A sonnet for Eastbourne in days gone by

I thought you might be interested in this sonnet, written by Leslie Tapp from Westham. Mr Tapp was a real bachelor of the Parish.

The sonnet was among the many treasured poems he wrote over the years.

He was a great character, a faithful Christian, a man of humour and many skills, if something was broken he could mend it, but sadly I fear that Terminus Road is beyond repair!

A Sonnet

With apologies to William Shakespeare:

As I stand gazing down the Terminus Road that was

I visualise those family coaches, cabriolets,

Stanhopes, waggonettes, Phaetons and Broughams, which used to traverse that huge space;

Those four-wheeled majestic horse drawn coaches, with the horses hooves beating the floor with a rhythm so musical. I fear they have gone for ever, alas, never to return.

That easy comfortable method of travel was experienced by our forebears, (of course, three bears might have liked it as much if they had been asked).

People were more contented in those days.

There were fewer shops, all the fancy goods were handmade.

The workers enjoyed exercising their skills at their own trades; their motto was, “necessity is the mother of invention.”

Now we see scores of human beings wandering around trying to make up their minds what to buy from those highly decorated shops.

The colours of the ladies’ dresses amaze me; as the people weave around each other, backwards and forwards, to and fro, hither and thither, willy nilly, trying to make up their minds where to go.

I’m sorry to say they finish up by buying something they didn’t want, because it was going cheap, what a calamity. L.T.