Recommending Hollingdean

I have lived in the council end of Hollingdean for a few years now with my children and I find the area really quite nice to live in. The [number] 50 bus services are good and Sainsbury’s and Lewes Rd are within easy walking distance as long as you don’t have to walk back up the hill again (ie. from the bottom of Horton Rd) which is a killer if you have a heavy buggy!

I used to work in the Stanmer Pub part-time which was a lovely place to work, the boss and his wife were very friendly!

There is a childrens’ play area at the top of Hollingdean and very good dog walking pathways alongside the golf course which overlooks the whole of our lovely city. It’s well worth a breath taking look…

It’s amazing to think that years ago Brighton (then Brighthelmstone I think) only consisted of a boundary of just 4 roads: North Street, East Street, West Street and Kings Road (was it called South Street?).

Anyway, I would wholly recommend Hollingdean to anyone wishing to move there from another area.

Comments about this page

  • Is there anyone here that can tell me what Tavistock Down is like to live in as I’ve been offered a two bedroom flat there but I hear its not a very nice area to live? Is this true? I’m not sure if I should be sending this message here but if you can help that would be great.

    By Leah (04/02/2005)
  • I grew up in Hollingdean in 1970 and it was a very safe place where all the children respected older people and all took respect in their gardens. However, my parents still live there and it breaks my heart how run down and rough Hollingdean has become.

    By Andy (01/05/2006)
  • I grew up at 9,Wigmore Close off of Horton Road – what a lovely road to live in.  I went back there to have a look recently and it seems so small. What is it like to live there now?

    By Graham (02/10/2006)
  • Hi Graham.  I live at 4 Wigmore Close and have done for quite some time. It is a lovely street to live in and I am sure we still share some neighbours who lived here when you did! We used to have lovely views from our upstairs windows but now it has changed quite a bit with the building of the recycling plant.

    By Tasha Barefield (14/11/2006)
  • I grew up in Crespin Way, my dad helped to build them. It was great to play outside, (no computers). I still live in Hollingdean with my 3 children and husband who love it. A good bus service,and local shops.

    By Julie (29/06/2007)
  • I used to go to St Joesph’s infants school from 1971 to 1973. Does anyone remember Mrs Maculutta?

    By Bridget (24/09/2007)
  • Please, please could anyone find me a photo of St Joesph’s infant school in Davey Drive. I went to that school in the 1970`s. I don’t see any information on it at all, thankyou.

    By Bridget (24/09/2007)
  • I lived at 91 Horton Road from 1965 until 1977 when I left home to follow the alternative lifestyle. Horton Road was a great place to grow up with the wide grass expanse behind the flats and the big grass areas in front for us children to play. I went to St. Joseph’s school in Davey Drive. The teachers that I remember were Mr. Palmer, Mr. Beech, Sister Lucy, Sister Immaculata, Mrs Beard and Mrs Arzonnie (I can’t remember the exact spelling); the headmaster at that time was Mr. Davey. I shall always remember it.

    By Kevin Cooke (29/04/2008)
  • I remember you Kevin, we were in the same class at St Joseph’s. Mrs Arzonnie (so strict!) teaching us French which was unusual then. I remember Mr Palmer, Mr Beech and Mr Davey. Sister Immaculata and Sister Lucy so lovely and kind. I lived in Ringmer Road and caught the school bus to St Joseph’s Maria Barker.

    By Maria Barker (nee Turner) (22/06/2008)
  • I’ve recently moved from Hollingdean (I started this forum off) and have now got a lovely 3 bed house in Whitehawk. I do miss my flat in Brentwood Road, it was a lovely community, but I do love my house too. Whitehawk despite the rumours is a very nice place to live, its very quiet and I’ve seen no trouble.
    I do miss Hollingdean but am quite happy here.

    By Laura (15/07/2008)
  • I am looking to move from Hove to a bigger property and I have an opportunity to look at a house in Hollingdean. I have lived in Hove all my life but I am having to look out of the area to find a bigger property with a garden. Could any one tell me what the area is like? Many thanks.

    By Bonnita (01/08/2008)
  • Hi Tasha, I lived there back in the 60’s. Number 4 was occupied by the Andersons.

    By Graham (01/06/2011)
  • Hi againTasha, I think you must remember my Sister, Margaret Syrett.

    By Graham (20/07/2011)
  • I moved to Hollingdean from London in 1987. The first address I lived at was a property above the Crestway Parade. My parents Ann & Fraser bought the shop on the corner which at the time was a green grocers and pet food store. We moved from there a year later as my father became ill and moved to a masonette up the top end of Burstead Close which was lovely, although it was on the top floor and no lift in the building. We lived there for 5 years until my father couldn’t do the stairs anymore. Then in 1993 we moved to the house where we are now in Harrington Place and been here ever since. Sadly, Dad passed away in July 2010, so it’s just me and Mum living here now. My sister moved out as she got married in 2003. I do like living in Hollingdean and would definitely miss it if I moved away from the area. I do know a lot of people around here.

    By Matt Lewis (22/03/2012)
  • I too lived in Hollingdean from about 1953 till I married in 1969 – at Davey Drive. What memories! Playing in the ‘field’, now the site of the self-build homes. Walking to Fairlight and Fawcett Schools. Rolling down Davey Drive sitting on a book on a roller skate – no cars then! Friends and neighbours included the Banks (Horton Road), Mick Grenville, Colin Stoner (Dunster Close), Billy Wright, Peter Angel (Waverly Crescent) and many others I can’t recall. Mum still lives in Davey Drive so I go home often, but I can’t park nowadays and much has changed.

    By Les Bryant (08/08/2012)
  • I live in Hollingbury Rise and I wanted to know if anyone has photographs of the road or houses when it was built in 1930’s. We have the original deeds to the house which state our house was completed on the 13th May 1931. Thanks, Jan.

    By Jan (24/10/2012)
  • I lived in Wolverstone Drive self build bungalows from 1964 to 1968 and spent the best days of my young life there. I knew every inch of the fields, woods and golf course behind us and knew most of the local kids in the area.  I was devastated and heartbroken when we had to move away because of financial difficulties in 1968. I will never forget moving there into a brand new house, central heating and my own bedroom. I still go back there whenever I can to soak up the wonderful memories of youth.

    By Peter Paolella (16/01/2013)
  • I moved to the Linkway with Mum and Dad in 1959 when I was 6. Previously we lived in Wood Street but all that was demolished. It was all so spacious compared to a little terraced street and we had a lovely green to play on right in front of our flat, and I had my own bedroom for the first time in my life! I made many friends, and school holidays were so carefree when we could go blackberry picking, play hide and seek and skip with all our ropes tied together across the road (no cars to bother us!) and play hopscotch. I got married when I was 19 and moved away for a few years but we bought our first house in Hollingbury Rise in 1978 when my second child was a few months old. Both my children had the happy childhood that I had. There were still many places to explore, and we did it together. It was like a second childhood for me, experiencing things all over again. I spent 20 very happy years in that house until my marriage ended and I moved away.

    By Jill Aberdeen (19/06/2013)
  • I used to live at 37 Horton Rd in the late 60s and early 70s and have some great memories of growing up and playing out, especially playing football behind the flats and climbing on top of the bin cupboards at the side of the flats. I attended Downs Infants and Junior schools before moving to Birmingham. I still occasionally visit and it does seem so small now.

    By Martin S (03/06/2017)
  • I have been living in Hollingdean since 1987, we moved in just after the “hurricane” and I remember being really sad to see the damage it caused ( we were lucky we only lost a garden shed). I went to St Joseph’s school from about 1962 and it was relatively new then, my older brother David started in the old Milton Road building and then moved up a year ahead of me. I remember being most upset that I missed going in to the ” temporary ” wooden classroom, which was taught by a Mr Palmer I think, it makes me smile every time I go past and it’s still there, so much for temporary!! I got the chance to look around the old place during a charity open day and even after all these years it still smelt the same. I like living in Hollingdean as it’s one of those places that you’re either coming into or going out of, so there’s not to much through traffic. The only real bug bear at the moment is the totally stupid parking at the bottom of Davey Drive, it’s bloody ridiculous and needs addressing urgently. If anyone remembers the Leathams, there were 4 of us please feel free to contact me, Fran Murphy, nee Leatham.

    By Fran Murphy (10/02/2022)
  • I’m moving to Major Close shortly, and I’d love to know of any history of the road, especially the children’s homes at numbers 1 and 1a that were there for a while until 1981 or 1982 I think . I’m a Brightonian, and I always like to know the history of where I move to! Photos would be great too. Thanks in advance.

    By Lex Angel (26/10/2022)

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