Eastbourne's Little Chelsea named one of the coolest neighbourhoods in country

An Eastbourne neighbourhood has been named one of the coolest in the country.
Little Chelsea sign in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)Little Chelsea sign in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)
Little Chelsea sign in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)

Little Chelsea placed third in the Sunday Times’ home supplement, released on October 7.

Reacting to the news, The Vinyl Frontier said on its Facebook page, “WOW! With a capital WOW! We are officially ’Hipsters’!”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The area, which includes Grove Road and South Street, is packed with independent businesses and hosts Little Christmas each year.

Little Chelsea sign in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)Little Chelsea sign in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)
Little Chelsea sign in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)

The Sunday Times article describes Little Chelsea as ‘the next wave of coastal cool’ which is ‘packed with independent boutiques, craft shops and eateries’.

The writer says, “The Vinyl Frontier pulls in the younger crowd, who have worked out that records are cool, and offers pub quizzes for older musos.

“The area is gently buzzing and a new neighbourhood map, drawn up by the community for the community, is on its way.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Reacting to the news, Rhydd Pugh, who owns the Grove Road record store and cafe with Chris King, said, “The area’s changed, there’s all sorts of new businesses, lots of cafes and restaurants.

“We aren’t just a record shop, we have a cafe and bar and hold DJ nights, live music on Saturdays, quiz nights, and open mic poetry evenings.

“You’ve got to diversify. I think we’re part of the regeneration of this area. It’s a really nice place, people always make comparisons with North Laine in Brighton.

“There’s lots of independent businesses, it’s an antidote to the chains at the Arndale Centre.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Asked what he thought about the stereotype of Eastbourne being for older people he said, “It’s a complete myth, probably true loads of years ago.”

The Sunday Times piece highlights the average age of people in town is 43 and more than 30 per cent of the population is under 30.

It says Eastbourne has been ‘quietly reinventing itself’ over the past five years.

“The facades are still period perfection, but the residents are growing trendier, defying the retirement-home cliche.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Towner Art Gallery is also praised for rejuvenating the cultural quarter.

But it says high levels of particulate pollution in Eastbourne are the only downside of living here.

Read also: