Memories of elegant tea dances and crowds of holidaymakers
As work continues to renew paving and pedestrianise parts of Eastbourne town centre, volunteer community reporter Mary Mckay asks people at the Willingdon Trees Friday Club for older people what they think of the changing face of shopping
A new year brings optimism, the possibility of new beginnings, but also an opportunity to look back – perhaps with nostalgia – on how things used to be. This is particularly true in Eastbourne, which has seen many changes in the town centre over the last few years.
I visited Willingdon Trees to talk to some of the regulars who have known the town for many years.
Shirley, born in 1936, recalls: "Years ago, you could get everything you needed in the town centre. Greengrocers, grocery shops, butchers and bakers were all in or around Terminus Road."
Long before Starbucks or Costa, Shirley also remembered the many independent cafes. Her fondest memory is of Bondolfi’s tearoom, with chocolate sculptures in the window, huge cream cakes and the best ice cream in Eastbourne.
The tearoom, with large curved glass windows, opened in 1896 on Cornfield Terrace, where the Mr Beds shop is now. It traded until the 1980s.
Adolfo & Maria Bondolfi came to Eastbourne from Switzerland and ran the acclaimed café in their family for many years. Their graves and those of their son Adolfo, daughter Evelyn and Adolfo’s wife Teresa are all at Ocklynge Cemetery.
Eastbourne was also fortunate to have some prestigious department stores, such as Bobby’s, a store so well thought of that one person recalled people in the 1960s driving from Brighton for a day’s shopping there.
The store ceased trading in 1972 but the vast building was taken over by Debenhams, which traded until closure in 2021.
On the other side of the road, the impressive white art deco building which became T J Hughes dates from 1925. It was so large that, according to Lynn, another attendee at Willingdon Trees, "you needed a map to find your way out".
In its heyday it was an elegant venue, hosting tea dances in its café, but in 2019 it too closed. A petition in 2021 saved the building from demolition and plans are now in hand to repurpose it with 65 flats and shops. But its flaking paintwork and shabby ground floor give a sad feeling to this section of the town.
Smaller, but much loved by all I spoke to, was C&H Fabrics (Closs & Hamblin), the third Terminus Road department store, specialising in haberdashery, fabrics, accessories and gifts.
Sandra recalled its unhurried tearoom where you could sit for hours chatting over a coffee. The store held out until 2022 but with its closure, the face of Terminus Road changed.
To the people I spoke to at Friday Club, the glittering new Beacon shopping centre is no compensation for the loss of a thriving high street.
Of course it’s not simply the shops which have changed but the world around them. David pointed out that online shopping, out-of-town retail parks and the closure of local bank branches have all changed the way people shop.
Lynn remembered that years ago, in summer "the pavements were so crowded with holiday makers that you’d have to step into the road to avoid them".
And the shops themselves were different, reflecting a different lifestyle. Instead of vape or tattoo shops "there was a sweetshop on every corner", recalled one club member.
Other people remembered wool and baby clothes shops, toyshops and children’s clothes exchange stores – all catering in the 1960s and 70s to growing young families.
It’s a very different world now. My own experience of working over Christmas in Debenhams just before it closed, showed how quickly things were changing, with the 'Click and Collect' counter doing far more business than the homewares department where it was situated.
One thing everyone I spoke to could agree on was: all town centres look the same these days.
As the main shopping street is temporarily disrupted as new paving is laid, perhaps this year will bring a revival in the fortunes of a town we all love. Let’s hope so.
