Firetop

On bank holiday Monday we took the new ‘family size’ Peugeot 307sw for it’s first long drive down to Bexhill-on-Sea, picking up some family members along the way. My grandparents (Jack and Vera… yes they were a real life couple!) lived in Bexhill for most of my childhood and, with the eight year anniversary of my Grandfather’s passing coming up, we visited his grave which was surrounded by bright blooming flowers. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good down in East Sussex, a strong wind meant I had to hold on tight to my Gran to stop her blowing over, she managed her usual ‘you’ll be burying me here soon’ joke none-the-less though, before we all piled back into the car and grabbed some lunch.

Our lunch venue turned out to be the King’s Arms Pub in Ninfield; a Brewers Fayre restaurant which I’d not been to before. I normally have my reservations about Brewer’s Fayre establishments but this one was very good. The menu choices were quite broad (even if a couple of dishes had run out following ‘a busier than expected’ weekend) and both the starters and mains were delivered promptly by friendly staff, all my fellow diners were happy with the tastiness of the meals… and even happier when my Gran wanted to pay the bill. After some teas (but no room left for desserts) we got back into the Peugeot and drove down to Bexhill sea front.

We were greeted at the sea front by a cloudy miserable sky and a gale force wind. Again I had to hold on to my Gran to stop her blowing away but I could see that it was too much for everybody to put up with and they all disappeared. I on the other hand, love an opportunity for taking photographs, so I braved the strong wind and spray on the beach to take some photos of the crashing waves, almost getting soaked in the process. My poor old Samsung Digimax got a bit covered in sea spray and needed a good drying off with a tissue when I managed to get into the De La Warr Pavilion - where I found my family members sheltering.

As a child I remember the Pavilion as being quite run down, a venue covered with bright worn out posters advertising ‘has been’ TV star performances from the likes of the now deceased ’3-2-1′ presenter Ted Rogers. At some point in the last two years the Pavilion has been renovated to its former ‘thirties’ glory; large open spaces and geometric lines accommodating two floors of art galleries and a roof terrace. The majority of visitors to the De La Warr do still seem to have grey hair, but I imagine that will change as it establishes itself as more of a centre for art. There were so many opportunities to take great photographs inside the Pavilion that I couldn’t help but snap away before we headed back home to Dorking. Perhaps we’ll return for the visit of the Antique Roadshow on the 21st July, but with a baby due around that time I guess it may be a case of catching it on BBC1!

Technorati Tags: jack cook, de la warr, bexhill, bexhill on sea, bexhill pavilion, pavilion, Mendelssohn, Chermayeff, art gallery, architecture

Bookmark to: