Hankering after a life by the coast? Don’t leave home without our expert guide for house-hunters
After 30 years of living in a ground-floor flat in London, with noisy neighbours thundering overhead, we decided it was time for a bit more space and solitude. After selling up, we tried renting in Hastings for five months, but found it too urban and bustling for us. Inland, in artsy, sought-after Lewes, we’d only have been able to afford a terrace with a tiny garden. After searching all over Kent and Sussex, we finally settled on Bexhill-on-Sea, a charming, traditional seaside town that was affordable and well connected to the capital for my commute. We moved into a detached 1920s Tudorbethan house on a tree-lined avenue, a stone’s throw from the seafront. A mile in the other direction, the Weald has rolling hills and ancient oak woodlands. In London, we’d often spend well over an hour getting out of the city; here, we have coast and countryside on our doorstep.
COME RAIN OR SHINE
People often say how wonderful it must be to live beside the sea. And, after 13 years, it’s good to be reminded now and then, so I don’t take it for granted. Living by the coast really comes into its own in summer. I love those blue-sky days when the sea is as still as a millpond. The whole mood changes. It doesn’t get sticky and stuffy because a light onshore breeze keeps things cool. Unlike Brighton and Eastbourne, with their piers and arcades, we don’t get hordes of tourists either. Even on the sunniest days – Bexhill is part of the Sunshine Coast – there’s still plenty of space to sit on the sand and enjoy an ice cream. While I’m not one for sea swimming (I find it too cold to stay in for more than a minute), friends love to take a dip when they come to stay. But a word of warning: the weather can suddenly turn and we get hit by a prevailing south-westerly wind that whistles around Beachy Head to the west, before swelling back to Bexhill. On stormy days, huge rolling waves hurl shingle onto the seafront, while salt spray bounces off the buildings.
MAN ABOUT TOWN
When I’m not in the office or on a photoshoot, I’ll spend many an hour pounding the prom or enjoying the eclectic architecture around Bexhill. Up on the hill, the Old Town has medieval and Georgian buildings, including whitewashed, weatherboarded houses, a 17th-century coaching inn and St Peter’s Church, one of the oldest in Sussex. On the front, in the New Town, much of the architecture dates back to t
