St Leonards-On-Sea

[poliphilo]

St Leonards was developed as Hastings' upmarket little sister. It is now, by one of those reversals so common in urban areas, Hastings' downmarket little sister. We wandered round yesterday with an eye to its potential as a place to go live when and if we move. Matthew says that would be a big mistake. "Full of thieves and addicts," he says. He must think- because we live on the farm- that we've led sheltered lives; he forgets we arrived here from Greater Manchester. I was once a curate on the Wythenshawe estate; Ailz once ran a pub that catered for the people (including a gangster or two) who had been barred from all the other pubs in its locality.

St Leonards is beautiful and unspoiled. It has marvellous buildings from the Edwardian and art deco periods but the bulk of what's on show is from the early Victorian era. The original developers were James and Decimus Burton, father and son- who also built much of London's west end. It is, as it were, Bloomsbury by the sea.

Comments

[sovay]

I was once a curate on the Wythenshawe estate; Ailz once ran a pub that catered for the people (including a gangster or two) who had been barred from all the other pubs in its locality.

I didn't know about the pub. I like that.

Sea and marvelous buildings sounds like an ideal combination.

[poliphilo]

Most of the south coast towns are pretty wonderful.