E is for Eastbourne

It's more than a week into the A to Z challenge and I'm already seriously behind. I started behind and I'm behind more. I'm in the slow lane and dawdling, a bit like those folks on the seafront in Eastbourne.

The first time I visited this resort on the south Coast of England, I was visiting Uncle B and Aunt B. Well Aunt B is dead now and the two kids are grown up with their own kids. The girl I met on the long bus ride is now a far off memory. Still, it's a big deal when you are an insecure 17-year-old.

Looking back, I wonder why I was so trapped in myself and bound up in anxiety. I was young and had most of my life in front of me.

Eastbourne is populated by old folks. it's flat and the sea rolls out under the pier like caramel coated glass.

The most exciting thing about Eastbourne is the country around it and the soaring cliffs, most notably Beachy Head. This headland is a staggering 530 feet high. The lighthouse at its foot looks like a model in a front yard.

Beachy Head is beautiful and terrifying. It's frightening because so many people jump off here. In the cult movie Quadrophenia the rocks under Beachy Head are the final resting place for the Mod scooter - a place where dreams of teen rebellion die.

I prefer to see it as the beautiful white edifice where the sun comes up.