Future’s bright for well-planned town

10:02am Wednesday 6th August 2008

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Eastbourne started life as a hamlet by the sea where the principal occupations were fishing, farming and smuggling.

It was transformed into a successful and superior resort by royal patronage, fashionable visitors and the input of successive Dukes of Devonshire, who owned much of the town.

No less remarkable has been the more recent transformation of Eastbourne from a holiday haven for the rich and retired into a resort which can be enjoyed by everyone, young and old, rich and poor. For that, much credit must go to the council.

The fashion for drinking sea water, which made Brighton a prosperous place in the late-18th century, was also largely responsible for the rise of Eastbourne.

But the resort did not become really popular until the middle of the following century, when the railway came to town, offering easy access from London.

Eastbourne could easily have become a carbon copy of its brash and beautiful neighbour a little over 20 miles to the west.

That it did not is largely down to the 7th Duke of Devonshire and the land-owning Davies Gilberts who regulated development.

According to John Surtees in his history of Eastbourne (Eastbourne Past, Phillimore, £15.99), they ensured it became an attraction for the affluent, conceived by gentlemen for gentlemen.

If Brighton claimed, which it sometimes did, to be the Queen of Watering Places, Eastbourne was big and successful enough to be the Empress.

One reason for the success of Eastbourne seafront was the absence of shops and the removal of through traffic to other areas of the town.

Eastbourne had many rivals as a resort, not the least of them being Bexhill and Hastings on the same stretch of coast.

But while these towns failed to react to change, Eastbourne was clever in adapting itself to modern times without ever putting off too many people.

As some original wealthy visitors defected to the French Riviera, Eastbourne widened its appeal, relying greatly on its sunshine record, safe beaches and beautiful parks.

When these customers in turn were lured away by the attraction of the Spanish Costas in the 1960s, Eastbourne started a modest conference industry and had buildings such as the Congress Theatre to host them.

It managed to reduce its reliance on tourism by encouraging other activities, such as education. For many years it had private schools and more recently it has hosted thousands of language students.

Eastbourne has also kept its theatrical traditions intact, while in many other resorts they have faded away.

It catered for the needs of children by providing popular attractions on the seafront, such as Treasure Island, Fort Fun and the Sovereign leisure centre.

Eastbourne also managed to attract light industry to the town, mainly in the Lottbridge Drove area.

Councillors wisely did not copy Brighton’s disastrous open-air Churchill Square shopping centre in the late-1960s but instead conceived the covered Arndale Centre, which lasted much longer.

It also stole a march on rivals by making part of Terminus Road, the main shopping street, pedestriansonly in the 1970s.

Eastbound has gained a reputation as a centre for sport, with its flourishing football clubs.

Eastbourne Borough have this year been promoted to the Conference.

The town has for many years hosted a women’s tennis tournament at Devonshire Park just before Wimbledon and in future men are likely to take part as well.

The development of Sovereign Harbour has transformed the eastern part of the resort and development there has been much more sympathetic than at Brighton Marina, There have been some reverses, particularly during the Second World War when Eastbourne was bombed by German planes more heavily than any other resort on the south coast.

Most of the private schools have disappeared and there have been job losses in the private sector of the local economy.

But Eastbourne has always shown a quiet determination to better itself and its future, both as a resort and residential town, looks bright.