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BEACH VIEW - BEXHILL-ON-SEA

Notorious for its preponderance of old people, celebrated for its art deco De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea is a sedately major player in the south coast beach hut scene.

Along a two mile stretch of pebbly shore, edged with honey sands, there are well over 100 huts for rent, seasonal hire and occasional purchase. And they have a distinctive style which, if not imposed by Rother District Council, must be by common consent.

They are all of modest dimensions, and virtually all windowless, with just the front door to offer a view of the English Channel. Many are literally tied down - either chained to the promenade or tied to pegs set into the ground, with nylon loops right over their roofs. And they're almost all painted a vivid blue-white.

This means they do look a little characterless but it does faithfully echo the pure white exterior of the De La Warr Pavilion. Bexhill is nothing if not regimentally tidy.

Only at the South Cliff end of the promenade do the curious concrete multiple chalet structures offer some variety.

The huts are in private, commercial group or council ownership.

Let us stroll from (roughly) SouthWest to East.

At South Cliff there is a slightly raised grassy bank with a concrete sea wall. Two rows of huts here are privately owned and, while mainly freehold, have very small plots with no private land. Adjacent are some awkwardly modernist concrete structures with prominent 'porches', decorated with 60s style mural patterns. Some look a bit neglected…

Moving towards Bexhill centre, we progress to a line of uniform white huts, which, are offered for rent from a little shop on the south promenade opposite Park Road, proclaiming ‘ Huts for Rental.’

They are offered for £285.00 for an April – mid September season (after which they are removed from the rages of storms and towering seas).

Somewhere along the De La War Parade there are 17 council owned huts which are rented out. The office is located at the east end of the De La Warr Pavilion, adjacent to the Beach Officer's inflatable rescue boat.

Continuing East along the De La Warr Parade, you'll find Russells Beach Huts for Hire (41 of them).

These are actually somewhat flimsy huts with blue canvas roofs, but in a good, central position. They reportedly take them down for storms!

Russells' kiosk is on the front (seaward) edge of the promenade.The huts are mainly rented for the season at £275.00, but two are kept for casual short term use – eg weekly at £30.00. These huts are quite small and one has to query whether it is worth saving only £10.00 per season for these cheaper huts.

Finally at the quiet East end of town, there are about 40 huts lined up towards the start of Galley Hill, ending where some fishing boats are pulled up onto the shingle. These are sited on the beach, and therefore presumably leasehold on land owned by the council.

All of the rental huts we enquired about were booked up for the rest of the season - get your reservation for next year in early!

On the 11th August there was just one hut for sale (at the South West end ) and it was freehold. It was very small, looked structurally sound, with front stable doors, but a little bit tatty. It had no land with it, and was offered at £2,500 for the freehold through Findley & Son – 01424 845 530. Rates plus £55.00 service charge are payable.

Ultimately, I suppose, you're paying for £2,500 worth of English Channel view.

Hut Hound

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FOR YOUR INFORMATION

beach-huts.co.uk is delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs Sandy Dickinson as Information Officer.

Sandy's role is not to run a beach hut "problem page", but to develop a store of knowledge about beach huts and chalets, local authorities, regional trends, history etc, and to respond to professional enquiries from film companies, publishers and suchlike.

We will, of course, still try to help individual correspondents who email us with practical questions about beach huts.

IDEAL HUT

Tell us about your radical (or just unusual) style for your hut. Any suggestions for hut-oriented gadgets, furnishings, and suchlike?


COMING SOON

We are compiling a list of local authorities with coastline (and beach huts?) within their areas. If you're a Leisure Services type, please e-mail us with your details for a Free Listing!

FORTHCOMING FEATURES (Give it time!):

HUT NOSH - send in your recipes for beach hut barbecues, picnics or packed lunches.

IN THE DOG HUT - how to look after a mutt in a hut.

CURIOUS HUT CUSTOMS - strange local authority rules for hut usage.

BATHING MACHINE WANTED

beach-huts.co.uk would dearly like to obtain (and restore?) an authentic bathing machine.
If you know of one available, please e-mail or write to us.