Harry’s Ramblings; Sussex on Fire
We have all been to bonfire displays over the years, but the county of Sussex has a strange phenomenon – Bonfire Societies. They do spread a little into neighbouring...
Harry’s Ramblings; Steampunk Oddities
If you Google in the word Steampunk, the definition comes up as “ a style of design and fashion that combines historical elements with anachronistic technological features inspired by science...
Fishbourne Roman Palace bigger than the Queen’s
“Now come on lads, we have to lay a new water main across this field. East peasy, type of job we’ve dug hundreds of times before, we’ll be finished...
An idiot in the Workhouse
My grandmother was born in 1891, and she visited the Clapham workhouse as a child in about 1900. She had to go there a few times to visit family...
Harry’s Ramblings; Eastbourne’s cinema of dreams
The cinema came to Eastbourne in the 1890s, it’s not recorded where, but it must have been close to the town centre. Eastbourne is one of those strangely traditional...
Victorians with smelly feet
I used to be a volunteer usher at my local Royal Hippodrome Theatre here in Eastbourne, so it was a natural progression to become a theatre guide. It was...
18-19 Harry’s Ramblings. Camera Obscura latest
Eastbourne has a camera obscura atop the building at the end of its Victorian pier. Originally built in 1870, the pier had two previous buildings, both theatres, until the...
Harry’s Ramblings, The Crumbles. A murder in Eastbourne
‘Mum, can I go on holiday to Eastbourne, please. Only for a week’. ‘But Irene, you’re only 17’. ‘Yes, but you let me go to Brighton on my own...
19-19 Harry’s Ramblings. Warners Lakeside
For those unaware, Warners is a holiday company that brings cruising to dry land. They have quite a few holiday park complexes around the UK, specialising in short breaks...
Harry’s Ramblings Eastbourne’s early music hall
Before the railways came to Eastbourne in 1849 on England’s south coast between Brighton and Hastings, it was quite a small series of almost joined hamlets, certainly less than...
Harry’s Ramblings Eastbourne Seafront
This is an hour long stroll along Eastbourne’s seafront from the pier to the bottom of Beachy Head, called Holywell. It is all on the flat, is about 4...
Harry’s Ramblings. Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour
Eastbourne has a reputation for having a population of white-haired seniors, wheelchairs, walkers, miseries sitting on seafront wooden benches waving their sticks as pointers. Yes, they do exist, but...
Harry’s Ramblings – Eastbourne’s alleged mass murderer
Much you are about to read is based on fact. One of Eastbourne’s general practitioner was tried at the Old Bailey in 1957, accused of murdering one of his...
Harry’s Ramblings – Madeira day trip
Madeira is a Portuguese island in the Atlantic about a thousand miles off the northern coast of Africa. It has a population of a quarter of a million, about...
Harry’s Ramblings Tragedy in Eastbourne’s First War
Eastbourne is on England’s south coast, with the town protected by the South Downs five miles inland, Hastings promontory ten miles to the east, and the 600ft cliffs of...
Harry’s Ramblings My First Cruise Lecturing Part 2
We checked into our twin bedded cabin in the crew quarters, resigned that for the next six nights we weren’t going to snuggle up to each other as...
Harry’s Ramblings Cruise Ship Lecturing
The procedure to become a cruise ship lecturer is very selective, but somehow I have managed to become one, taking from December 2018 to June 2019. It started with...
Harry’s Ramblings; Jimmy Greaves stole my magazine
Some years ago, a pal of mine called Stewart was going to a charity lunch in Brighton. He was quite excited, because there were going to be quite...
Harry’s Ramblings. Idyllic Madeira holiday
Madeira is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, about a thousand miles off the northern coast of Africa. Don’t ask me to be specific, it’s not particularly relevant. Many...
Harry’s Ramblings Eastbourne’s Unexploded Bombs
During WW2, Eastbourne on the UK south coast was the most raided town in the south east. Inevitably, some of the bombs failed to explode, with no records kept...
Harry’s Ramblings. The Bombs Fell on Eastbourne
Only three enemy planes dropped their bombs on Eastbourne’s south coast town on Friday 13th September 1940, but they were devastatingly effective in their endeavours. By the time they...
Harry’s Ramblings – Eastbourne’s poor people
Traditionally, which part of Eastbourne do the poor people live in? When the railway came to the south coastal town of Eastbourne in 1849, within twenty years an extensive...
Harry’s Ramblings Petrol in the early 1960s
When I was a lad, we lived in a village called Great Bookham. It wasn’t particularly great, but there was a Little Bookham. Great Bookham and Little Bookham were...
Harry’s Ramblings Eastbourne Carpet Gardens Roman History
There is a public wooden bench close to Eastbourne’s pier. It’s on the end of the Carpet Gardens, you can sit there quite comfortably for hours, breathe in...
Harry’s Ramblings; Eastbourne pier Camera Obscura
Walk onto Eastbourne’s 1870 pier, and you won’t be aware of a hidden history that hides behind locked doors. It’s called a Camera Obscura. The pier was originally built...
The Sheikh’s Pier
Eastbourne pier has a new owner, flamboyant Eastbourne hotelier Abid Gulzar, who is a self-appointed Indian sheikh (the title is a family name apparently). 70 year old entrepreneur...
phone and Pamnav
Today, it is humiliation. Mine. My Galaxy Note phone went wrong, so I took it to Tesco’s. Sorry, they said, it has to be returned to our repair department...
Prime Ministers’ Wives
Intriguing little known fact about the ladies who are still alive who have been married to British Prime Ministers. There are six, two more interesting than the others....
The First Month in Eastbourne’s War
Sunday 3rd September 1939 was the day England declared war on Germany. The day before, Eastbourne received its first evacuees. Eastbourne was regarded as a safe place for children...
Eastbourne- the most bombed town on the South coast
Eastbourne is mid-way between Brighton and Hastings, and during WW2 was initially of great strategic importance to the German high command. Sunday July 7th 1940 was the date of...
My first car
I passed my driving test at the second attempt in May 1965, at the age of 17, and was impatient to buy my first car. Money, or lack of...
Limousine for Lords
I started Cheam Limousines in January 1990, with a Daimler Limousine. This was a huge vehicle, at the time the only purpose built limousine, not a large saloon...
Eastbourne Extreme
For the last few years, Eastbourne on the south coast has been holding a long weekend event called Eastbourne Extreme. It’s usually in July, is based on the beach...
Redoubt Military Fortress
When Napoleon ruled the world, he wanted to come across the Channel and invade England. There were even revolutionary plans to dig a tunnel under the Channel, but that...
Swindon Outlet, a Derelict Railway Building
Let me make my priorities very clear. Shopping bores me. On the rare occasions I buy clothing, I get in, select, get out quick. I have been known...
Funchal in a day on a cruise ship
We were on the P & O Oriana which called into Funchal for the day, so decided to take advantage of every minute. As soon as we were...
Reviewing The Roebuck
The Roebuck is a hotel with pub restaurant on the A22 at Wych Cross, which is to the south of Forest Row in Sussex. Originally a 17th century house,...
Feel good Salisbury
We had to break a recent journey with an overnight stay, and decided on Salisbury. It didn’t disappoint. This ancient Roman city has both an ancient and...
Circus Ring Maestro
Just once in my long life I rode a horse. Not just any horse, but one in a circus. And didn’t fall off. I was in my mid twenties,...
Harry on the Radio
Lyn has asked me for my favourite 2015 article. This is it. The background is that I was invited during the summer to attend the BBC Radio Sussex studio...