Willingdon Levels

Little Common vs Horsham YMCA

This driving test centre at 1 HM Coastguard Station in Wartling Road BN22 7PT carries out practical tests for cars, motorcycles and Approved Driving Instructors (Parts 2 and 3). Driving Theory Tests, which one has to pass before taking the practical test, are carried out at Senlac House, 53-58 Seaside, Eastbourne, BN22 7NE (TV6199).

The photo shows the house where the celebrated artist Eric Ravilious lived at 11 Glynde Avenue, Hampden Park, Eastbourne. Ravilious was born on the 22 July 1903 in Acton, London but the family moved to Eastbourne when Eric was a child. At school, in Eastbourne, Ravilious was awarded a scholarship to Eastbourne School of Art and then, in 1922, he won another scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art. In 1925, a travelling scholarship enabled him to visit Florence, Siena and the hill towns of Tuscany. Ravilious became a part-time teacher at Eastbourne School of Art and, from 1930, he also became a part-time teacher at the Royal College of Art. Again in 1930, he married Eileen Lucy “Tizah” Garwood who, like him, was an artist and engraver. They went on to have three children. Ravilious worked with a variety of materials and, for example, he engraved more than 400 illustrations and drew over 40 lithographic designs for books and publications during his life. Ravilious had commissions from Wedgwood for ceramic designs and one of these included a commemorative mug for the planned coronation of Edward VIII. This design was revised for the coronation of George VI and again, posthumously, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. Ravilious also undertook designs in glass as in 1934 when he did work for Stuart Crystal. During a brief period in the 1930’s, Ravilious experimented by painting in oils but, inspired by the work of Johan Zoffany, he then painted almost entirely in watercolour. Ravilious saw his work in the tradition of British landscape painting and in that mode he took inspiration from the landscape around him. Ravilious delighted in painting the rounded hills and gentle valleys of the Beddingham area in the South Downs. Other favourite local landscapes which inspired his art included the River Cuckmere, Belle Tout and Beachy Head Lighthouses and giant chalk figures such as the Long Man of Wilmington. While his work was appreciated in his lifetime it has, perhaps, become even more popular in recent times. As his work is valued and desired in worldwide locations, Eastbourne is fortunate to have the Towner Art Gallery which has an excellent collection of his work. While not all of the Ravilious Collection is on immediate display, the Ravilious Gallery and Collection Library, which displays a selection of his work, is a dedicated space within the Towner which is permanently open and free of charge. In 1939, Ravilious became a full-time, salaried, war artist with the rank of Honorary Captain in the Royal Marines and assigned to the Admiralty. As a war artist, Ravilious visited many locations including Chatham Dockyard, Sheerness, Whitstable, Scapa Flow, Portsmouth, Newhaven, Gosport, the Isle of May, Dundee and Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire. While posted in Norway, Ravilious volunteered to help search for a missing plane but, tragically, his plane, too, never returned. The body of Eric Ravilious, aged 39, was never found and he became the first British war artist to die on active service in World War II. A blue plaque, on the front wall of 11 Glynde Avenue, now commemorates the fact that Eric Ravilious lived there.

This photo shows the Eric Ravilious blue plaque on the front wall of 11 Glynde Avenue, in Eastbourne. The words on the plaque are of different sizes and they read as follows: EASTBOURNE BOROUGH COUNCIL ERIC RAVILIOUS 1902 – 1942 artist lived here THE EASTBOURNE SOCIETY

Recreation Ground on the corner of the A259 and the A 2021 looking west.

The demolition of 26 & 27 Bedfordwell Road, Eastbourne to make way for new housing.

Eastbourne fire station, Whitley Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex

A Peugeot 106 parked in Channel View Road, Eastbourne.

Seaside is a road which runs parallel to, but not alongside, the seafront.

Beamsley Hall on the far left. Junction of Taddington Road on the right.

Christ Church and it's tower can be seen on the right at the end of the road

Much of Eastbourne was owned by the Cavendish family who had a family house at Latimer in Buckinghamshire, hence the name of this road.

A terrace of Victorian and modern houses.

The Eastbourne road junction with Seaside.

The view down the road from the Eastbourne sea front.