To whose rich cargo they may make pretence."
(Congreve.)
The fine carriage-road which leaves Beachy Head leads directly into
Eastbourne and is called the Duke's Drive. It was owing to the
initiative of the grandfather of the present Duke of Devonshire, whose
local seat is at Compton Place on the west of the town that the little
hamlet of Sea Houses became the present beautiful and fashionable
resort, with a sea-front of nearly three miles of gardens backed by
hotels, boarding-houses and schools. As at Folkestone, education is
here a strong feature, and a few years ago demure files of young ladies
with attendant dragon taking the air between breakfast and study might
have been seen. The epoch-ending events of the last few years, however,
appear to have killed the "caterpillar."
Eastbourne seems to have carefully pushed its workers, together with
the gasworks, market gardens, and other utilitarian features round the
screen of Splash Point. The boulevards going west and north are full of
fine houses and brilliant shops and are lined with well grown trees.
The continuation of Terminus Road will take us in a little over a mile
to the old town; here is the parish church, mostly Transitional, and
with many interesting features which should on no account be missed.
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