Bexhill may have one of the highest percentages of retired people in the
country, but this fascinating town does not deserve its reputation as
God's waiting room. The town was developed by the 7th Earl of Sackville
as a seaside resort in the late nineteenth century and gained a
reputation for health and longevity, as well as becoming home to around
300 independent schools before the outbreak of the Second World War. It
has always been a pioneering place: the birthplace of British motor
racing, the first resort to allow mixed bathing, the town where colour
television was invented, and the venue for Bob Marley's first gig in the
UK. A wonderful array of fascinating characters, and a fair few true
eccentrics, have called Bexhill home, including pioneering motorcycling
rector Canon Basil Davies, and a hoax inventor of a death ray. The town
has been immortalised in a Goon Show sketch by Spike Milligan, who
trained with the army there in the Second World War, and celebrated by
native Eddie Izzard, who put a replica of the coach from The Italian Job
on the roof of the town's art gallery. A-Z of Bexhill-on-Sea reveals the
history behind Bexhill, its streets and buildings and the people
connected with the town. Alongside the famous historical connections are
unusual characters, tucked-away places and unique events that are less
well-known. Readers will discover tales of smuggling, the town's link to
Agatha Christie and its connection with the US state of Delaware among
many other fascinating facts in this A-Z tour of Bexhill's history.
Fully illustrated, this book will appeal to all those with an interest
in this historic East Sussex seaside town.
