Eastbourne Residents Admit Seafront Is Actually Quite Nice After Years Of Taking It For Granted

By Barry Beakman, Senior Local Correspondent

EASTBOURNE — Residents across Eastbourne have reluctantly acknowledged that the town's seafront is, when you actually stop and look at it, "really quite nice."

The revelation came after thousands of visitors descended on the town for the summer, prompting locals to question why people were travelling considerable distances to spend time somewhere they routinely pass without giving it a second thought.

Local resident Paul Morris made the discovery on Thursday after unexpectedly finding himself with half an hour to spare.

"I've lived here for 34 years," he said.

"I normally just drive along the seafront complaining about the traffic."

"But I actually stopped this time."

Morris reportedly spent several minutes looking towards the sea before sending his wife a photograph accompanied by the message:

"Not bad down here actually."

Residents Begin Looking Around

Similar discoveries have been reported across the town.

One resident walking along the promenade admitted she had forgotten how impressive Eastbourne looked when viewed without immediately concentrating on finding somewhere to park.

"You've got the sea, the Downs, the Pier, the Bandstand, all these gardens," she said.

"I suppose if you didn't live here, you'd probably think it was lovely."

She then complained about the price of parking.

Another resident described watching families taking photographs of the coastline and initially finding it confusing.

"Tourists photograph everything," he said.

"Then I looked at what they were photographing and thought, actually, fair enough."

Tourists Already Aware

Visitors have expressed surprise that residents needed reminding.

"We come down every year," said one holidaymaker.

"The coastline is beautiful."

This compliment was initially rejected by several locals who explained that he hadn't seen it during February.

Nevertheless, appreciation continued to spread.

By lunchtime, residents had been observed voluntarily sitting on benches, looking out to sea and, in several cases, doing absolutely nothing.

Experts described the behaviour as "extremely healthy."

More Than Somewhere We Live

Local historians have pointed out that generations of people have visited Eastbourne specifically for its coastline, architecture and position beside the South Downs.

Residents, meanwhile, are often more concerned about whether the bin has been collected.

Barry Beakman spoke to one lifelong local who admitted it was easy to forget what was on the doorstep.

"You get used to it," she said.

"You see the sea every day and eventually it just becomes the thing at the end of the road."

"But then you get an evening when the weather's nice, you walk along the front and you remember why people come here."

She paused.

"Still wouldn't come down here during Airbourne without leaving home at six in the morning, though."

Official Appreciation Expected To Be Temporary

Residents are expected to continue appreciating the town throughout the summer before returning to normal operations sometime around October.

This will include complaining that nothing ever happens, complaining when something does happen and insisting Eastbourne was better twenty years ago.

But for now, locals have reached an unusual consensus.

Eastbourne might actually be a pretty decent place to live.

At the time of publication, several residents were sitting quietly on the promenade watching the sun go down over the town.

Nobody complained for almost seven minutes.

A new local record is believed to have been set.