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Strouden Park is an area of north Bournemouth.

The name Strouden evolves from an Old English word meaning 'marsh' and possibly refers to the area being part of the flood plain of the nearby River Stour.

In 1802 all that lay between Poole and Christchurch, themselves not the large towns they are today, was unspoilt, and unhihabited heathland with a few very minor exceptions which we don't need to trouble ourselves with for the purposes of keeping things simple.

To the north and east of the heath was the more fertile land of the river Stour along which lay the old settlements of Tuckton [ Wick ], Iford [ Pokesdown ], Holdenhurst, Throop, Muscliffe, Ensbury etc.
To the folk that worked the land in these areas, mainly poor agricultural workers and small holders, the heath was an invaluable asset that provided grazing for livestock, fuel for fires with which to heat homes and to cook upon, along with many other benefits.
The heath and surrounding land to the north and east was classed as common land but in the Christchurch Inclosure Act of 1802 the land was privatised and put into the hands of a variety of owners, some owned large areas and others owned very small plots.
This Act eventually paved the way for the founding of the town of Bournemouth, the official birth of which is commemorated as 1810 when Captain Lewis Tregonwell and his wife Henrietta purchased a plot of land in what is today's town centre upon which to build a holiday home. It was completed in 1812 and still survives as part of the Royal Exeter Hotel opposite the Bournemouth International Centre in Exeter Rd. As well as building their 'Mansion' the Tregonwells also purchased further land and built up relatively modest estate with a few cottages for letting to friends and family which became known as 'Bourne Tregonwell'.

This small unassuming estate was all but unknown to the outside world for twenty five years until the mid 1830s when Sir George Gervis embarked upon a plan to build his vision of a new seaside resort to rivlal the likes of the then fashionable Brighton and Weymouth. This wouldn't be a seaside resort as we would think of it today, with sand castles, ice creams, buckets and spades, speedos and bikinis but more of a health spa appealing to those with a delicate constitution, suffering from or recovering from an ailment or long term health issue, commonly of the chest.

The new resort began to take shape in the late 1830s and was initially known as the Marine Village at Bourne, or plain old Bourne, and included the Bath Hotel, since extended as the Royal Bath Hotel, Westover Villas, large houses that lined Westover Rd, later replaced by an ice rink, shops and cinemas.
The fledgling town grew relatively slowly at first and became known as Bournemouth from around the 1850s but with the arrival of the railways and the granting of the first bank holidays in the 1870s the town grew remarkably quickly in the last decades of the 1800s.
The town's first official boundary came in 1856 when it was set as being within a one mile radius of what is today Pier Approach but a number of boundary extensions over the years saw the town grow to the size it is today by 1932.

As previously mentioned the area to the north and east of the heath that Bournemouth now occupies was home to the ancient settlements of Wick, Holdenhurst ,Throop etc that sprang up along the river Stour with the area's fertile land used for farming crops and rearing livestock.
Between the Stour and the edge of the heath ran the main route linking Christchurch and Wimborne, part of which became today's Castle Lane East and Castle Lane West. Many of the area's other old tracks became some of the main roads that still exist within the town.

The land at Strouden being in such close proximity to the Stour was also fertile enough to be farmed and Strouden Farm survived well into the 1900s and was used to house the Corporation work horses in later years until the farm was gradually broken up and the Mallard Rd bus depot was built on the heart of the farm in the early 1950s. It is now the site of the Mallard Rd retail park.

Further along today's Castle Lane West there was Moredown [ Moor Down / Moordown ] Farm, later renamed Charminster Farm and Hunt's Farm on the land where the heath sloped down to the Stour valley where Nursery Rd / Malvern Rd and their environs are today. There was also a small, scattered rural community in the general Moordown area and at Redhill, again due to the close proximity to the Stour.

Today it is vitually impossible to imagine the former rural nature of the area that Castle Lane West cuts through as it makes it's way through Strouden Park towards Moordown, a hint of which survived into the 1970s or even the early 80s, but of which nothing remains today.
The last of the town's greenbelt clings desperately by it's finger tips along the Stour across the very north of Bournemouth where the earliest of the area's settlements first appeared many years

These African Penguins seem to be having a cozy encounter :)

They were at the Ft. Worth Zoo, Texas and behind glass.

Name: African Penguin
Scientific name: Spheniscus demersus
Range: Penguin species occur only in the Southern Hemisphere
Habitat: African penguins are native to subtropical environments
Status: ENDANGERED
Diet in the wild: Penguins feed on marine animals. Size varies with depth of ocean.
Diet in the zoo: small fish
Location in the zoo: Penguin Island

The African penguin is 20 inches tall and weighs 6-7 lb.. Color and shapes of the penguins varies with each species. Usually the chest and head are either yellow, red, white, black and blue. Their heads are long, and their beaks are pointed.

Penguins locate their nests under rocks or vegetation for shade and predator protection. There are 17 total species and only 4 live year round on ice.

Penguins are warm blooded and can swim in waters half their body temperature (which would be the equivalent of you or me swimming in 48 degree water). In cold water, the penguins breed during the warm seasons. Those who live in warm climates breed anytime. They lay 1-2 eggs.

Currently, there is one male penguin on loan which was caught in the wild in 1977. Most of the penguins at the Fort Worth Zoo were donated by the San Antonio Zoo when their penguin exhibit was closed. Here at the zoo they are fed trout, and they are tagged by the workers in order to monitor behavior, how much they consume, and training.

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