144 Sussex - Literature by the Sea

“God gives all men all earth to love
But since man’s heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all
Each to his choice and I rejoice
The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground - in a fair ground –
Yea, Sussex by the Sea!”
- “Sussex” by Rudyard Kipling, 1902.

There is something about Sussex that keeps attracting writers to live and work here.  Robert Rankin is one modern writer who lives here, but his predecessors include Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Woolf, Henry James, Lewis Carroll and George Orwell.  Some liked the downs, others the sea, and others the places in between.  Let me take you on a tour of Literary Sussex and show the places where these writers found inspiration.

Rudyard Kipling moved to Bateman’s in Burwash, East Sussex in 1902, the same year he wrote his famous poem praising the county’s many and varied attractions.  He stayed here until his death in 1936 and during that time he wrote many of his most famous works including: ‘Puck of Pook’s Hill’, ‘The Glory of the Garden’ and that most popular of British poems ‘If’.  Pook’s Hill is thought to be one of the downs visible from his study window. 

Another writer who liked the downs was Virginia Woolf, who,with her husband Leonard, bought Monks House cottage, near Rodmell in East Sussex in 1919.  It was at first a summer retreat but they moved there permanently in 1940 when their London home was bombed.   It was here that she worked on ‘To the Lighthouse’, ‘The Waves’ and ‘Mrs Dalloway’ and it was here in 1946 that she drowned herself in the Ouse. Her ashes are buried in the garden. Visitors to Monk’s Cottage included E M Forster and T S Eliot. 

Virginia, as the leading light of the Bloomsbury group, was also responsible for her sister, Vanessa Bell moving to Sussex. Virginia located Charleston Cottage, near Lewes, for Vanessa, her husband, the writer Clive Bell and the artist Duncan Grant.  Between them they decorated the cottage in a highly individualistic manner and they all remained there until their deaths. 

Moving closer to the sea we come to Rye and the beloved writing spot of Henry James.  Henry James first moved into Lamb’s House in Rye in 1897 and lived here until his death in 1916. Whilst living here he wrote The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl, The Awkward Age and the Wings of a Dove.  In winter he worked in a room on the first floor, and in summer he worked in a pavilion in the garden. Wherever he worked he always dictated his novels to a secretary.  The writers H.G.Wells and Rudyard Kipling were visitors here. After James’ death, the writers, A.C and E.F Benson moved into Lamb house. E.F Benson wrote the Mapp and Lucia novels, apparently inspired by life in Rye.

All of these writers found the environment they needed to write here in Sussex, however, one spot has attracted more than its fair share of writers and that is Eastbourne.

The first writer of note to stay in Eastbourne was Alfred Lord Tennyson who came here in 1845.  At that time Tennyson had been ill and had just been to Cheltenham for a cure. It was not surprising, therefore, that he chose to holiday in Eastbourne, to see if the sea air would do him good.

Then in 1877 Revd Charles Dobson, or as he is better known Lewis Carroll began to spend his summers writing here at 7 Lushington Road, which is now a dental surgery. He lodged with the Dyer family from July until October and Eastbourne obviously agreed with him as he continued to return here every summer for the next twenty years, during which time he published ‘Euclid and his modern rivals’(1879), ‘Rhyme & Reason’ (1883), ‘A Tangled Tale’(1885) and ‘Curiosa Mathematica’(1888) amongst others.

George Orwell first came to Eastbourne as a child, when as Eric Arthur Blair, he was sent to St Cyprian’s Preparatory School.  It was during this time that he first began to go for walks in the Willingdon area of Eastbourne.  He says in his memoirs that walking in Willingdon was one of the activities he most enjoyed whilst at this school. He used these memories to create the setting for Animal Farm.  Indeed, if you read the book and then look closely at Willingdon, it is amazing how clearly Orwell represents the landscape in his work - the Manor Farm was based on what is now Chalk Farm Hotel, and the hill which Boxer was made to climb everyday is Butt’s Brow, which lies just behind the hotel. Eastbourne obviously made a big impression upon him.
 
Harold Pinter’s first impressions of Eastbourne, however, weren’t that flattering.  Although he and his wife Lady Antonia Fraser have more recently stayed at the opulent Grand Hotel where in 1905 Claude Debussy wrote ‘La Mer’, it was on an earlier visit to Eastbourne that Pinter, unable to find any lodgings, stumbled across some digs which inspired him to write ‘The Birthday Party’.

So, if you are having difficulty finding your muse, or just want to drink in the surroundings which inspired these authors, then come to Sussex by the Sea.

© Dawn Copeman 2005

 

142 Eastbourne

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Eastbourne is a popular charming seaside resort on the South Coast.  The Romans built a villa here, located just under the entrance to the pier.  The Normans who arrived in Britain in 1066 at nearby Pevensey, established a church with stone from Caen in Normandy.  That church still stands and is now known as St Mary’s Church.  But it was only in 1780 when the children of King George III came for a holiday that Eastbourne became a popular tourist resort.  Over the years Eastbourne has had many distinguished visitors and residents:  George Orwell went to preparatory school and based the farm in Animal Farm on a real farm in Willingdon; Lewis  Carroll spent many summers writing, and Alfred Lord Tennyson, Harold Pinter and Claude Debussy all found the inspiration they needed in Eastbourne.  Claude Debussy composed La Mer here whilst staying in the five-star Grand Hotel. The only five star hotel on the South Coast.

But Eastbourne is not just a quaint, old-time seaside resort.  Eastbourne offers a wide-variety of attractions and events for its visitors and residents. We host the biggest free air show in the South – ‘Airbourne’, as well the Hastings Direct Women’s Tennis Championships – the’ must see’ precursor to Wimbledon. Every year skaters take part in Eastbourne Extreme and every October we hold our own Beer Festival – once again this is the biggest in the South!  Add our beaches, parks and glorious sunshine together with a wide variety of restaurants and theatres and Eastbourne offers everything you would expect from a seaside holiday and more.

Dawn Copeman

Editor Dawn Copeman

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  • Anatolia Turkish Restaurant
  • Bibendum
  • Café Belge
  • Charlie Brown’s Diner
  • Cosmo Oriental Buffet
  • Flamenco Tapas Restaurant
  • La Lacanda Del Duca
  • L’Artista Ristorante
  • Meze
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  • The Mirabelle at The Grand Eastbourne
  • The Oak Tree
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  • Zizzi

Venues in Eastbourne

  • Chalk Farm Hotel
  • Devonshire Park Square
  • Hydro Hotel
  • The Grand Hotel

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141 Kingston-upon-Hull Local Information

Unlike many other aged English cities, Hull has no cathedral.

It does, however, contain the Holy Trinity Church, which claims to be the largest parish church in England.

Hull has an extensive museum and visitor quarter which includes Wilberforce House, Hull and East Riding Museum, the Ferens Art Gallery, the Maritime Museum, Streetlife and Transport Museum, the Spurn Lightship, the Arctic Corsair and the Deep. It also features the University of Hull and the associated Hull York Medical School, as well as a small campus of the University of Lincoln.

There is also a large FE college, Hull College. Hull is the home of the Queens Gardens, the Hull Marina and is close to the Humber Bridge, the fourth-longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. The city centre streches from Paragon Railway Station to the Old Town (the main area of town unaffected by World War Two bombing) and is a mixture of shops, bars and clubs.

The area boasts two large shopping centres; the Prospect Centre and Princes Quay Shopping Centre, the latter of which is built on stilts in the former Princes Dock. There is also the indoor Trinity Market featuring around fifty stalls.

Hull’s larger nightclubs in the city centre include Waterfront, Heaven and Hell, Pozition and, until recently, LA’s. There is a concentration of bars and pubs in and around Old Town.

The city has a football team playing in the Championship (second tier), Hull City AFC, who play at the Kingston Communications Stadium. The city has two Rugby League teams, Hull FC in the Super League who, along with Hull City AFC, play at the Kingston Communications Stadium; and Hull Kingston Rovers in League One of the National Leagues playing at Craven Park.

The city also boasts Hull Ice Arena, a large ice rink and concert venue, which is home to the Hull Stingrays ice hockey team.

Hull is the only city in the UK with its own independent telephone network company, Kingston Communications, with its distinctive cream telephone boxes. Formed in the 1910s as a municipal department by the City Council, it remains the only locally-operated telephone company in the UK, although now privatised. Kingston Communications were one of the first telecoms operators in Europe to offer ADSL to business users, and the first in the world to run an interactive television service using ADSL and as such Hull has a modern telephone infrastructure.

The local accent is distinctive and noticeably different from the standard Yorkshire accent.

Hull’s daily newspaper is the Hull Daily Mail. BBC Radio Humberside, Viking FM, Magic 1161, the University of Hull’s Jam 1575 and Kingstown Radio, the hospital-based radio station, all broadcast to the city.

Transport within the city is provided by two main bus operators — Stagecoach in Hull and East Yorkshire Motor Services. A smaller operator, Alpha Bus and Coach, provides one of the two Park and Ride services in the city, whilst East Yorkshire Motor Services provide the other. The port of Hull provides a nightly ferry service to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. Hull, Massachusetts in the USA is named after this city, as is Hull, Quebec, which is part of the Canadian national capital region.

Hull has often been voted as the least popular place to reside in the UK. Much of this is based on reputation alone without firsthand experience of the town.

Hull is home the one of the UK’s oldest independent youth orchestras - Hull Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, established in 1952.

Source: www.wikipedia.org

 

140 Yorkshire

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139 Yorkshire From The Wikipedia

Yorkshire is the largest traditional county of England, covering some 6,000 sq. miles (15,000 km²) with a population of some five million. It is traditionally divided into West, North and East Ridings (from Old Norse þriðing, “third part”, a legacy of the area’s ninth century Scandinavian settlers). The county town, York, is not part of any riding.

The emblem of Yorkshire is the White Rose of the House of York, and there is a Yorkshire Day celebrated on August 1. Amongst the celebrations there is a Civic gathering of Lord Mayors, Mayors and other Civic Heads from across the county and convened by the Yorkshire Society, in 2004 it was held in Leeds and in 2005 it was held in Bradford. The people of Penistone will be hosting the Civic gathering in 2006. There is also an “anthem” for the county in the form of the folk song “On Ilkla Moor Baht’at” (on Ilkley Moor without a Hat).

“Tyke” is a colloquialism for the Yorkshire dialect as well as the term some Yorkshiremen affectionately use to describe themselves, though virtually non-existent on the North Riding coastline. The social stereotype of a Yorkshireman has a tendency to include such accessories as a flat cap and a whippet. Among Yorkshire’s unique traditions is the Long Sword dance, a traditional dance not found elsewhere in England. More recently, Yorkshire has been home to its own genre of techno music, Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass.

Source: wikipedia.org

138 Wiltshire

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137 Wiltshire From The Wikipedia

Wiltshire is a mostly rural landscape and about two thirds of the county lies on chalk, giving it a high chalk downland landscape. This chalk is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation that underlies large areas of Southern England from the Dorset Downs in the west to Dover in the east. The largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain, a vast expanse of semi-wilderness used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point of the county is Mill Hill on Salisbury Plain, at 295m/968ft.

As well as Salisbury Plain the chalk runs north east into Berkshire in the Marlborough Downs ridge, and south-west into Dorset as Cranborne Chase. Cranborne Chase, which straddles the border, has, like Salisbury Plain, yielded much stone age and bronze age archaeology. The Marlborough Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), a 1,730 sq km (668 square mile) conservation area.

Between the areas of chalk and limestone downland are clay valleys and vales. The largest of these vales is the Avon Vale. The Avon cuts diagonally through the north of the county, flowing through Bradford-upon-Avon and into Bath and Bristol. The Vale of Pewsey has been cut through the chalk into Greensand and Oxford Clay in the centre of the county. In the south west of the county is the Vale of Wardour. The south east of the county lies on the sandy soils of the New Forest.

Chalk is a porous rock so the chalk hills have little surface water. The main settlements in the county are therefore situated at wet points. Notably, Salisbury is situated between the chalk of Salisbury Plain and marshy flood plains.

Source: wikipedia.org

136 Sussex From The Wikipedia

Sussex is a traditional county in south-eastern England, corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for administrative purposes into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. The latter was created a unitary authority in 1997; and was granted city status in 2000. Until then Chichester had been Sussex’s only city.

The divisions of West Sussex and East Sussex were originally established in 1189, and had obtained separate administrations (Quarter Sessions) by the 16th century. This situation was recognised by the County of Sussex Act 1865. Under Local Government Act 1888 the two divisions were two administrative counties (along with three county boroughs): Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings).

The appellation Sussex remained in use as a ceremonial county until 1974, when the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex. The whole of Sussex has had a single police force since 1968.

Sussex still retains a strong local identity and the county’s unofficial anthem is Sussex by the Sea. The county’s motto, “We wun’t be druv”, reflects the strong-willed nature of its people in past centuries. Sussex’s crest shows six martlets, each of which represents one of the six ancient rapes or sub-divisions of the county.

Source: wikipedia.org

135 Surrey From The Wikipedia

Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. The county borders Berkshire, Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex. The county town is Guildford.

Surrey is divided into 11 boroughs and districts: Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley, Woking.

Surrey has a population of approximately one million people. The county town is Guildford, which despite having a University, a Castle and a Cathedral is not a city. Unusually, the county administration is based outside of the county’s current boundaries in Kingston upon Thames and has been since 1965 when that area, and others, were included within Greater London. There are plans to move the offices to a new site in Woking.

Due to its proximity to London there are a many commuter towns and villages in Surrey, the population density is high and the area is more affluent, on average, than other parts of the UK.

 Source: wikipedia.org

134 Somerset

Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. The county town is Taunton, situated at 51°00′49″N, 3°06′23″W. Prior to 1974, Somerset adjoined the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north east, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south east and Devon to the southwest. The county is bounded to the north by the coast of the Bristol Channel.

The name is pronounced as though spelt Summerset. Some local people pronounce it Zummerzet as per the local West Country Accent. The name derives from Somersæte, meaning land of the summer people. The name continues in the motto of the county, Sumorsaete ealle, meaning “all the people of Somerset” in Anglo-Saxon.

Somerset is a largely rural county famous for its rolling hills and downland, the large flat Somerset Levels, and the Exmoor National Park which straddles the border with Devon. The town of Glastonbury is famous in mythology. The north of the county is administratively independent and includes the city of Bath, a World Heritage Site famous for its Roman history and Georgian architecture. The popular sea-side resort Weston-super-Mare lies on the Bristol Channel coast.

Source: wikipedia.org

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