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Eastbourne Pier is a firm favourite on the south coast of England and has an air of refinement and charm about it that is almost unique in terms of the piers that are still remaining today.

Although it has undergone significant refurbishment over the years, this has always been very tastefully done and the end result is a construction that somehow is rather quintessentially English, in a somewhat understated way, less ostentatious perhaps.

Eastbourne pier was officially opened in 1870, but construction work was not completed until 1872. It was fairly rigorously constructed and has not been so adversely affected by storms or floods, as some of its counterparts. The only significant damage it has suffered was in 1877, when part of the pier at shore side was literally washed away, but since then there has been relatively little incidence of damage.

When it first opened, the pier was simply a promenade facility with little in the way of facilities. A total of 6 little kiosks were provided, but in effect that was about it. It was (and indeed still is) a good length at about 303 metres (1,000 ft). So it makes a nice walk and the Victorians and Edwardians soon took Eastbourne to their hearts, as they took their promenades on the pier.


As Eastbourne Pier became more popular, more services and facilities were provided, including a rather opulent pavilion, with a 400 seat capacity, but this was to be short-lived, since it was only constructed in 1888 but was then replaced with a much grander 1000 seat theatre as well as a bar and office accommodation. Two ‘saloon’ type facilities were introduced halfway down the pier as well, so there was plenty to do.

1912 saw a new entrance being created, which was truly Edwardian and perhaps a little more minimalist than certain Victorian ‘follies’ had been. This air of Edwardian simplicity is still very much retained in Eastbourne Pier today, even though the Edwardian entrance gates were replaced in the 1950’s. They are not, however, vulgar or ugly, but have been designed in accordance with Edwardian charm. So in some ways the fact that part of it was built in Victorian times and part in Edwardian times, makes it an almost unique blend of the best from these two eras, with the Edwardian entrance perhaps influencing it more than the Victorian internal, which has been substantially changed over the years.

Eastbourne PierOne of the classic features of Eastbourne Pier is the camera obscura, which was actually introduced as part of the 1888 refurbishment and is a wonderful attraction, having been very lovingly restored in 2003. This has a simply amazing 360° projection. Truly stunning and it is quite amazing to think that it is so old.

Eastbourne Pier also boasts a nightclub, which used to be the former theatre, but which is quite unique as piers go. Despite the fact that Eastbourne is viewed as being a retirement option, there is not just the nightclub on the pier, but also other things happening at night, such as the Bar Copa, which unlike the nightclub is free. Bar Copa is open every night till late, but the Atlantis nightclub is only open from Wednesday through to Saturday, but you can dance the night away until 2 am, all year round.

For those who are too young… or even too old to go clubbing there is still a lot to do. There are two games arcades, where you can play very space age games or just stick with the old traditional and well loved games, such as the good old slot machines.

Eastbourne also has a little bit of an edge on some of her contemporaries, through having a glass blower, where you can see the most intricate of ornaments being blown, literally before your eyes. The shops are also very good and are just that little bit different.

There are plenty of options for eating, from cheap and cheerful chips to a family type restaurant or deliciously traditional pub food. So you won’t be stuck for somewhere to eat, with all budgets and tastes catered for. From cafe stalls to nice dining, the choice is excellent.

The fact that Eastbourne is a relatively genteel resort, as English seaside resorts go, is reflected in the fact that it does not have the fairground rides that are so prevalent on other piers. So at Eastbourne, you will not be scared to death on some death defying ride. No, you can gently amble down the pier, taking a pause to look through the camera obscura whilst you are going down, pop into one of the little shops or just clean out your system with some good old fashioned fresh air as you stride (or stroll, depending on your preferences) down the pier.

Eastbourne PierFamilies and disabled people will find everything on one level. The amusement arcades are the main attractions for children, or the camera obscura, but there is no dedicated children’s play area.

At night, Eastbourne pier is lit up which shows off its proud entrance and beautiful shape perfectly. It is a wonderful spectacle and it lends Eastbourne Pier an air of elegance that is very apt

In the interest of saving money, breaking the cycle of eating fast food twice a day, and cleaning the detritus from my pantry, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to trim my grocery budget to ZERO and commit to eating whatever I had in the house until it runs out. I had bought a bunch of 50% off stuff from an Albertson's closing down a month or two ago, and my cupboards had been overflowing since then anyway. I'm just buying staples, which for me is milk and Coca-Cola.

Two weeks later, I'm just barely beginning to get to the good stuff. Bear in mind I'm quite clueless about cooking, though I've been watching Alton Brown a lot and dreaming. I came up with this from only stuff I've had around for a while.

* 1 package of Farmhouse Long Grain & Wild Rice. No idea when I got it. Prepared according to directions.

* 2 italian sausages - first bought in a six pack in February for making pizza and frozen since then - started thawing them yesterday with no clue what I was going to do with it. Googled what to do with them, decided to cut off the casings and fry them up in:

* olive oil from one of the 3 or 4 unfinished bottles floating around. Just a little bit - my first chance to try this awesome cast iron pan - part of a whole set I bought from a thrift store for $50 a while back. While that was cooking, I got the idea to try something I had heard of, but wasn't sure what it was: deglazing. Huh, says you can use water, but wine is best. I drank all that... except

* A mini bottle of Delicato White Zinfandel - 187 ml, a four pack of crappy wine my ex-gf bought and drank only one of. Perfect!!! I spent like 5-10 minutes pouring that in and scraping while the rice finished cooking, and even added a little teeny bit of:

* flour - left over from my bread machine experiments. Ooh, this is working, I've got a sort of tasty little sauce going on here! WTF! WWAD? (What Would Alton Do)

* Kosher salt. I have no idea if this did anything useful, but I put some in. Alton puts it in everything. OK, one more item, something to pretend I'm being semi-healthy. Aha!

* A can of peas, drained. Again, no clue where I got this or how long it had been on the shelf. It might've come back from Burning Man. I threw the rice back into the deglazed pan, threw back in the sausage (which I had drained), and put in the peas. I heated the whole mixture up in a pan, and am eating it from a bowl, and it's pretty yummy.

Did I do this "right"? I have no clue, but it's edible and totally from what I already had in the house. I'm pretty proud of myself!

Honest, it's been two weeks, I've only eaten outside food maybe three times, and I've still got 2 packages of tuna, 2 salmon steak, 1 crab, some sea scallops, 2 more sausages, chicken wings, frozen burgers, bread machine mix, frozen potatoes, soups, rice, noodles, etc. Amazing the amount of stuff I've accumulated.

So I'm thinking I can go another two weeks of zero food budget, which is going to save me an insane amount compared to what I usually spend on restaurants, frozen meals and the like. Seems healthier.

I've even got at least one or two more servings of this stuff!

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