Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide. Alex is a keen amateur photographer.

The Sugar Loaf Eastbourne

No one is really sure why the Sugar Loaf is at the foot of the cliffs just a short walk from St Bede's School in Eastbourne. It is obviously hacked out of the chalk cliff with some great effort into a rough point.

The reason it is most commonly called the Sugar Loaf is that it resembled the early large-lumps of sugar supplied to shops. They would simply slice some off the loaf for you when you called. There are other names for it such as Pinnacle Point.

There is one legend that the Sugar Loaf was put as a marker for early fishermen to find their way back to one of the first settlements in the area. There is another that the Sugar Loaf was cut as a marker to allow boats to line up with the channels cut-blown into the reef that allowed fishing boats through to the lagoon and safety.

My own belief is that it is far older. My reasoning for this is that the very early settlements in the area were at the base of the cliffs. They had fresh running water from the cliffs that came out even in the driest summers. They had food from the Hills and sea. It was the perfect place later to be named Holywell. Not because as many think it was where chalk was cut from the hill for road construction and (an abbreviation of hollow place) but early man thought these gifts were from God. Water, food and shelter. Holywell really is a special place.

Now my reasoning for the Sugar Loaf being made by the first settlements in the area came by chance. Years ago I was walking my dog in bleak mid-winter. It was in fact the shortest day of the year. While walking by the Sugar Loaf I noticed the sun start to come over the horizon. I climbed up behind the point of the Sugar Loaf and to my amazement the sun came up directly over the point. It was the only day in the year that the sun did this. I believe the point was cut to mark the Winter Solstice, December 21st.

The area, now a bit of a centre for nudists in the summer, is a special place. It has a feel an aura, the westerly breeze brings all the scents of the sea and the views are simply wonderful, the white of the cliffs, the blue of the sky, the green hills and ever-changing sea. It is one of the hidden little secrets of Eastbourne.

Fancy a funny read: Ena Wilf  & The One-Armed Machinist

A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires

Alex's stories are now available to keep. Click on the picture for more information.

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