Seaside retreat for a sculptor

Our picture is but a view of the harbour entrance taken from the cliff top to the west of the Fort and thousands of photos must have been taken from this admirable location.

The date could well be 1930 for the conversion of the East Pier from wood to reinforced concrete piles started in 1928 and as the photo shows, it has reached about half way.

Coming to the West Pier on the nearside of the river, note the long white streak handrail. This was pile-sized white painted wood, not the pitiful, though perfectly useful, length of metal piping which adorns the stretch now.

Recently, I also made reference to the considerable length of wooden seating that went from the lighthouse seen here, inland for almost this view. It was, I have been told, to give a better height for handling sailing vessels which had lost the wind and needed warping into the harbour by harbour or pilot staff. A situation rather like the handling of the old swing bridge and its human merry-go-round operated capstan.

In the near left foreground are the 'Company' houses. The Comben family lived in the half nearer the sea called Sunnyside and in the cliff half at Craigside lived the family McDonald. These two residences would have suffered greatly from the barge explosion at the west beach in 1944 when 180 tons of ammunition went off in one go, when the drifting vessel hit the solid.

The 1973 museum was erected on the foundations of these houses and remains empty there today.

Not enough motorised visitors then to justify car parking fees. From the site of today's pay box, the strip of concrete leading to the river on which is situated two of the weekend chalets, appears to have been laid in about 1912. A considerable repair job was made to the West Pier and reinforced concrete piles seemed to have been made on that site.

During the 1930s the chalets stretched the length of the grass but did not survive the war.

Healthy as seaside living may be, a fever with its local cure persisted through the previous century '“ this was The Ague.

On to a piece of paper to be hung around the neck was written 'Ague, ague, I thee defy, three days shiver, three days shake, make me well for Jesus sake'.

The paper had to be left until it fell off, by which time the patient was deemed cured.

The far chalet belonged to the Goulden family. Father was a sculptor and with his family so enjoyed their relaxing days here.

On his demise his widow kindly presented an example of his work to the town. You pass it as you are about to go through the archway at the Lewes Road Cemetery, the bronze boy statue with the upstretched arms.

His son, Major Mike Goulden, is not far away at Horam. When developers removed the tops of the Lunet battery mounds, it was his children and their school friends who reinstated them. A noble gift of holiday time.

PETER BAILEY

Peter Bailey is curator of the Newhaven Local and Maritime Museum based in its own fascinating premises in the grounds of Paradise Park in Avis Road, Newhaven. Opening hours are Saturdays and Sundays, all year, 2-5pm or by arrangement, weekdays (April 1-October 31), 2-4pm. Admission 1 (accompanied children free). Contact the curator on 01273 514760. Log on to the website at www.newhavenmuseum.co.uk