one of our assignments was to write a feature article suitable for a local publication, such as the Daily Echo,  and on any topic surrounding the beautiful place that is Bournemouth. I chose to write about Boscombe as Europe’s first artificial reef  was recently constructed to the left of Boscombe pier. This is just the first couple of hundred words, to access the full feature, look on my pages or click here.

Was it a load of greef?

Walking along the path and my hair whips around my face. An autumn gale is assaulting the coast and messy grey waves slump on to the shore. Typical attire may be a bikini but there’s not much chance of that this time of year. Instead I stroll along in my three layers and scarf as I breathe in the cold but salty air. On an early December afternoon you would imagine it to be pretty much dead looking across the miles of golden sand that is Boscombe beach. But this year there is something different, the new addition to the community which has everyone in Bournemouth talking. With all the outrage of cost and time consumption, I decided to see for myself what the big deal is with the new surf reef.

Not knowing a lot about surfing, in my head I questioned if I had walked past this great sceptical instalment because I didn’t really know what to expect. When I first moved down to Bournemouth in September of last year, I remember hearing about the artificial surf reef and pictured one of those wave machines in the swimming pools which come on every hour. With a second thought, I realised it was a silly idea- how could you give the sea waves? Well… apparently you can.

Seven weeks ago the Bournemouth Surf Reef opened as Europe’s first and one of only four artificial reefs worldwide. However, contrary to my first thought, the reef does not actually create waves; instead it acts as a kind of ramp and magnifies the waves that are already there. A natural reef is mimicked by 55 giant sandbags, covering an area the size of a football pitch and weighing up to 2,500 tonnes. These geo-textile bags lay 225 metres from the shoreline and enable the surf to double in size.

A look at the artificial reef