The sunniest place in the UK (a fact disputed only by Jersey) (Eastbourne in General)

Member Name: jodhen

Product:	Eastbourne in General
Date:	22/01/01 (2083 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: We do like to be beside the seaside...

Disadvantages: But preferably not with thousands of day trippers.

I hope you are not one of those people who tell other people that Eastbourne is only for the old / retired / boring. I have lived here since 1994, and the only reason I want to move is go somewhere quieter!

Eastbourne's highlights are well documented. It competes with Jersey for the annually awarded "Sunniest Place in Britain" label and it is true that as you drive into Eastbourne (three options available to you here!) you will often move out of whatever fog / mist / overcastness you have previously been enveloped by, and into clear skies and bright sunshine. Geographers would no doubt have some fancy theory to explain this; something to do with the microclimate created by the Downs, which form a natural defence against the wilder weather of the rest of East Sussex. But I think it's because the town says it's the sunniest place in Britain, and who would dare to defy the unified voice of over 20,000 grandparents?

Okay, okay, okay. This town does have a higher than average number of retired people (23,000 out of a population of 90,000). BUT, this would hardly be noticeable if it weren't for the coachloads, carloads and trainloads of oldies who visit the town every year and create major traffic jams along the seafront as they toddle weakly across one of the numerous zebra crossings which adorn the seafront. The other big visitor group is, of course, families - and there's loads to do if you are still in one of those - throw yourself into the fun at Treasure Island; exhaust the kids (and yourselves) with a trek up to Beachy Head (fantastic once you get there); take a dip in the usually very clean sea (it's been awarded the Seaside Award for the past eight years); go on a boat trip to see Beachy Head from the other side; play pitch and putt or crazy golf; waste loads of 2ps in the amusement arcades on the pier; visit the local swimming pool; have a go on the lake (more of a big pond really) at Prince's Park; go to s
ee some Hollywood escapism at the local "Crumbles" development; play croquet or boules: the list is not endless but it is quite long.

In fact, Eastbourne is a much nicer place to live off-season, as with many seaside resorts. Sunday mornings in Autumn or Spring are a good time for a virtually deserted walk along the recently refurbished prom and a nostalgic dawdle in the bandstand, one of the best examples of its type left in Britain. If only the Tories hadn't wrested power from the (not much better) Lib Dems in the last local elections, you'd have been able to cycle along the entire prom (about 5km).

The local politics of Eastbourne are one of its worst features. At least the dodgy Chief Exec is in the process of getting her comeuppance, but don't come here if you haven't got a thick skin about the types of opinions that Mail readers spout on about uncensored. Despite the thousands of students who visit the town from various European and other countries every year to sign up at one of the language schools, seeing a black face in town on a Saturday is enough to make you do a double take, or something worse if you're a strong Tory supporter or have otherwise not yet developed your basic human values sufficiently.

There are other unrecommendable bits. Some of the areas of the town are really underfunded and have the misfortune to be regularly slagged off in the local press, run by a notoriously hypocritical bloke who gets his kicks out of hounding the local gay community even though he's gay himself.

But Eastbourne is basically a decent place to live and to visit. The sun shines, the shops open on Sundays, the local countryside is fantastic and the sea sparkles. And I've never seen a "Kiss Me Quick" hat. Not yet anyway.

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