Bournemouth's 'blue rinse' and 'God's waiting room' stereotypes
AMONG the many people to have disparaged Bournemouth over the years is James Bond. In Ian Fleming’s 1954 novel Live and Let Die, the character of Solitaire is heaping contempt on St Petersburg in Florida as a place full of “oldsters” who go to bed at 9pm. “It sounds rather like Bournemouth or Torquay. But a million times worse,” says Bond. That image of Bournemouth as a retirement destination has persisted. The 1990s sitcom Waiting For God was set in a Bournemouth retirement home and much of One Foot in the Grave was made locally. And one phrase recurs when the national ...
Source: bournemouthecho.co.uk