Tuesday 24 July 2012

BEAUTIFUL, BORING BEXHILL


Just west from Hastings, past rolling farm land and pastel beach huts along pebbled English Channel shores lies the sleepy seaside resort of Bexhill. It ain't half sleepy Mum. Positively geriatric to be honest, but I mean that in the nicest possible way...in fact the town is renowned as a lovely place in which our unappreciated forebears can see out their autumn years in peace.


There was something almost creepy in the air down in Bexhill, no doubt encouraged by the bruised skies littered with menacing clouds. It is a lovely, lovely place to photograph however, its desolate stillness an art director's dream.

I can't deny my pilgrimage to Bexhill was in part based on seeking out the dreamy East Sussex places mythologised on Keane's Strangeland album. The 1935 De La Warr Pavilion (above) features in the record's art work, and the Sovereign Light Cafe, pictured below is the title of the album's lead single. Incredible how a number 1 album can be inspired from such seemingly dreary landscapes. Steven Patrick Morrissey said it best when it comes to evoking the essential Britishness of these desolate seafront views. Everyday is like Sunday. Everyday is silent and grey...













3 comments:

  1. Robert, below is an item I placed on my new Facebook page.

    Do read the one paragraph about Col. G.I.A.D. Draper, an unknown hero from your country. He taught at Sussex U, and when I went to say goodbye, I was uncharacteristically almost 'in tears'.

    I respect your time, and try to use words sparingly, but you may find it interesting.

    I hope you remember some of your heroes, extraordinary people, during this Olympics. I deleted the info on the other two, as it says I cannot post more than 4,096 words.


    The song is, 'As Time Goes By', with Rod Stewart & Chrissie Hynde. The original is from the movie, 'Casablanca', with Bogey (Humphrey Bogart).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQInZbidweM&feature=related

    For me it is about 'love' in all its purity and moving through the cycles of life 'gracefully'.

    I started this Facebook page to give exposure to my website on 'mental health/wellbeing and diversity': www.guidepost21.blogspot.com

    Very many people have had a profound impact on my life. I would like to mention three, as it relates to the website and its work.

    Col. G.I.A.D. Draper was professor of Law at the U. of Sussex, UK.He walked with a steep stoop, 45 degrees to the ground from the waist up. Our classes were 2 or 3 to a professor, called 'tutorials', so we sat around a table in the professor's office. One day he explained that he was a RAF pilot at age 21 and he was shot down over France in the Battle of Britain. Paramedics were trained to only slide the body on a stretcher. He was airlifted to north London. His spinal column was shattered and several vertebra melted, but the spinal chord was intact, miraculously. With 1944 medical technologies, they bolted iron bars on both sides from his collar bones to his pelvic bones and tied the middle with chicken wires to keep the northern and southern hemispheres of his body together. He became one of te best international lawyers in the UK, and advisor to the Prime Minister. When I was leaving, I went to say goodbye, and he said to always remember that one person can make a difference.


    So, really, this work on mental health/well-being and diversity is very carefully thought out. And as Gunnar Myrdal had said: if you have not done something, however small, to make life better for others, you have not lived.


    - Ivan D.

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  2. PS. My Facebook page is: "Ivan D. Pereira"

    ReplyDelete