Eastbourne (England)

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Eastbourne is a large town situated in the south coast of England, which enjoys a large amount of sunshine and warm weather, amongst some rather wonderful views . You have the 4 mile stretch of pristine shingled beaches, the magnificent downs, Beachy Head, and all manner of wonderful things provided by nature to marvel at .

I've been to Eastbourne twice - once by train, and once by coach . Naturally, routes will vary ...
...both my journeys terminated at Eastbourne train station, a small station situated on the outskirts of the main shopping stretch of the town, witha taxi rank right outside, and a Subway inside in case you want something to eat .

On both visits, I stayed at my boyfriends house, in the smart Meads Village area of Eastbourne, which is at the Beachy Head end of the beach. And the first thing I did, after taking a rest, was walk along the ... more

Last year, I started dating someone new. Someone who lived in Eastbourne, giving me the first chance in 6 years of being a mum to properly get away and have a break and a bit of sunshine on the beach. Of course, it's not the reason I'm dating him, just a rather nice side effect of the relationship .

Eastbourne is a large town situated in the south coast of England, which enjoys a large amount of sunshine and warm weather, amongst some rather wonderful views . You have the 4 mile stretch of pristine shingled beaches, the magnificent downs, Beachy Head, and all manner of wonderful things provided by nature to marvel at .

I've been to Eastbourne twice - once by train, and once by coach . Naturally, routes will vary depending on where you are travelling from, but on both occasions my journey from Nottingham involved a change at London . And both my journeys terminated at Eastbourne train station, a small station situated on the outskirts of the main shopping stretch of the town, witha taxi rank right outside, and a Subway inside in case you want something to eat .

On both visits, I stayed at my boyfriends house, in the smart Meads Village area of Eastbourne, which is at the Beachy Head end of the beach. And the first thing I did, after taking a rest, was walk along the beach, into the town . The beach is shingle, of various sizes, which does make it a trifle tricky to walk on. It's seperated with windbreaks every so often, and there is a flat path running parallel to the beach with cabins along it, as well as many benches (most dedicated in memory of someone) and some planted up areas .

Along this parallel path runs the Dotto train, a train running hourly from one end of the beach to the other , from the Holywell Retreat end of the beach, right under Beachy Head, along the whole 4 mile stretch of beach right up the the Sovereign Centre . This train has a mixture of enclosed and open carriages, making it a great mode of transport along the beach whatever the weather. I did ride this on a couple of occasions, and really enjoyed it, but not as much as my daughter, who waved through the windows for the whole journey, and laughed whenever the driver rang the bell . Along this path, on sunny days, you'll also see cyclists, rollerbladers, and a whole host of people walking dogs .

But back to the walk along the beach . The beach is stunningly clean . Not a used condom or abandoned dog turd in sight - just miles and miles of pebbled beaches , with lines of seaweed indicating how high the tide has gotten recently . At low tide, it becomes significantly more interesting, with a ring of rocks creating a sheltered calm area, filled with rock pools where we spotted anemones, crabs, limpets, and the occasional canoeist a little further out . At low tide, you can walk right around the bottom of Beachy Head Cliffs, towards the lighthouse, although of course you should only do this if you know how long you have until the tide comes in again .

If you walk along the beach for a good distance, you'll come to the Western Lawns and the Wish Tower, tower number 73 in the martello towers dotted all around the Sussex coastline, and now used a museum. We didn't enter the museum , but just next to the wish tower is a RNLI shop, where we had a little look around at the souvenirs, and purchased a pink fishing net for my daughter at a very reasonable pound .

A little further along is the Bandstand, which during the summer months hosts a variety of performances, a lot of them tribute acts. We heard a brass band play there in passing, and they were really very good - I definitely intend to go and see a performance there sometime, sitting one of the deckchairs laid out and eating an icecream .

A life guard station is the next feature of interest - especially for parents . They sell kidsafe wristbands here, luminous yellow waterproof bracelets where you can right your phone number and other details so that if your kid gets lost, you can be contacted . A brilliant idea . They also provide tide information, which is useful if you want to go investigating rockpools at low tide.

Next up is the Pier, which houses a news agent, a fish and chip shop, a pub (don't bother, there are far better elsewhere), a seafood stall, an old fashioned tea shop, and a couple of souvenir shops. It also has a large amusement arcade, complete with 2p push machines, which I adore. I spent a happy half hour in there getting rid of all my loose change, before continuing on my way.

By now, I was hungry, so off we went to 'The Olde Bakery' a delightful flint building on Seaside Road, running parallel to the seafront which serves a variety of sandwiches and jacket potatoes , alongside home made cakes, and even home made chutneys and jams you can buy in jars . My daughter had a ham and cheese sandwich, generously filled and served with salad and crisps . I had a chorizo and cheese baguette melt, again served with salad and chips, and my boyfriend had a bacon and cheese baguette melt . The service was friendly, the portions generous (in fact, my daughter took half of hers away with her to eat later) , the food tasty, and the prices very reasonable, costing 11 pounds including drinks .

We continued on our way to Treasure Island - an indoor play centre with a small paddling pool and sandpit area outside, as well as a pirate ship activity park and crazy golf. A ticket for both areas of the park costs 5.99 for a child, and 1.00 for adults . I definitely feel the price for adults is fair, since there is really nothing for them to do, apart from supervise their children . Treasure island also has a couple of cafe areas attached, both of which we avoided as they were vastly overpriced. My daughter enjoyed the soft play area immensely, and had a little paddle in the outside pool.

Next on the list was Fort Fun , a few minutes walk away . As my boyfriends mum works for a museum in the area, we were lucky that she could provide us with trade passes, which entitled us to two free entrys with wristbands . There were three of us, one child and two adults, but we were informed that it was not compulsory for adults to purchase either entry or wristband unless they intended going on the rides . We decided that myself and my daughter would use the free passes, as my boyfriend was a larger fella, and not likely to get on any of the rides - especially as they were all designed for young children . That's right, this is a theme park designed entirely for children, with all the rides of an adult theme park, but scaled down . A log flume, a rollercoaster, dodgems, waltzers, merry-go-rounds, as well as a soft play area and those 2p machines . My daughter enjoyed it, and went on several rides , as well as spending hours on the soft play area . Although we got in for free , a wristband costs 10.99 normally, and I feel this is a fair price .

During our week long visit, we also visited the Seven Sisters Sheep Centre . Again, we got in on trade passes, but normal entry is 4.50 per adult, and 3.50 for children . They have a variety of sheep breeds, and are open during lambing season and harvesting season . It was great fun, we got to feed the sheep, and stroke them, and see tiny newborn lambs . We even saw a depressed sheep, that had been fitted into a kind of headbrace so that its lamb could feed safely without the mother harming it . Sheep isn't all they have here though - guinea pigs, rabbits, donkeys, horses, cows, and pigs are all available for petting, and you can even get a ride on an old fashioned tractor.

Another place we visited was Herstmonceaux Science Centre , which used to be an obsevatory . We got to play with some great interactive exhibits, including catapaults, a wind up train, hovering ping pong balls, plasma lamps and many other things . We listened to a presentation on sound and hearing, which was interactive and we all got to join in, playing tunes on bits of plastic piping . We even got to make some stuff, jumping beans, models of working lungs, and a bird feeder .

We also went up to Beachy Head to take in the views, which are stunning. Its a lovely area to walk, to sit and chat, and just to take in the beauty that nature has to offer, and rather conveniently, there is a pub at the top (The Beachy Head Inn), with great beer and decent food, although rather slow service . That might be forgiveable though, as the pub was crowded, making as it does an ideal stopping point for hikers walking the cliff top paths . I had a wonderful smoked haddock, mash, and poached egg meal, while my boyfriend opted for a burger . Both meals were wonderful.

On another night, we ate at the Cricketers Inn , Berwick - which involved a scenic drive past rolling downlands and the Long Man of Wilmington. The pub is a traditional flint cottage covered in climbing plants, in a wonderful floral garden complete with outside seating . Serving the local 'Harveys of Lewes' beers directly from the barrel, and with a great food menu, it was a wonderful place to eat.

I had a steak, stilton and mushroom warm salad, a huge portion with flavours balanced just right . The steak was perhaps a little tough . My daughter had ham egg and chips, and although the pub has no childrens menu, they were happy to do a smaller portion . My boyfriend had the fresh swordfish, my boyfriends dad had a homemade burger, and my boyfriends mum had the same meal as me. All the portions were huge, and apart from the slight toughness of the steak, delicious .

In the evenings, my boyfriend and I would escape to his local pub, the ship - an excellent pub selling some pretty decent beer . Leffe, Hoegaarden, and Staropramen on tap , as well as numerous real ales (Including Harveys) and a decent food menu (we ordered some cheese and ham topped chips as a snack) and a lovely beer garden . The seating inside is a comfortable array of sofas, and the music is varied.

I did do a little shopping in Eastbourne - its great for people like me that enjoy charity shops, and there was also a wonderful little polish deli that sold some amazing cherry cider, cactus alcopops, and some sweet little condensed milk cakes.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Eastbourne - and yet there is still so much more I want to do ! So, I'll definitely be going again - I want to tour the Harveys Brewery in nearby Lewes . I want to go to Ashdown Forest Llama Park , I want to do an awful lot of things . I'll definitely visit again! 

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