What’s going for it? I often (OK, not that often) wonder what Bob Marley made of Bexhill. Legend has it Marley put on his first UK gig here in 1972, at a Bexhill Lions club benefit concert to raise funds for a local swimming pool. That’s Bexhill for you. It confounds expectations. It has a reputation as a gentle resort for retirees. And it is. But underneath stirs a radical heart. It put on Britain’s first car race, in 1902, had a socialist mayor in the 1930s and was a glamorous retreat for aristocrats and stars (Fanny Cradock and Johnnie!). And on the front sits the gleaming 30s De La Warr Pavilion (where Marley played), an avant-garde architectural curveball as unlikely as finding a Picasso in Nuneaton, and still a pioneer of the cutting edge. Bexhill’s latest about-turn, from the fancy look of its latest homes, is to rebrand itself as a kind of South Downs Malibu. Stranger things have happened. Usually in Bexhill.

The case against Still mostly a place of model railway shops and secondhand booksellers (ie my kinda town), so, apart from its racier moments, don’t expect Brighton or Gomorrah.

Well connected? Trains: to Brighton (about an hour) hourly-ish; Hastings (10 mins); Eastbourne (15-22 mins), Ashford (54 mins); London (just under two hours). Driving: the evil that is the A259 passes through, but it is, alas, your only hope; Hastings 20 mins, Eastbourne 30 mins, Brighton an hour.

Schools Primaries: All Saints CofE, Glenleigh Park, St Mary Magdalene Catholic, Chantry Community, King Offa and Little Common are all “good”, says Ofsted, with St Peter & St Paul CofE “outstanding”. Secondaries: Bexhill Academy is “good”, with St Richard’s Catholic “outstanding”.

Hang out at… Heartened to see Di Paolo’s ice-cream parlour still going strong. Afternoon tea (or, go on, cocktails) at the Pavilion: hard to beat.

Where to buy The seventh Earl De La Warr magicked Bexhill from hilltop village to select resort in the late 19th century, so most of the town is late Victorian, Edwardian to 1930s. The old village has pretty cottages and Georgians. Large detacheds and town houses, £450,000-£2m. Detacheds and smaller town houses, £275,000-£450,000. Semis, £210,000-£400,000. Terraces and cottages, £175,000-£350,000. Flats, £90,000-£425,000. Rentals: a one-bed flat, £550-£700pcm; a three-bed house, £875-£1,200pcm.

Bargain of the week Delightful four-bed weather-boarded cottage in the Old Town, £335,000, with freemanforman.co.uk.

From the streets

Elly Gibson “Warm, friendly people. Lovely two-mile stretch of coastline with a promenade perfect for walking and cycling. Close to Hastings, Rye, Battle and other lovely places.”



Michael Brown “Contrary to popular belief, Bexhill is not where old people go to retire. That’s Eastbourne; Bexhill is where their parents live.”

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Do you live in Louth, Lincolnshire? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Monday 8 January.