Different perspectives: What’s it like living in Eastbourne?
By the Chalk Team
We talk a lot about how great Eastbourne is, but what’s it actually like living here? We share some perspectives from a variety of our team members to give you some perspective about what it’s really like living and working on the Sunshine Coast.
Male, with partner, early 20s: “I don't feel like we're under siege by big corporations. I'm a big fan of independent coffee shops.”
Growing up in Eastbourne was fine - what can I say? I haven't really experienced anything else. It's perfectly pleasant and I wouldn't consider there to be anything offensive about Eastbourne!
I went to school here - infant, junior, secondary, and college - and they were all good schools. I guess my first real experiences were digital were at infant school, where there was a computer room: I used to be buzzing to go to there! I also remember getting involved in the Eastbourne Youth Radio scheme at a young age. I've always been pretty enthused about computers within school: our junior school had links with the senior school so I had a week doing a computing and multimedia course there before I moved up. School did a lot of good for me getting into digital, although I think the ICT curriculum could have been more challenging. I decided to do Computing and Software Development at college after an inspiring chat with a teacher there, who liked similar games to me.
Outside of school, I loved going to the skatepark on the seafront and went to H20 at the Sovereign Centre on a Friday night - it was the place to be, with music blaring and cliques of kids at the swimming pool. I was a pretty punk kid and thought Eastbourne was too small and slow for me, and that I'd go on to do a Big City job. But looking back, that's pretty harsh.
As part of my college course, I participated in TechMatch through TechResort. I had to do coursework where I semi-worked for a real business, so I was matched up with the Towner Art Gallery to create an app for them. I don't remember that much about it now, but I know I wrote it in PHP, which was really the wrong decision. Still, it was never really going to be turned into an app! I met a couple of inspiring guys through TechResort and was there for the opening of their first building, but I was a bit old for the teens’ sessions by that point. But during the first year of my job, I used to go and help out at those sessions, as I felt confident enough to share my abilities.
Moving on from the school years, I'd got a place at uni and I was going to take Software Development and AI, or something similar. At the same time, my dad made me apply for jobs as an alternative option to see what else was out there. I went onto Google Maps and found software development companies locally - Switchplane's website was the most friendly-looking to me, so I dropped them a line. They turned me away at first and I worked at McDonald's for a bit, then they came back to me just a week or so before I was due to start my course. It was a great decision and I haven't looked back.
Now, I've just bought my first house in my early twenties, which I'm pretty psyched about, for obvious reasons. I'm glad I didn't move far away from my family. I like the shops around Eastbourne and the direction a lot of places are taking: I don't feel like we're under siege by big corporations. I'm a big fan of independent coffee shops. If I go in to work at our coworking space in town, I like the vibe and the people. I enjoy being able to work from home now too, working with companies where I can make an impact.
My interests have changed (I'm not going down the skatepark anymore!) and there is enough coffee here in Eastbourne for my liking. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Foundry brings when it opens in the summer. Eastbourne's not sleepy or falling asleep, it's only getting better.
Female, single, mid-30s: “It doesn’t cost me money effectively just to leave the house, as it did before in the city!”
I grew up in Eastbourne after my family moved down from London when I was two. I guess to some extent, I’ve always been shaped to see Eastbourne in a positive light by my family, who had spent all their lives in a busy city. My mum still speaks today about how clean, open, and safe she felt taking me out for walks in my buggy!
I think, partly for this reason, it always frustrated me at school when other people said: “there’s nothing to do here!”. Ummm, hello, have you SEEN where we live?! But teenagers will be teenagers. We had everything we needed at affordable prices - the town centre (with its traditional “let’s meet outside McDonald’s!” as Starbucks wasn’t there in those days), the cinema, bowling, laserquest, swimming pool, plenty of parks, the seafront, the Downs. I mean, what else does a teenager need? There were loads of opportunities to get involved in activities in and out of school and I could get the qualifications I wanted/needed for my next steps in life. Plus as I went up through college, the nightlife was fine - enough bars and clubs to do a bit of a pub crawl, and safe enough for my parents not to be overly concerned about me.
I then did the thing that many do: leave town to go to uni. Sure, I could have gone to Sussex University, which is also excellent and I could have continued to live at home - and to be honest, in today’s world with the even more expensive uni fees, I probably would do this now. Instead, I went to Southampton - far enough away for independence but close enough to come home for a weekend. Living in a city was a big change: parking fees everywhere (but decent enough public transport), more choices of shops and restaurants. Plus all the nightlife a uni student could possibly want. Yet it lacked something - we had to go half an hour to Bournemouth to even see the sea properly without a cruise ship in the way, or to Winchester for a bit of character. By final year, we were definitely looking for our entertainment outside of the city boundaries.
From there, I moved around a bit: Paris, Somerset, then back to Southampton again. This time, I was older and wanting to put down more roots. Friends were starting to buy properties, have children. For me, there was no way on my salary I could afford to buy anywhere in Southampton - it was even a stretch paying rent.
So I moved back to my family home in Eastbourne to save up - whilst paying reasonable rent. People sometimes feel that you need to be in a big city to find a community, but really, it’s right here. I speak to my neighbours. I know street names and places that people at work talk about. I could get pets again, now I wasn’t in a rental. I could go for a walk at night without holding my keys between my fingers. The seafront was right on my doorstep again, ready for walks or escaping to the beach for lunch or some after-work sunshine. Deliveroo has even made it here!
Sure, people want different things in life. But right now, Eastbourne has everything I need. Friends love coming down from London to visit for the weekend - to see the sea, to eat out, to go for a nice drink at the harbour. I can meet up with friends with families and see how much their young kids love spending time outdoors in our parks, Treasure Island, or Knockhatch. I can get everywhere in 15 minutes. It’s about the simple pleasures, and regaining space and a feeling of freedom. And affordability: it doesn’t cost me money effectively just to leave the house, as it did before in the city!
Working in operations/marketing within the digital sector happened as a lucky accident for me - it’s not what I went to uni for. But the vacancy came up at the right time, I took it, and I haven’t looked back.
If you’re looking for a job in digital, whether you are a developer or more on the operations side of things, consider Eastbourne. Yes, salaries are lower, but your money will go so much further, you’ll pocket the difference - and your lifestyle will change dramatically for the better.
Female, married with family, 40: “Simply put, Eastbourne is home.”
Eastbourne was not somewhere I had imagined myself moving to when I was younger. I grew up in Haywards Heath and have such fond memories of my mum taking me for a day out here as a child, spotting the Long Man on the train journey in and then heading straight down to the beach from the station. I loved the Butterfly Centre (oh, I wish it was still here), and a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts before heading home (again why did it leave?). My grandparents retired to Seaford so we would also visit with them and go on long family walks along Cuckmere and Friston Forest.
But then fast forward to my early twenties, I was back from Uni and found myself considering two choices of where to reside - Brighton or London. I wrote a pros and cons list for each and ended up in Brighton where I spent a fun few years working, socialising, and meeting great people. But over time it got a bit old, and I wanted something new again. I met my now-husband who was born and bred in Eastbourne and when it came to us moving in together Eastbourne was the best option - much cheaper than Brighton, and quite frankly after spending time there with him, I realised it was just a nice place to be. Fast forward again and now here we are living in Willingdon on the outskirts of Eastbourne, with two young children, and I feel more settled than ever.
I can see the Downs from my kitchen window, we are never short on things to do with the children, and I feel part of our local community. This is also helped by me joining Switchplane, helping Tom and his brother to build their digital business - we have hired some great local people who have helped to widen my Eastbourne network (a network that didn’t really exist before!). I think we all share a feeling of gratitude to be working and living in such a lovely place. For those that are interested, Eastbourne is a perfect place to raise a family. There are some very good school options and lots of attractions and facilities to keep them entertained too. Ok, we could definitely do with a better swimming pool as the Sovereign Centre hasn’t changed since I was a kid, but, you know, it has a wave machine so it’s not all bad. And there is lots more to do. I love Gildredge Park, for example, perfect for the kids to roam and explore and not one but two good cafes. Knockhatch and the Miniature Railway are also firm favourites, reasonably priced and lots to keep the children entertained (more detail in my Best Family Attractions article.)
So am I glad I moved here? Yes indeed. Will I ever leave? Probably not, and even if we did it would only be to a more rural property on the outskirts of the town (we are spoilt with countryside). Simply put, Eastbourne is home.
Male, with grandchildren, 59: “I’m happy enough living here”
To make a reliable assessment of what it’s like living in a particular place, it probably helps if you’ve actually spent some time living in other places. I’ve lived in Eastbourne virtually my whole life, which is a fair number (a lucky one perhaps) of decades, aside from three years in Leeds (term time only) and, at a very tenuous stretch, Copenhagen, where I worked for seven months. So what would I know about it? It’s probably true to say though, that the longer you live in a place, the better you get to know it. And the more you get to know it, the more you either love it, or hate it. With Eastbourne, I’m still somewhere in between. I don’t know what that says about me, though I do have a tendency to vote Lib Dem.
I loved Copenhagen, but then staying in nice hotels and enjoying the local restaurants, on expenses, is not really living in the proper sense. The one thing I particularly liked about that city is the very thing that is generally quite poor in the UK, and certainly in Eastbourne, which is the state of the public infrastructure. Cycling abounds in Copenhagen - this one city has more cyclists than does the entire USA. As regards Eastbourne, for me the state of pavements, roads, cycleways and public transport around the town remains dire, and it’s been dire for a long, long time. Even getting into (or out of) Eastbourne is a mission. The A27 has been controversial for decades and the A22 is mostly a single carriageway. The railway journey to/from London of 1 hour 30 minutes is 50% longer than it was when the Victorians first built the line, thanks to Lord Beeching.
Copenhagen has lots of open spaces. I find that a spacious town centre adds to a feeling of uplifting freedom, where you can walk around unhindered. That has to be better for one’s well being. Eastbourne’s town centre, despite some recent improvements, is not like that. It tends to feel cramped, with few trees to soften the visual impact of the buildings, and it’s carved up by roads, so when I go to town I’m constantly watching and waiting for traffic as I walk around. The town has no large central square to act as a meeting place, or to sit and eat a sandwich and watch the world go by. Eastbourne’s not alone in this regard. All coastal towns, at least in Sussex, have similar shortcomings.
Perhaps I should get onto the good bit.
I like old houses. There are tons of them here, from West Hampden Park, through Old Town and onwards to Meads, and the Town Centre and Roselands areas. I know we need new places to meet demand, but why the obsession with pastiche Edwardian? I’d like to see the return of terraces. Modern, efficient, insulated, with Tesla solar roof tiles and basements. Eastbourne also has a “good” selection of uniform, box-like, drab, neatly spaced bungalows, designed for people my age. I wouldn’t live in one. My sister told me she’d rather be dead than live in a bungalow. I can’t say I blame her.
We all enjoy green spaces, and Eastbourne has four large parks around its outer perimeter, namely close-to-town-centre Gildredge, Hampden Park, Shinewater and Princes Park. All except Shinewater have cafes and playgrounds. Shinewater is the more natural and undeveloped one, and Gildredge and Hampden Park offer plenty for sports fans too, including skateboarding areas There are several golf clubs, plenty of tennis courts for hire around the town, a David Lloyd centre, gyms such as Bannatynes, a sports centre and rugby and bowls clubs. If you get a kick out of football, you could do worse than support the local Eastbourne Borough FC. Each summer, Devonshire Park stages a top-flight Ladies Tennis Tournament, as a precursor to the sweet spot of Wimbledon. Eastbourne has a large marina too, so if water floats your boat, you couldn’t be better catered for, as it’s the largest composite marina in Northern Europe. Additionally, there’s a decent selection of smaller recreation and play parks dotted about. I love taking my grandchildren to play and run around the parks, with a football or a kite. In the warmer months, the South Downs and the Beachy Head area are great places to walk, climb, explore and picnic.
Eastbourne has around five miles of beach to enjoy. Once the tide is out, that tentative hobble across the shingle is relieved by the comfort of lovely smooth, level sand, so you can walk and paddle along with the dog and/or children, to your heart’s content. Even in the depths of winter, there’s a good choice of ice-cream kiosks, and little cafes for a quick coffee, tea, doughnut or sandwich. For a heartier meal, I might head towards the eastern end, to The Beach Deck, within a few steps of … well, the beach, where there’s an excellent range of soups, salads, main courses and drinks. Roughly in the middle there’s the Bistrot Pierre, perched right on the seafront edge. At the far west, near the Italian Gardens, lies the Council-run Holywell Tea Chalet, a nice watering hole before you go onwards to climb Beachy Head or turn back towards the Pier. There are rocky areas too, near Beachy Head, where, if the fancy strikes, one can search for prawns and catch crabs. I suggest you put them back afterwards though, as they’re probably on the Red List. I remember my grandad finding winkles (a tiny stone-grey snail-like creature) and extracting the hapless things from their shell with a pin and eating them. He gave me one once. I still gag at the thought of it. He used to indulge in snuff too and wasn’t averse to giving me a pinch now and again, as we sat and gazed out at the rolling waves. He never shared his flask of tea though. It was “enhanced” with a good measure of whisky.
As for culture, Eastbourne has a couple of decent theatres, with plenty of variety to satisfy the tastes of the majority of residents, a new multiplex cinema, accessed via the recently-improved shopping centre in the heart of town, and the Towner Art Gallery, quite a highly rated venue for exhibitions, lectures etc. I’d like to see the re-opening of our old cinema, so that we could catch films away from the mainstream, or perhaps a choice of vintage films. Out of town, you’ll find Drusilla’s zoo, brilliant for a day with the kids, as well as Knockhatch, Blackberry Farm, Charleston Farmhouse and Middle Farm.
If you get high on aeroplanes, every August, the town stages Airbourne, one of the south’s biggest air shows - free of charge too. Also in August, at bank holiday weekend, you can be entertained at the Mediaeval Festival at Herstmonceux Castle, a few miles out of town. A massive clash of swords and lances usually brings it to an end. There’s also a brilliant steam engine fair at Horsebridge around that time. I got puffed out walking around it.
For shopaholics, we could do with an Ikea or a John Lewis, but I suspect they belong to better times. Eastbourne no longer has a large department store. We still have M&S plus there’s now an H&M at the Beacon centre, and we have all the other usual chain stores including Waterstones, which I love to browse around. The aforementioned harbour also has a few shops, restaurants and cafes. Back to the town centre, there’s the Little Chelsea area, with a good selection of independent boutiques, cafes and antique shops. The Enterprise Centre (next to the Station) again has a decent selection of indie shops and cafes.
Most of us like eating and thankfully, there's a lot to choose from in Eastbourne. Plenty of restaurants, from the Mirabelle at the Grand Hotel to McDonald’s, lots of cafes, many of them independent, some refreshingly quirky, as well as the more usual Starbucks, Caffe Nero, fish & chips galore, and the rest. My personal favourites are the curry houses, such as Spice Garden and Ashoka, and the Italian restaurants like Mozzarella di Pomodoro.
To answer the original question, yes, I’m happy enough living here. Eastbourne has most of the things I need but occasionally, it’s a shade dull. It could just do with a bit more quirk, and a little more imagination sometimes, especially in the centre of town. More trees, more pedestrian space, fewer roads and traffic, more seafront attractions, would revolutionise it.
