Shithouse Sussex Outposts - East Grinstead

[Marshy]

Christ if you think EG is bad....your in for a shock

 

[South Coast Eagle]

I don't think you can call Burgess Hill a village. It has a shopping centre and a theatre for a start.

Lindfield doesn't. That's a village

I hang my head in shame. I've only lived in city's so to me most places are villages!

I never knew there was a theatre in Burgess Hill, all I've seen is an all girls school, a newsagent, a tiny train station & a delightful curry house.

 

[Colossal Squid]

In fairness it is only 22 miles from Selhurst as opposed to 43 miles from Withdean so you can hardly blame the locals for their allegiance, especially as to get to Brighton via public transport you'd need to go via Croydon anyway.

Having said that however I didn't really notice any signs of Palace fandom. I should imagine there are more Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United supporters

 

[Superphil]

Today I paid a trip to Mid/West Sussex outpost East Grinstead, just on the border with them Surrey lot. Here are my findings:

It was shit.

Despite some half decent olde architecture and historical buildings the town looks dilapidated and uncared for.

Sounds like some areas of Brighton

Furthermore as a destination for shopping it is a total waste of time with a high street boasting only mobile phone shops and a large 99p store where the Woolworths used to be. All the former Thresher premises (of which there are many) are empty shells with no new tenants and even the splendid old Midland bank building has lost its HSBC tenants and is now home to some beggars from the Rotary Club who molest passers by for donations. It's criminally shit.

What I said before

You'd think in somewhere so depressing and gloomy there'd be plenty of watering holes to drown your sorrows in but NO, the few measly pubs that are there are beyond dreadful, if they're even open. I had a pint in the only hospitable looking place, a recently refurbished Youngs pub called The Ship, where I was the ONLY customer. It was uncomfortable as the seats had had the cushions ripped off them and stolen.

At least Brighton does have some great pubs

What a depressing little town.

I often feel that way about Brighton, not all the time you understand, but sometimes.
The rubbish strewn about the place, the closed down shops, the hoards of people just pestering you for money/surveys/food/cuppa tea. The cyclists who ride on pavements, down one way streets or up pedestrian streets at speed and complain when you don't get out of the way. The huge groups of aimless visitors/foreign students/tourists who have realised there is nothing else to do after the first dozen coffee shops and overpriced cafes, can;t get in pubs so have no-where to go. The pissed up clubbers/staggers/hens who can no longer see due to the excesses of booze, and so they spew on the pavements, stumble about in the middle of roads putting themselves and others in danger. All goes on in lovely Brighton, all the time, and is really quite depressing too.

 

[Steve Foster]

Having lived in Sussex for some 42 years, it has to be Newhaven .

Imagine coming into the UK on a day trip into Newhaven. You would never visit the UK again! There is absolutely nothing going on here. Even the ubiquitos industrial park retailers have given up with the place!

 

[The Large One]

I often feel that way about Brighton, not all the time you understand, but sometimes.
The rubbish strewn about the place, the closed down shops, the hoards of people just pestering you for money/surveys/food/cuppa tea. The cyclists who ride on pavements, down one way streets or up pedestrian streets at speed and complain when you don't get out of the way. The huge groups of aimless visitors/foreign students/tourists who have realised there is nothing else to do after the first dozen coffee shops and overpriced cafes, can;t get in pubs so have no-where to go.

That's cos you only ever drink in The Great Eastern - a slightly-above-mediocre pub in a grotty little area.

 

[Colossal Squid]

Yeah but at least Newhaven has a port so you can go on exciting boat trips to elsewhere. And that swing bridge is pretty exciting...

And Phil, I accept that Brighton has certainly seen better days but we are in the midst of recession lets not forget and there are obviously some bits worse than others. London Road is a prime example of East Grinstead like wasteland but Western Road is still pretty busy. I think Brighton is let down as a shoppers town by virtue of the fact that whilst it has a lot of the big name brands here they don't oft6en have an awful lot of space and when it comes to flagship department stores we have nothing to shout about. In fact you'd be better off going to Croydon. Couple this with the fact that parking is astronomical and we are fast losing the quirkiness of the Lanes, Kemp Town and North Laine thanks to ridiculously high council rates and it isn't hard to see why there isn't much money coming into the city.

HOWEVER at least for the time being we DO still have these few quirky areas where there are some slightly more unusual and individual shops, pubs and cafes etc. whereas East Grinstead has nothing of the sort. You can't even buy a CD or a DVD on the high street

 

[Notters]

Some good rock climbing near there though at Harrisons Rocks.

That's MILES from east grinstead.

In terms of record shops, welcome to the future. Look how many have closed down in Brighton in the last few years- cd warehouse, virgin, jam records and that place next to rounders to name a few.

 

[Colossal Squid]

That's cos you only ever drink in The Great Eastern - a slightly-above-mediocre pub in a grotty little area.

The Great Eastern is a SPLENDID pub

 

[Arthritic Toe]

I crashed my moped into a stationary Ford Cortina in E.G. in 1978.

 

[Colossal Squid]

In terms of record shops, welcome to the future. Look how many have closed down in Brighton in the last few years- cd warehouse, virgin, jam records and that place next to rounders to name a few.

True, and don't forget Woolworths!

However I still measure a town on your ability to buy records, computer games and films. Back in the day Jingles was a SUPERB little independent record store where I'd spend a fortune on cds and vinyl. There was also a strange little cycle shop that also sold computer games as well as black market weapons. Films you could get from the indy video shop at the top of town or Woolworths.

None of these places exist anymore so your only option is the slightly out of town Sainsbury's superstore and it isn't as if they're going to have anything that isn't current chart fodder

 

[Notters]

The Great Eastern is a SPLENDID pub

Correction, WAS, until they stopped selling Harveys.

 

[Chester Drawers]

I crashed my moped into a stationary Ford Cortina in E.G. in 1978.

Mum ... is that you ?

 

[BLOCK F]

Chichester. Seems promising [Cathedral, Festival Theatre etc.] but it's just turning into a collection of retail parks and industrial estates trapped on an island in a sea of traffic.

That's harsh on Chichester.Lovely city centre and some individual shops.Worst bits are the traffic hold-ups caused by level crossing going down about 2 hours before each train arrives!!
Could do with livening up a bit for the younger generation...a nightclub for instance.
How about Bognor Regis town centre for a dump nomination....just visit it and you will see what I mean!Full of chavs and people of the mis-shapen variety!

 

[Chester Drawers]

HOWEVER at least for the time being we DO still have these few quirky areas where there are some slightly more unusual and individual shops, pubs and cafes etc. whereas East Grinstead has nothing of the sort. You can't even buy a CD or a DVD on the high street

Didnt go in the Sportsman then?

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

While we are on this subject, whats Hassocks like? Considering it as a future place for a family home. Ditto on Hurtpierpoint.

 

[The Large One]

The Great Eastern is a SPLENDID pub

Cramped, over-cleaned (the disinfectant smell goes straight through you), the surliest, most ignorant bar staff in Brighton (except for possibly at The Open House), pretty steep - pricewise.

Food is excellent, mind. Plus (though not my bag) a fine choice of whiskies.

 

[Colossal Squid]

Didnt go in the Sportsman then?

That little place at the end of Cantelupe Road?

I'll have to be honest, I have NEVER been in that pub, in fact I've worked in three different buildings on that road and nobody has ever ventured in there for a lunch time bevvy. It was always that "Bar Kuba" which used to be something like the Crown I think

 

[Notters]

Cramped, over-cleaned (the disinfectant smell goes straight through you), the surliest, most ignorant bar staff in Brighton (except for possibly at The Open House), pretty steep - pricewise.

Food is excellent, mind. Plus (though not my bag) a fine choice of whiskies.

If you call bourbon "fine". Can't say I've ever noticed the smell, and I do have a paricularly sensitive sense of smell.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

imagine being all classy and french and thinking, whilst supping on a fine wine "oh-he-hon i sink i will go to engeland todayy"

and pitching up in NEWHAVEN