POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX

Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling

- Bob Barton

As I child, I wasn't a big fan of beaches. Long expanses of sand were always a little boring. Not to mention the sand getting in your sandwiches. Show me a seaside pleasure pier, however, and I was in my element with its brightly lit amusement arcade, telescopes facing seaward, a helter-skelter, candy floss kiosks, and a chance to frolic above the waves without getting my feet wet. Sussex has two of my favourites.

Eastbourne's, dating from 1870, was designed by pier specialist Eugenius Birch and is a beautiful place for a spot of promenading. With gilded lamps, minarets and domes, it's an oriental-style fantasy. Brighton's Palace Pier, on the other hand, a relative newcomer opened in 1899, is loud, busy and brash. It has every fairground delight I could wish for, including two rollercoasters.

The two popular resorts are just 24 miles apart but exude very different characters. As you'd expect from the city by the sea, I find Brighton frenetic, cool and exciting, with a lively nightlife.

Eastbourne is more genteel, carpeted with gardens and boasts a three-tier promenade. I like to cherry pick the best of both. On my last visit to Brighton, I returned after many years to an attraction I've loved since I was about five years old.

The Volk's Electric Railway (01273 292718, volksrailway.org.uk) is the world's oldest electric line 141 years to be precise. It runs along the edge of the beach to Black Rock, a short walk from the marina. It was the brainchild of a Brighton-born inventor, Magnus Volk, whose first short railway took just 18 days to construct. It included a "power station" to generate the 50 volts of electricity needed (now it uses 110 volts).