What’s going for it? We may be few, but our numbers are growing: bleak geeks, or aficionados of picturesque melancholy. (Pretty, unthreatening melancholy, not the post-apocalyptic kind; we’re very particular.) Our homeland – Dungeness in Kent, with its power station and permanently autumnal skies – is for sale at £1.5m. There’s money in mournfulness. A few miles west, though, is my tip: the Pevensey Levels, beached between Bexhill and Eastbourne. This is a rare breach in the south coast’s line of cliffs, one spotted by William the Conqueror: Norman’s Bay is where 1066 and all that began. Here, you get all we bleak geeks could possibly desire: big skies, quiet, forgotten-about towns, roads with names like Sluice Lane, shingly beaches fronted by settlements straight out of an Ealing comedy (Peter Sellers used to visit his mum at Pevensey Bay) – just not for £1.5m, or anything close.
The case against To some fools, bleak is just bleak. The only road out is the coast road, so escape routes are few and often bumper-to-bumper. The railway is welcome, but cuts off the beach rather.
Well connected? Trains: half-hourly to Bexhill and Eastbourne (9 minutes), Hastings (25) and Brighton (just under an hour); hourly to Gatwick (75 minutes) and Victoria (one hour 43 minutes). Driving: 15 minutes to Eastbourne and Bexhill, 30 to Hastings, 45 to Brighton.
Schools Primaries: Herstmonceux CofE , Ninfield CofE, Little Common and Hankham are all good‚ Ofsted says, or you can edge in on the catchments of schools in Bexhill, Hailsham and Eastbourne. Secondaries: Bishop Bell CofE in Eastbourne and Hailsham Community College are both good.
Hang out at… The Lamb in the pin-drop-quiet village of Wartling is just the ticket.
Where to buy Pevensey is delightful, a tiny ancient town/village of tile-hung, weatherboarded or flint cottages. The villages of Pevensey Levels are worth exploring: see Wartling, Herstmonceux and Hooe. The seafront at Pevensey Bay might not be Malibu, but it is splendidly eccentric, with Edwardian town houses cheek-by-jowl with shacks and the 1930s-50s bungalow estate of Beachlands. Detacheds and town houses, £275,000-£1m. Semis, £150,000-£400,000. Terraces and cottages, £150,000-£270,000. Flats, £130,000-£175,000. Rentals: not much – a two-bed terrace might go for £800pcm.
Bargain of the week Squint and convince yourself you’re living on Route 66 with a Chevy out front at this two-bedroom “oyster-style” bungalow, in need of modernisation, £189,950, with Mason Bryant.
From the streets
Philipa Coughlan “Two diverse communities: historic Pevensey has the castle, while near the caravan parks is Pevensey Bay and The Moorings restaurant, which is really good value with large plates of well-cooked food.”
Jane Marter “Pevensey and Pevensey Bay have a community vibe, with lots of clubs and societies.”
• Live in Pevensey? Join the debate below.
Do you live in Ramsgate, Kent? Do you have a favourite haunt or pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 22 September.
