Eastbourne, East Sussex

Birbeck Engineering Co.

Does anybody remember Birbecks Engineering? and 6" Shell Fuse Bases? If anybody reads this would love to hear from you. Names I recall are :- Nancy, Rose, Rita, Fred Laker, Bert Irvrin, Ted Colley, Ernie Lidyard, Mr Bodkin, Miss Birbeck.

Eastbourne flower gardens

My Grandad was foreman of the Carpet Gardens on Eastbourne seafront. He took over from his elder brother who had taken over from their father. They had, as a family, looked after the Carpet Gardens for over a century.

The family name was Cottington. Grampy always told us that when digging over the flower beds they uncovered Roman mosaics.... [more]

Our first home together.

In September 2007 my partner Alan and I moved into a first floor flat on Tideswell Road directly opposite the church. The fact that the lounge windows overlook the church was the clincher for me when I was viewing the flat for rental. I love the fact that we are not overlooked by other properties which is very unusual for a... [more]

Proposal

This is where Alan asked me to marry him on a beautiful moonlit evening in January. The weather was mild and the moonlight was shining on the sea making it all silvery. There weren't many people around, just the odd jogger and dog walker as it was a Monday night.

I guessed what was happening as he was so... [more]

Sussex A Century Ago Photographic Memories

Lobbying by the Duke of Devonshire and others secured borough status for Eastbourne in 1883 with George Wallis, the Duke's agent, becoming the first mayor. The Town Hall was built following an architectural competition to designs by a Birmingham architect, W Tadman Foulkes. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Edward Cavendish, the Duke's son, in 1884. It is in an ornate Renaissance style... [more]

Eastbourne Photographic Memories

Booming expansion led the Duke of Devonshire and the townspeople to lobby for borough status, finally granted by royal charter in June 1883. A design competition for a suitably grand town hall was won by W Tadman Foulkes, a Birmingham architect, and the foundation stone was laid in 1884 by Lord Edward Cavendish, the Duke's son.

Sussex A Century Ago Photographic Memories

The first master plan drawn up by Henry Currey, the Duke of Devonshire's surveyor, covered the stucco seaside terrace and squares. After 1870 Currey produced his second master plan for the areas around the hamlet of Meads, this time for tree-lined streets of villas and houses in grounds that led to this western development being nicknamed 'The Belgravia of Eastbourne'. Meads Road, of course,... [more]