Summer holiday fun for young people in Eastbourne

2nd August 2022

Children and young people are guaranteed a summer of fun in Eastbourne during the summer holidays.

The latest events at the Beachy Head Story for youngsters have been revealed with workshops taking place throughout August.

In addition to the workshops, there is also the chance to create something amazing on a graffiti wall at the venue in Beachy Head Road with professional mural artist Aaron Hosannah.

There is also a History Club every Tuesday throughout August and photography workshops for families on Wednesdays.

Annie Wills, Eastbourne Borough Council’s Head of Tourism and Culture, said, “There’s great fun to be had for children and young people throughout the summer holidays. These activities put the fun into learning about the history of Eastbourne and beyond.”

The fun kicks off on Monday 1^st August with Dinosaur Lady, the story of Mary Anning, who discovered amazing fossils on the Jurassic Coast. The Fossil Workshop will also look at the evidence for Jurassic sea creatures and those attending will build a life-sized Icthyosaur and look at some fascinating fossils. The workshop is suitable for ages 6 – 12 and tickets are £2.50. Booking is essential.

On Sunday 7th August the workshop is The Downs Beneath our Feet with a reading of The Street Beneath My Feet and a journey down to the centre of the earth and back again. Children will consider what’s beneath our feet when we walk the South Downs and ask why we find fossils on the beaches of Eastbourne. The event is suitable for ages 6 - 10 and tickets are again £2.50, and booking is essential.

Dinosaur Timelines is the theme of the workshop on Monday 8^th August when the different Ages of the Dinosaurs will be explored to work out why Eastbourne is on the Cretaceous Coast. A timeline will be built and there will be a chance to hold some genuine 100-million-year-old fossils. The workshop is suitable for ages 6 – 12. Tickets are £2.50 and booking is essential.

On Monday 15th August the theme of the workshop is ‘What is an Ammonite?’. There will be a chance to learn what ammonites were, find out what they looked like, follow the journey of an ammonite from live sea creature to chalk fossil, and make an ammonite craft. The workshop is suitable for ages 6 – 12 and tickets are £2.50 with booking essential.

Fossils of Beachy Head will be explored on Monday 22^nd August when young people will discover the types of fossils likely to be found on the beaches around Beachy Head and work out the difference between chalk and flint. Fossil guides will be created to use on the beach next time people go fossil hunting. The event is suitable for ages 6 – 12 and once again tickets are £2.50, and booking is essential.

The final workshop is on Monday 29th August: and entitled Evolution and Extinction. Those attending will be put through their paces in how to read stones to tell the stories of evolution and extinctions and consider the end of the dinosaurs and the evolution of mammals and birds. There will also be an opportunity to look at some local fossils and create evolution and extinction inspired stories. The workshop is suitable for ages 6 – 12. Tickets are £2.50 and booking essential.

Every Tuesday throughout August the Beachy Head story will host the History Club from 10.30 – 12pm. There will be a chance to get hands on with real objects uncovered in Eastbourne, explore the mysteries of the Stone Age, find out more about Eastbourne’s incredibly rare Bronze age sites and join the Romans to find out why we had a ginormous Roman Villa on the seafront.

There will be an opportunity to delve into the stories of the Saxons and reveal what some of Eastbourne’s Saxon ancestors looked like, then travel back in time to Tudor Eastbourne to examine some truly terrible medicine.

A different theme is on the agenda for each Tuesday - 2^nd August: Stone Age; 9^th August: Bronze/Iron Age; 16^th August: Romans; 23^rd August: Saxons and 30^th August: Tudors.

Each History Club session is suitable for 6-12-year olds and tickets for the 90-minute sessions are £2.50. Booking is essential.

On Wednesdays during August from 11am-1pm, there are Landscape Photography family workshops. Professional photographer Maxine Monaghan will walk those attending through the techniques to capture stunning imagery using phone, record images that tell the story of individual’s journey through the landscape and edit photos. No experience is required; all that is needed is a mobile phone. Family tickets are priced at £5 which includes one adult and one child.

Finally, on Wednesday 10^th August and Tuesday 16^th August children and younger people can get inspiration from the stories of Eastbourne and have a closer look at some of the incredible archaeology found here in a drop-in workshop at The Beachy Head Story then create an image on the graffiti wall. No booking is required, just turn up between 12pm and 2pm.

For further information and booking visit: heritageeastbourne.onlineticketseller.com