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     RAVAGES OF WINTER

            Internationally renowned Beachy Head suffered a major face lift when, in the winter gales,
thousands of tons of chalk collapsed into the sea making a land bridge to the lighthouse.

HIGH TIDES ALERT

Eastbourne once more prepares for the onslaught of the English
Channel as the spring tides vent their fury on the town's sea defences.
As the water meadows have increasingly become populated with
housing development and industrial estates, the threat to life
and property has greatly increased. Council reports during the
planning of the Sovereign Harbour constantly spoke of
the possibility of a 'fifty year flood' - a term denoting
that much of the town now lies below the high tide mark.

The English Channel, a prime attraction to summer visitors
has its darker side. When the Harbour brake-water was constructed,
the tidal flow caused massive scouring of the shingle beach
particularly around Holywell, leaving what to many resembled
a 'moonscape'.

Millions of pounds have now been lavished on the sea defences,
the spring tides will be the first chance to see how effective
they are.

Belle Tout  LIGHTHOUSE  Successfully Moved

Belle (Bael) the Celtic God of War and Tout the ancient word for look-out

1/4/1999----16:00 Hrs

A Real Feat OF Engineering

!!!!!Or What !!!!

When Mad Jack Fuller built Belle Tout in 1834,
he could never have envisaged a need to move
the building away from the crumbling edge of
the cliff. This mammoth task must compare with its
original construction when teams of oxen were used to
pull heavy Aberdeen granite blocks across the downs
from Maidstone.

It took two days to move the lighthouse, 55 foot inland,
to its new position above a newly constructed lower floor.
It was sight seen by millions of people through Europe as
coverage of the event was carried by dozens of television
stations, including ITV, BBC and Sky Satellite. Newspapers
also covered the move, the whole hill top was crowded with
media reporters,

There was drama as World War II bomb was exploded on an
adjacent hill and even more, when the body of a man
was found in a parked van.

As a lighthouse Belle Tout was a failure, heavy sea mists regularly
obscured the light and the new lighthouse was constructed
in 1902, on the foreshore.

What Belle Tout did not achieve as a light tower, it has
more than made up for it as a tourist attraction.           

MAJOR NEW SUPERSTORE OPENS IN TOWN

The well-known Army and Navy site in Terminus Road
has been taken over by quality discount departmental
stores group, T.J.Hughes and will be opening their
doors on Thursday, March 25th.

Over the past months major work has transformed the
building, to include newly-installed escalators and
a new restaurant. The stores will create more than
100 full and part-time work - making Eastbourne store
one of the largest in the group and the first in the
South of England.

With 48,000 sq. feet of selling space on four floors,
the new-look store will stock the full range of ladies,
men's and children's wear, shoes, fashion accessories,
cosmetics, fragrances, furnishings, linens, electrical
goods, gardening products and toys - all at discount
prices and including many famous brand names.

The company has 23 stores throughout the North West,
Midlands and Yorkshire; opened four new outlets in 1998
and redeveloped their flagship branch in Liverpool.

The company are continuing to expand with openings planned for
Middlesborough and Wrexham by the autumn of this year and
Burnley by spring of 2000.

John Wishman has been appointed manager of the new Eastbourne
branch, a married father of three, he joined T.J.Hughes in 1975.
A native of Liverpool, he has moved his family to live
here in Eastbourne.

REBIRTH OF WELL-KNOWN NAME

The Luxor cinema, which changed to a bingo hall several years ago
is being partly restored to its original decor. Opening as a club
eating place, the main hall has been delicately restored to 1930's
decor - the period of its birth. The Luxor original opened in 1933
and quickly became a popular venue - it changed its name to ABC,
and later to the Canon.

Inside much cinema memorabilia has been added. Eastbourne once had
eleven cinemas, the first 'moving pictures' where shown
under canvas at Horsey (now Churchdale Road. The earliest cinemas
were the Electric Picture Hall 919080, the Gallery (1913), the
Winter Gardens (1914) the Old Town Cinema (1914) the Empire (1914)
and the Eastern (1914). The sites still show signs of
original use - the Mecca Hall in Seaside and opposite was
the Regal. While the New Central awaits its fate in Seaside Road.

AIRBOURNE 99 CELEBRATES ITS SEVENTH YEAR

Ever since 1909, Eastbourne has been at the forefront of aviation.

AIRBOURNE '99


Major Bernard Fowler's ghost may well walk abroad over the weekend of August 20 - 23rd, when Eastbourne celebrates yet another air extravaganza. The buildings of the old Eastbourne flying school and the associated aircraft factory on the site of the Leisure Centre have since gone, but today's aviators are as daring and skilled as any in those pioneering days.

As a variety of aircraft take to the skies over Eastbourne seafront, it is well to remember that the town was once a Mecca for intrepid pilots. Leeds Avenue gained its name during the first world war, when pilots from that town were the first trained here, taking their courage and skill to the battle fields of France.

For the brave in heart, you can experience a flight over the town in one of the helicopter flights which start from the Sovereign Harbour. For those wanting feet firmly on the ground, the static display on the West Lawns is a must to visit.

MEMORIES OF THE BRODIE FAMILY

When the Rev Dr Alexander Brodie arrived in Eastbourne in August 1809 to take up the appointment of vicar to St Mary's Church, the Old Town was hardly more than a rambling collection of rural buildings. Had he lived longer he would have seen the great changes as the Old Town grew into its present structure.

On June 18, 1828, Alexander Brodie died following an accident at the bottom of Ocklynge Road hill, the horse drawing his carriage bolted and he was thrown onto the road. Alexander Brodie was 54. During his stay in Eastbourne he was blessed with 12 children. Over the next 80 years, the Brodies played an important part as Eastbourne developed into a town. Flint Halls, one of the town's earliest schools, was endowed by Miss Lydia Brodie in 1853.

William Brodie outlived all his brothers and sisters and died on February 10th1908, aged 89. Much of the establishment of Edgmond Hall in Church Street is due to both him and his sister Emma Grace.

Opposite St Mary's Church formerly stood the Jesus House, a reminder that our parish church was once the Centre of a monastic community. The Lamb Inn, reputed to be the oldest hostelry in Britain, is built over ecclesiastical foundations - under the main bar in the tap room are still the remains of an early English vaulted chamber. When smuggling was rife in this area, just 150 years ago, a secret passage linked the Lamb Inn with the Old Parsonage. Though now blocked by falls of earth, both entrances are plainly visible.

The church and the Brodie family remained interlinked, two of the other Brodie sisters built schools for the working class children of the town in Meads and Seaside. The latter still remains prominent, housed in the grounds of Christ Church.

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