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POOLE, west of Bournemouth, is an ancient seaport on a huge, almost landlocked harbour. The town developed in the thirteenth century and was successively colonized by pirates, fishermen and timber traders, more recently replaced by companies prospecting for oil in the shallow waters - the harbour's environmental significance ensures that the extraction process is carefully disguised. The old quarter by the quayside is worth exploring, containing over a hundred historic buildings of which the old Custom House, Scaplen's Court and Guildhall are the most striking.
At the bottom of Old High Street, near the Poole Pottery showroom and crafts centre, the late medieval Scaplen's Court once billeted Cromwell's troops (you can see their graffiti around the fireplace). Now restored as an educational centre with very limited opening hours, it holds reconstructions of a Victorian kitchen, pharmacy and school room. Over the road, local history is more accessibly elaborated at the Waterfront Museum (April-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; Nov-March Mon-Sat 10am-3pm, Sun noon-3pm; £2), which traces Poole's development over the centuries, illustrated by such items as local ceramics and tiles and a rare Iron Age log boat, and there are changing exhibitions.
From Poole's quayside, you can visit Brownsea Island (April-June & Sept to early Oct daily 10am-5pm; July & Aug daily 10am-6pm; £3.50; NT) on regular ferries (25min; £5 return). Now a National Trust property, this five-hundred-acre island is famed for its red squirrels, wading birds and other wildlife.
One of the area's most famous gardens lies on the outskirts of Poole, Compton Acres (March-Oct daily 10am-6pm; £5.75; ), signposted off the A35 Poole Road, towards Bournemouth. Here you'll find seven gardens, each with a different international theme, the best of which is the elegantly understated Japanese Garden.
Poole's tourist office is in the Waterfront Museum (April, May & Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; June, July & Sept Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; Aug daily 10am-6pm; Nov-March Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-3pm, Sun noon-3pm; tel 01202/253253, ). Best choice for accommodation is the Antelope Hotel at the quay end of the High Street (tel 01202/672029; £60-70), a handsome old hostelry, or try the eighteenth-century Mansion House , Thames Street (tel 01202/685666, themansionhouse.co.uk; £90-110). Cheaper rooms can be had at the Crown Hotel (tel 01202/672137; £50-60), an inn on Market Street, and the less central Harbour Lights Hotel , 121 North Rd, Parkstone (tel 01202/748417; £40-50), a mile or so north of the centre. There's a collection of good restaurants on and around the High Street: look out for Storm at no. 16 (tel 01202/674970; closed lunchtime), specializing in seafood, and, at the top end of the street, Alcatraz , a trendy Italian brasserie with outdoor tables.
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