Bexhill-on-Sea

I have just found this quote written by Paul Theroux from his book 'Kingdom by the Sea' 1983.

I have not shown it to Wendy yet.

And there was the De La Warr Pavilion, where on the various decks and verandas, the very old people sat in chairs with blankets in their laps staring out to sea, like people on a cruise, resting between meals. They drank tea, rattling their china cups on the trembling saucers...

If Bexhill-on-Sea was a resume of one English class, the De La Warr Pavilion - moored there on the seafront like an ocean liner - was a resume of Bexhill-on-Sea...

It seemed clear to me that once an English person had reached Bexhill-on-Sea he had no intention of going any further. This was, so to speak, the edge of the cliff.