Sitting on a foreign beach, I realised a truth. No matter where I go, my subconscious provides a template, and what it shows is a configuration of Poole Bay and its rituals, of day excursions from my childhood Southampton home to that expanse of yellow sand by the green-blue-grey English Channel, between Hengistbury Head and Swanage, pivoted on Bournemouth.
I am programmed to grade all beaches, liberty and licensing laws by that slice of Dorset and Hampshire. It is where I started, it is where I ended up recently.
Within that slice, the thin sliver of the Sandbanks peninsula was odd. I couldn't quite figure it when I was a child, it had a nice beach, just like Bournemouth proper. But it was slightly different. In hindsight, I realise it was mid-20th century genteel. There was money about in Bournemouth, but discreetly more in Sandbanks, a land of sun-loungers rather than my day-tripping family. Yet Sandbanks was part of Poole, and that town was never, well, chic.
By the time I next looked, in another century, Sandbanks had got itself billed the "Golden Riviera", the "Palm Beach of Britain". Property prices - thanks to a PR coup by a wily local estate agent - were being touted as the fourth highest in the world, higher than New York, Paris and Singapore (shed a few million on a little place in Panorama Road overlooking Poole Harbour) and a conga line of Hello! celebrities, led by Jamie Redknapp and his pop star wife Louise, were billed as residents. The harbour itself had become an aqua-megalopolis of yachts, sharky speed boats and cafe-bars mushing up "battered cod and green pea puree".
Country reopens at Studland on the other bank of the 79-year-old Sandbanks floating bridge service. The Bournemouth-Poole stretch is Audi TT territory, neat cliffs, plentiful foliage, big apartment blocks. There is a gradation. In the beach's border zone, Welcome To Bournemouth is accompanied by a Martin Parr-style blow-up picture postcard of beaches and pier, while Poole, remembering its manners, boasts pottery tiles of yachts leaping through the waves.
Kids were still in school so it wasn't crowded on the beaches that day. I walked towards Branksome Chine - one of Poole's six starred beaches. I knew where I was going, I had been there once before, when the wind was blowing a gale last spring and spray blurred into the drizzle.
In 1932 at Branksome Chine, in the spirit of that age, a solarium-cum-bathing spa was built. It had the look of a 30s roadhouse about it, the kind of place to fantasise about pulling up in a Hudson Terraplane and listening to Artie Shaw on the wireless. A period photograph does show a lot of big motors outside - but no Hudsons.
Post-war it became a cafe. But, against the odds, it did not get knocked down. It survived successive property booms incognito as a cafeteria. Then, about six years ago, new proprietors began negotiating with Poole's conservation officer about a revamp. Two years ago, it reopened as Branksome Beach, a restaurant, takeaway, cafe and bar.
The food is good, not cheap, not exorbitant and seasonally changing. There was, for example, sea bass at £14.95 and calve's liver and bacon at £12.95. It opens from 9.30am to late at night, working through breakfast, lunch, cream teas and that rarity, the cheese scone, and dinner. Most of all it enhances the 1930s features, and pulls in both trippers and loungers.
Some element of austerity had gone. The opening hours had done it, along with the cheese scone. The geography was unchanged, but the template had still slipped.
The best of Dorset's B&Bs
53 Branksea Avenue, Poole
The views of Poole Harbour and its yachts are delicious and in the sumptuous bedrooms there are dressing-gowns, sweets, sherry and fruit, plus every bathroom treat. Breakfasts of fruit, Parma ham, smoked salmon and kedgeree are sometimes served outside, among the birds, flowers and a sea breeze.
· 01202 673419. Doubles £58-£70, singles by arrangement.
Gold Court House, St John's Hill, Wareham
The mood is of restrained luxury and uncluttered, often beautiful, good taste. Bedrooms are cream with mahogany furniture, beams, armchairs and a radio. There's a large drawing room and views are soft and lush yet you are in the main square of this attractive town. The house was rebuilt in 1762, after a fire, on the foundations of a 13th-century goldsmith's house.
· 01929 553320. Doubles £55, singles £37.50. Children must be 10+.
Munden House, Alweston, Sherborne
Bedrooms are so grand luxe the four-poster has steps up to it. State-of-the-art bathrooms have power showers and fluffy towels, the garden has Dorset views all around. Bridge, art and 'pampering' weekends available.
· 01963 23150. Doubles £72-£90, singles £42-£52.
The Old Manor, Kingston Maurward, Dorchester
A B&B can be no more stately than this. There's a delight at every turn: huge, carved, cup-and-cover four-posters; beautiful rugs on stone and wooden floors; lavish period fabrics; lush white bathrobes; lake views. Co-owner Mulu Thomson gives professional massages and beauty treatments in the salon.
· 01305 261110. Doubles £96-£116. Singles £63-£73. Children by arrangement.
Haven Hotel, Banks Road, Sandbanks, Poole
Set on the water's edge on the Sandbanks peninsula overlooking Poole Harbour and Studland beach. Most rooms have balconies with loungers where it's all too easy to while away the hours staring out to sea. Both the restaurants have panoramic views: one is the AA-rosette winning La Roche.
· 01202 707333, havenhotel.co.uk. Doubles £90-£160, B&B.
· The above B&Bs (except the Haven Hotel) feature in Alastair Sawday's Special Places to Stay - British Bed & Breakfast (£14.99), specialplacestostay.com
BoMo chic
The recently opened 34-room Orchid Hotel has added a touch of style to Bournemouth's East Cliff. Bedroom decor is refreshingly tasteful with dark wooden shutters and comfy duvets (ask for front facing rooms). A "Lite Bite" menu is being designed by Michelin-starred French chef Jean Gysemans and there will be Mediterranean-style barbeques in the summer.
June Field
The price: Guardian readers are being offered a promotional B&B rate of £35pp a night (01202 551600, orchid-hotel.co.uk).
Way to go
Where to eat:Branksome Beach, Branksome Chine, Poole Dorset BH13 6LP (01202 767235). Open 9.30am-11pm.
Getting there: The nearest railway station is Bournemouth (National Rail enquiries 08457 4849500), then a good long walk along the beach.
Further information: pooletourism.com, visitsouthernengland.com.
