Canford Cliffs is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The neighbourhood lies on the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

coast midway between Poole and

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. To the southwest is Sandbanks which has some of the highest property values in the world; with Canford Cliffs it forms a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which has the fourth highest property prices in the world and second highest in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

after

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

History

Winston Churchill during the Second World War in the United Kingdom H2270

Originally part of the estate of Lord Wimborne, development began in the 1880s. The land around Haven Road was divided into plots and buildings designed individually. To prevent

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

of the cliffs, which caused annual falls, a sea wall and

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

was constructed in the 1930s. The area was originally designed to be residential, with a church and village hall but few commercial buildings. The Canford Cliffs Land Society still works to preserve these goals, and there are few businesses and no industry in the area. In 2021, stabilisation works will be carried out to secure the cliffs. Works began in September 2020.

Geography

Canford Cliffs is located along the eastern edge of Poole Harbour. Canford Cliffs is south of Parkstone and north of Sandbanks. Canford Cliffs is built around a small hill, with a maximum elevation of 30 metres above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. Canford Cliffs Chine, running southeast towards Sandbanks, is

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

y and flat and the neighbouring waters relatively shallow, making Canford Cliffs a popular site for

watersports Water sports or aquatic sports are sports activities conducted on waterbodies and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * Boatin ...

, especially

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

and parasailing.

Demographics

Canford Cliffs has a significant population of retired people; in the 2001 Census, 31.30% of the population was registered as retired, twice the national average, while 44.42% of the population was registered as being over 65, far greater than the national average of 15.89%. The area is also far more affluent than typical: the area has a type 1 ACORN classification (affluent mature professionals, large houses), putting it in the top 1.7% of the population. 62.55% of homes are owned outright, while the national average is 21.19%, and less than 0.6% of the population lives in

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

, only one-twentieth of the national average, 13.21%. 73.26% of the population is in the ABC1 social grade when the national average is 51.91%. 81.66% of households have no dependent children against a national average of 56.58%.

Banking controversy

The area is home to the Canford Cliffs branch of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

. The bank announced that as a pilot experiment, the entire branch would be upgraded to a "premium" branch. Although cashpoints would remain free-of-use outside the branch, all indoor services would be restricted to those with savings of £ 50,000, a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

of £200,000, or a salary of £100,000 and a mortgage of £75,000; otherwise the customer must pay £19.95 per month or use another branch. HSBC defended its decision, claiming "not everybody in the world is equal. Some people have higher incomes and need greater services through the bank. These customers demand a better service" and referring to its other branches in the Poole area, which remain free of charge. However, the move angered many customers and commentators; ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' quoted one account holder as saying "This is outrageous. It is particularly discriminatory against people who are house rich and cash poor. What happens if you are an elderly person living in a £500,000 house with no mortgage and no £75,000 salary?", while the customer advisory service Money Supermarket expressed fears that it may be "thin end of the wedge", saying "HSBC has given the green light to other high street providers to look at splitting their customers into first class and cattle class". The branch was subsequently closed on 6 November 2015. HSBC said the closure was due to the rise of internet banking and the impending renewal of the lease.

Politics

Canford Cliffs is part of the Canford Cliffs ward which elects two councillors to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, and also the Poole parliamentary constituency.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Canford Cliffs Areas of Poole