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Saturday and to Eastbourne - although I think the trains have been retimed so that it's a rush to get to the train at Ashford, and no longer coming in at an adjacent platform doesn't help. Still, I caught it with three minutes to spare and got a seat at a table. The two carriages are clearly not enough - but apparently there is no demand. It's a pleasant run through what sounds like Harry Potter land - Appledore, Ham Street - and thence to Rye and Hastings. There are numerou places here that look worth exploring.
I did two bits of research in advance - charity shops and bookshops. The charity shops are based along Grove Road and Terminus Road, and there is one second hand bookshop. I didn't locate the Towner Gallery in advance, as it's "one of the most significant public art collections in the South East" so obviously would be signposted.
Obviously.
....
I poked my head into what looked a promising arcade of fifty small shops, with a food hall at one end, but nothing leapt out, aside from the fish statue, and then crossed the main road again to the library. I could have bought a handful of DVDs here, but settled for Southland Tales and a reading copy of Tau Zero. Leaflets for the Towner Gallery were notable for their absence - or indeed any maps of Eastbourne. Then it was a case of working my way down Grove and popping into charity shops.
I'd forgotten the bookshop was there as well, and browsed the external 50p shelves and honesty box, and there was stuff I wanted but had, so no joy there. Inside made the Broadstairs Albion Bookshop (see icon on this post) look threadbare - immediately inside were piles of 30+ paperbacks a dozen deep. The visible spines were tempting, but mostly it was out of reach - as was the shelved stuff. I gingerly picked my way through the maze and tried to establish organising principles, and discovered there was a downstairs, which was even scarier. There was a lack of Tolkein on the stairs (and indeed Tolkien), and whilst some of the fiction a to z was relevant, I couldn't face the browse, and indeed nothing bar a Baudrillard leapt out, and I put that back. It's the sort of bookshop that could kill you with a pile of paperbacks - what a way to go, but still. (See here for something similar.)
I walked as far as the town hall, and turned left in Little Chelsea. At the end of this road I could head forward to the sea, or left to tourist information, and the latter seemed wisest. Tourist Information lacked any visible information on the Towner (and you can't ask), nor do the local town centre map show anything. A book on Eastbourne did reveal it was part of the theatre complex.
This took me back to Terminus Road, and I headed, via a chippy, to the sea front, where I sat watching the pier and fought off gulls. It looks as if, like Whitstable, there are seaforts off the coast, and it felt odd not to see a windfarm. I slowly toasted and watched the geriatric Brands Hatch of motability scooters.
Time then to head for the theatres - Devonshire Park Theatre and Compass Theatre, the latter recognisable from a postcard I'd seen at Tyneside market. At this point I cracked and asked in th box office for directions - and it turns out that the Towner Gallery was the other side of the box office - and still no chuffing signs.
I wonder if they had the De La Warr Pavilion in mind - it does look like it's carved out of royal icing, with a marriage of curves and corners see (here). But it doesn't have the sheer ocean-going-liner romance of the 1930s building, and the sixties Compass Theatre limits its facade to three sides. There's a pleasant second floor cafe, with good views over the town, the tennis and the downs (the ups?), and rather odd acoustics on the balcony. The interior has gone for the bolted concrete slab look, which is an industrial honesty miles away from the mock assembly rooms Victoriana of most galleries. The design was by Rick Mather Architects, who have also worked on the South Bank, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the National Maritime Museum.
The Towner Collection is the heart of the gallery - with initially the first two floors being given over to a contemporary selection including Tacita Dean and one of those flowers under glass sculptures, and a popular choice. Acquisition and selection means there's a pile of Eastbourne and Beachy Head scenes - remarkably few of which would be damned by the term "inoffensive", and some good more abstract stuff. Nothing blew me away, but I've seen an awful lot of bad municipal purchases - where the frame takes up as much room as the picture itself. There's a lot of Eric Ravilious, a local boy of whom I've not eard; there's clearly an interest in engraved-style art; design as much as pictorial. Subject to the special exhibition - in this case bone chandeliers by Jodie Carey in a darkened room full of fruit boxes - I think it'd be worth an annual visit.
After browsing and purchasing in the shop - two or three Christmas presents accounted for - I naviagted a more direct route back to Terminus Road and the remaining charity shops. I didn't get time to do the Arndale Centre - no great loss I suspect - nor did I do the Old Town, but I got back in time for the 17.08 to Ashford.
So, a useful day of browsing, and weird swinging between first liking the town, then sliding off it and finally gaining respect. But, still. One of the most significant public art collections in the South East? They need signposts.
I did two bits of research in advance - charity shops and bookshops. The charity shops are based along Grove Road and Terminus Road, and there is one second hand bookshop. I didn't locate the Towner Gallery in advance, as it's "one of the most significant public art collections in the South East" so obviously would be signposted.
Obviously.
....
I poked my head into what looked a promising arcade of fifty small shops, with a food hall at one end, but nothing leapt out, aside from the fish statue, and then crossed the main road again to the library. I could have bought a handful of DVDs here, but settled for Southland Tales and a reading copy of Tau Zero. Leaflets for the Towner Gallery were notable for their absence - or indeed any maps of Eastbourne. Then it was a case of working my way down Grove and popping into charity shops.
I'd forgotten the bookshop was there as well, and browsed the external 50p shelves and honesty box, and there was stuff I wanted but had, so no joy there. Inside made the Broadstairs Albion Bookshop (see icon on this post) look threadbare - immediately inside were piles of 30+ paperbacks a dozen deep. The visible spines were tempting, but mostly it was out of reach - as was the shelved stuff. I gingerly picked my way through the maze and tried to establish organising principles, and discovered there was a downstairs, which was even scarier. There was a lack of Tolkein on the stairs (and indeed Tolkien), and whilst some of the fiction a to z was relevant, I couldn't face the browse, and indeed nothing bar a Baudrillard leapt out, and I put that back. It's the sort of bookshop that could kill you with a pile of paperbacks - what a way to go, but still. (See here for something similar.)
I walked as far as the town hall, and turned left in Little Chelsea. At the end of this road I could head forward to the sea, or left to tourist information, and the latter seemed wisest. Tourist Information lacked any visible information on the Towner (and you can't ask), nor do the local town centre map show anything. A book on Eastbourne did reveal it was part of the theatre complex.
This took me back to Terminus Road, and I headed, via a chippy, to the sea front, where I sat watching the pier and fought off gulls. It looks as if, like Whitstable, there are seaforts off the coast, and it felt odd not to see a windfarm. I slowly toasted and watched the geriatric Brands Hatch of motability scooters.
Time then to head for the theatres - Devonshire Park Theatre and Compass Theatre, the latter recognisable from a postcard I'd seen at Tyneside market. At this point I cracked and asked in th box office for directions - and it turns out that the Towner Gallery was the other side of the box office - and still no chuffing signs.
I wonder if they had the De La Warr Pavilion in mind - it does look like it's carved out of royal icing, with a marriage of curves and corners see (here). But it doesn't have the sheer ocean-going-liner romance of the 1930s building, and the sixties Compass Theatre limits its facade to three sides. There's a pleasant second floor cafe, with good views over the town, the tennis and the downs (the ups?), and rather odd acoustics on the balcony. The interior has gone for the bolted concrete slab look, which is an industrial honesty miles away from the mock assembly rooms Victoriana of most galleries. The design was by Rick Mather Architects, who have also worked on the South Bank, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the National Maritime Museum.
The Towner Collection is the heart of the gallery - with initially the first two floors being given over to a contemporary selection including Tacita Dean and one of those flowers under glass sculptures, and a popular choice. Acquisition and selection means there's a pile of Eastbourne and Beachy Head scenes - remarkably few of which would be damned by the term "inoffensive", and some good more abstract stuff. Nothing blew me away, but I've seen an awful lot of bad municipal purchases - where the frame takes up as much room as the picture itself. There's a lot of Eric Ravilious, a local boy of whom I've not eard; there's clearly an interest in engraved-style art; design as much as pictorial. Subject to the special exhibition - in this case bone chandeliers by Jodie Carey in a darkened room full of fruit boxes - I think it'd be worth an annual visit.
After browsing and purchasing in the shop - two or three Christmas presents accounted for - I naviagted a more direct route back to Terminus Road and the remaining charity shops. I didn't get time to do the Arndale Centre - no great loss I suspect - nor did I do the Old Town, but I got back in time for the 17.08 to Ashford.
So, a useful day of browsing, and weird swinging between first liking the town, then sliding off it and finally gaining respect. But, still. One of the most significant public art collections in the South East? They need signposts.
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