I Love This Town, But...

[poliphilo]

 I got lost again in the centre of town and ended up walking much further that necessary to arrive at a restaurant that turned out to be closed. Eastbourne is laid out in a fashion I find befuddling. I thought I'd worked it out on my last visit- but I hadn't. 

Most older English towns are centred on a high street- which is where you expect to find the major civic amenities- market place, town hall, parish church or cathedral (often there's an underlying pattern for which the Romans can be thanked) but Eastbourne is an early 19th century development and doesn't have one. Its grandest street- Terminus Road- leads to the railway station- and the amenities are all off to one side. There's no old market place, no single big church and the town hall sits on the edge of the central area. The West side of the town- which is mainly residential- was laid out logically- on a grid- by the Duke of Devonshire's planners, with broad avenues and elegant town houses as in London's Belgravia- but the East end- where everything happens - is a dog's dinner. 

I dreamed we had a fish pond in the back garden. I woke thinking how nice it would be to have one, then realised that the sea gulls would empty it as fast as we could stock it...

Comments

[cmcmck]

Our little town is small enough that it's quite hard to get lost unless you're a stranger to the place.

[poliphilo]

We used to go shopping in Tonbridge- a very straightforward town: Just one long high street with a river crossing it- and some 20th century developments off to the side.