OUT IN THE FIELD: Terminus sounds so very terminal

Once upon a time the top end of Terminus Road going up towards the seafront was one of the busiest streets in the town. As kids we loved Notarianni's, the Humbug Shop, which has been there for 50 years, and I have fond memories of being taken to the Taurus Steak House with my parents. The Athens Restaurant is still there and today it's peppered with good eateries and independent shops. So, it's good to hear residents and traders are getting together to campaign for a new lease of life for the area and to change the name. I think it's a great idea. Look up the word terminus in any dictionary and it's defined as the end; the last stop, end of the line; an end or extremity. Terminus Road is so named because Eastbourne is the last stop on the railway line. It sounds all so, well, terminal. It hardly gets visitors in the holiday mood and is a pretty unfair description when you think it's the main route from the seafront in to the town centre. I like the suggestion of calling it The Boulevard or The Piazza. Even more, I like the idea of pedestrianising the whole stretch between Harry Ramsden's and the Premier Inn, filling it with tables and chairs, street entertainers and the like, and sitting there watching the world go by.

Roy and Alison Morris are pictured with owner Andy Hickling at Hudson's

High hopes that part of Lottbridge Drove between Staples and the Sovereign Centre were to be resurfaced last week were, it seems, just that. Stephen Muddell from Bexhill Road was as hopeful as I was when the stretch of road was advertised as being closed for four nights last week. Stephen writes, “I thought, brilliant, at last they’re going to resurface it as it’s pretty shoddy in parts. I go along there today, and it would appear all they’ve done is paint a red section along the middle of the road with white hatched lines. What I’m wondering is (a) how on earth did that supposedly take four nights?, (b) what is the point anyway? (I’m not aware of any particular accident issues), and (c) why didn’t they take the opportunity to resurface the road, or at the very least fill in the potholes while the road was closed anyway?” The question has been asked Stephen.

If you frequent Hudson’s in South Street you can’t help but be drawn to the fantastic photo canvases on the walls taken by intrepid explorers and photographers Roy and Alison Morris during a recent trip to Cuba. The couple and bar owner Andy Hickling are launching the Cuba Gallery on Thursday April 28 at the bar and have very kindly offered to donate 20 per cent of the takings on the night to the Chestnut Tree Children’s Hospice as part of my charity fundraising. More details to follow.

Storm Katie battered the town in the early hours of Monday morning and true to form, like the Great Storm of 1987 when I was a cub reporter, I slept through the whole thing.

Finally this week, huge birthday greetings to the lovely Heidi Lane at the Crown & Anchor and the equally gorgeous PC Rachel Bourne who are both celebrating this weekend. Also, congratulations to Sue Mulvey who’s leaving the Esperance today after more than 20 years at the hospital.

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