littlehampton 2.4.1987

A few more random shots of Littlehampton, this time taken on 2 April 1987. These views will all have changed to a greater or lesser extent. The bottom one for example shows the old Palladium cinema, which used to be our regular Sunday nigfht venue, watching any old crap they were showing. It was never as good as the Odeon/Classic in the High Street, which amazingly closed before this fleapit did! I even played a gig at the Classic in the early 70s! In the fifties LA had a third cinema, the Regent opposite the railway station.

And today? LA just has a convertible 'cinema' at the old Windmill Theatre, a bit of a disgrace really.

littlehampton 1987

(All 5.4.1987)

 A few of my random shots taken around Littlehampton back in 1987. I suspect a lot of these views have changed enormously in the last few decades. I spent a lot of time wandering around with my old film camera capturing everyday views.

damage

This was Howards End, Littlehampton, the morning after the 'hurricane' of 15 October 1987. I'd been at the pub the night before and remembered phoning Leysin at around eleven and there was no sign of anything unusual happening. But just an hour or so later the wind woke me up and I spent the rest of the night terrified downstairs with the cat listening to slates crashing and watching trees bend over by about 70 degrees in the garden.

The next morning I walked round town to survey the damage. Being on the Sussex coast we were right in the firing line and places along the seafront suffered the worst damage. This entire row of houses was destroyed - they were of the old mews style with large front windows. The windows blew in and the wind then just took the roofs off.

The 'hurricane' led to me joining the Green Party and probably doing loads of stuff I wouldn't have done otherwise, good and bad.

ghosts

One of the best tricks we ever paid was on hapless Terry Wiffin. The legendary Bimbo Bailey had pilfered his dad's monk fancy dress outfit and we went out one night by the double bend at Lyminster.

When we heard a car he would walk out in front of it with his hands outstretched. We did this for about an hour when we heard a bike approaching and a scream. Terry had stumbled right into our night's entertainment, a completely innocent victim. The 'ghost' was Bimbo, the rustling was me and my brother Jeff laughing in the bushes.

Later the same evening one car driver must have guessed what we were doing as he drove off road and chased us through the fields. Bimbo chucked the outfit in a field and we hid in Mark Parr's garden for an hour or two.

This appeared in the Evening Argus a few days later!

classic shop!

(20.8.1987)

This is the amazing Gloucester Market in Littlehampton. This was one of those mystical shops that seemed to be everywhere when you were a kid. You would happily buy EVERYTHING init yet in reality you never or almost never went inside because it was just TOO scary.

No idea if it is still there. Either way would be right ...