Eastbourne and East Sussex

Photographs by Mike Vickers

Feature Photo above: The sea front at Eastbourne. The super weather brought out hordes of beach worshippers…

We realised we had several sets of friends who now all live on the East Sussex coast and so arranged a little four day trip down to Eastbourne, and this mini-break was so lovely it has warranted its very own mini-article.

Now, before we begin, I have to admit that the photos in this article were all taken on my iPhone as, after almost five years and many thousands of photos, my lovely Lumix camera is no longer entirely functional, which is a nice way of saying it’s knackered. Having been exposed to the brutal temperatures of Iceland, it now makes horrible crunching noises, the extending lens no longer extends and everything is permanently out of focus. A Viking funeral beckons. I know owning a camera is a minority sport nowadays as most people are content to use their phones, but I’m very much old school and prefer to use a pocket-sized compact digital camera, so I’m now on the hunt for a replacement as soon as possible. Hopefully, my next article should feature photos from the new camera.

So, the last Sunday in April saw us driving down through Wiltshire in a south-easterly direction. Our journey began all grey and drizzly, but because we made sure we’d packed our magic Spanish umbrella, we were confident any inclement precipitation would soon clear away, and so it proved to be – the weather improved steadily as we passed by Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester and Worthing, our progress briefly interrupted by a diversion up to a little village called Washington which, had we not been forced to drive through, I can quite safely say we would never have visited.

Our destination was 17 Wilmington Square B&B, located at the southern end of Eastbourne seafront, and we were greeted by Janine and Tony, our lovely hosts. Their substantial Victorian terrace was a solid, capacious and comfortable house, built in 1855 and possessing large bedrooms with lovely high ceilings. Ours was located up on the second floor at the front of the house with a huge bed and an expansive bay window that overlooked the square gardens and the sea. Perfect.

After settling in, we stepped out on a fine sunny evening to meet our old friends, Iain & Suze, at Bistro Pierre, located a very short walk from the B&B and overlooking the beach. We had a splendid evening, as we always do when we get together, and it was great to see them again. We first met many years ago during our Yakamoz days and have had many adventures together as well as all being founding members of the original Fethiye Gardening Club.

Back at the B&B at the end of the evening, we discovered just how big a Giant Emperor size bed is – the only way I knew Jan was OK was to text her!

The following morning, after a very acceptable breakfast, we walked along the sunny seafront to the pier. The beach at Eastbourne is very definitely pebbly, with more groynes than a Magic Mike Tribute Act. We strolled out to the end of the pier and back, then on into the town centre, acutely aware that the proliferation of both charity shops and empty premises were a sure sign all was not too healthy, a feeling further reinforced when we came across a huge, empty, desolate boarded-up Debenhams which would have once been the town’s beating heart. Very sad.

Returning to the seafront, we stopped for a coffee at a beachfront cafe and sat in warm bright sunshine, courtesy of our now fully functional magic umbrella, and in the afternoon took a short drive to nearby Seaford via Beachy Head.

Beachy Head is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain and afforded lovely views back to Eastbourne and out over a sun-speckled English Channel. However, in addition to its beauty there is a darker side to this famous landmark, as we very quickly realised when we saw the HQ of the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team, a charity that reaches out to dissuade those who are suicidal from leaping off to top. Sadly, they can get busy.

We found Seaford town centre really rather pleasant, with lots of independent shops to browse. Our friends, Hamish and Terri, now live in an apartment overlooking the beach but back in the day they had a lovely house in the little Turkish village of Kinali, located in the Kaya Valley up in the hills behind Fethiye. We first met very shortly after settling in the valley in 2019 and joined their weekly quiz team. Hamish was looking for help to overcome a rival team that always won, so we joined and thrashed them first time out – and yes, that did feel good.

We spent the afternoon catching up and it was great to see them again – I’m sure this won’t be our only trip to East Sussex.

On the way back to Eastbourne, the road passed over the Cuckmere, one of the best examples of a meandering river I’ve seen in a long time – and that includes the River Meander in Turkey whose relaxed attitude to reaching the coast gave us the name for all such serpentine river courses. We stopped at the little village of East Dean on the way home for supper at The Tiger, sitting on the village green outside the old pub enjoying the bright early evening sunshine with a happy crowd of families and dog walkers. The food was really excellent and served by Neil, the landlord, then it was back to No.17 and our lovely giant bed.

The following morning, we once again experienced a spot of B&B Fleeting Acquaintance Syndrome with the other guests before we all went our separate ways never to meet again. Our plan was to head over to see friends in Worthing and we stopped on the way at the Cadence Clubhouse at Beachy Head for coffee and a walk around the cliff top, where we saw the famous red and white striped lighthouse down on the foreshore and met a charming Dutch family who asked us to take their photo with the dramatic cliffs in the background. They then returned the favour and took our photos.

We drove on to Seaford to buy birthday bubbles and flowers for Rhonda, our Worthing friend and on leaving the town, immediately became ensnared in a huge traffic jam going into Newhaven caused by an accident and subsequent road closure. There was a little desultory stop-starting, but we were getting nowhere fast and turned around, at which point Jan discovered her phone was missing. She thought she’d left it in the room, but then, completely out of the blue, my phone rang. It doesn’t happen often. She answered and her friend Debbie called to say the girls at Cadence had found Jan’s phone back at the cafe and being bright young things and totally tech-savvy, contacted Jan’s emergency number, so we drove back to Beachy Head – again – thanked the girls Adi and Georgia for their kindness and set off once more for Worthing, this time avoiding Newhaven, but it seemed everyone on the road in East Sussex had exactly the same idea. It was a nightmare, that awful combination of slow moving heavy traffic, lots of queues and sitting stationary looking out of the window at a roadside bush or two. The distance from Eastbourne to Worthing is only about 35 miles or so, but it actually took us four and a half hours to get to Rhonda’s, an average speed of about 8mph! Great. That’s a sarcastic “great” by the way.

Anyway, it was wonderful to see her and to wish her a belated happy birthday. We stopped for a couple of hours before getting on the road again back to Eastbourne, confident our return journey would be much easier.

It bloody wasn’t. The traffic was horrendous, with endless queues which were either stationary or painfully dawdling, but at least it only took us two hours to get back to East Dean for a very welcome early evening supper at The Tiger. Our average speed on the return journey was 17mph which, although it sounds terrible, was more than twice as fast as our outward journey and could therefore be accurately described as “sprightly.”

We were knackered, hardly surprising having spend six and a half hours in the car to cover just 70 odd miles. We wondered if the traffic was normally this bad. If it was, we pitied the poor commuters having to endure all that daily waste of time, stress and frustration on top of a full day’s work.

Glad we’re retired.

The following morning, having consumed a delicious full English breakfast to fortify us for the journey home, we set off. By this time, Jan had discovered a sneaky photo of Adi and Georgia on her phone, which made us chuckle. We left Eastbourne at about 10, took the coast road via Beachy Head all the way through Seaford, Brighton and Shoreham before trekking back inland towards Southampton. We took a detour to Stockbridge in Hampshire for coffee and cake break, then motored on to Marlborough and home, thankfully making significantly better time than yesterday.

Guess what – the cats were waiting. As always.

Finally, within two hours of arriving home in Gloucester, it began to rain. That magic umbrella we bought in San Sebastián, having completed all the necessary immigration documentation to allow it to officially start work in the UK, had performed admirably – but it does only work when we’re on holiday.

Notes:

17 Wilmington Square, Eastbourne, is an elegant five-storey Victorian terrace bed and breakfast overlooking the square gardens and the sea. Ranging over three floors, the rooms are spacious, high-ceilinged and comfortable, all with en-suites and tea or coffee making facilities. The dining room is in the lower ground floor and their cooked breakfasts are very nice indeed. Forget all the booking websites, Janine and Tony can be directly contacted on 01323 417217.

Bistro Pierre is light, airy, welcoming, overlooks the sea and provides really excellent food. Call 01323 886484 for more information and to make reservations.

The Tiger at East Dean offers a super menu packed full of tasty dishes at very reasonable prices. Sitting outside on the village green bathed in sunshine is an absolute delight. This is England at its best. Rooms are also available. For more information, call Neil on 01323 423209.

Roger the Renault covered 528 miles and enjoyed his first visit to East Sussex very much.