Set into the cliff at Southbourne, the Fisherman's Walk Cliff Lift works as much as a novelty as a practical shortcut, a miniature funicular railway carrying passengers up and down a 91-foot cliff face in under a minute. Guinness World Records officially lists it as the shortest public funicular railway anywhere on earth, and its two small cars have been doing the job steadily since 1935.
History
Borough engineer F. P. Dolamore opened the lift on 8 June 1935, making it the last of Bournemouth's cliff railways to be constructed and, so it's thought, the final cliff lift ever built anywhere in the UK. Supplied by the Express Lift Company, the original machinery cost the corporation just under £7,000; while the motor has since been replaced and the cabins refurbished in 2012, the lift continues to run on its original short double track.
Visiting today
Linking the clifftop, where a café and children's play area sit, with Fisherman's Walk beach and promenade below, the lift saves visitors from walking down (and, more importantly, back up) the cliff path. As a seasonal service, it generally runs from around Easter into autumn and shuts over winter, with card or contactless the only accepted payment. Small and low-key as attractions go, it's still memorable if you're already exploring Fisherman's Walk beach and fancy seeing one of the town's more unusual feats of seaside engineering. Our guide to things to do in Bournemouth has more ideas.