A late summer Sunday at Brighton Beach making the most of the weather before it breaks and autumn sets in.
Loads of fun at The Upside Down House.
Brighton
A browse through an art installation on the beach…
These deck chairs were just waiting for us!
And finally the, in a rugged way, beautiful West pier.
I never stop feeling blessed living on the South Coast.
We’ve enjoyed a beautiful Indian summer for the past week here in Eastbourne. A morning cycle around the harbour always has something new to look at and today was no exception.
The Navy cadets were hitting the waters.
And the seals were back!
Life was good 😊
I started Early – Took my Dog –
And visited the Sea –
I started later, but you get the gist… Megan at Pevensey.
The South Downs National Park is top of my list. What’s your favourite park? Drop a picture into the comments box. I’d love to see parks from across the world.
‘It’s the friends we meet along the way that help us appreciate the journey’
Photograph by Emily Dudley.
‘Don’t know why
There’s no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather…’
Song by Etta James.
Moody weather at Sheffield Park Gardens yesterday (Sunday).
Yanni
“For me, a T-shirt, a pair of shorts, barefoot on a beach and I’m happy.”
Spent my lunch hour hanging out at Lewes Castle a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful late spring/ early summer day.
Lewes castle is one of the oldest castles in England. It was built soon after the Normans conquered England in 1066. It is very unusual in having two mottes (mounds).
Beautiful view and a fabulous place to eat my sandwich!
Gone to the beach. Back never. 🌊
Cherry-ripe, ripe, ripe, I cry,
Full and fair ones; come, and buy:
If so be you ask me where
They do grow? I answer, there
Where my Julia’s lips do smile;–
There’s the land, or cherry-isle;
Whose plantations fully show
All the year where cherries grow.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674) English poet.
I know that summer has truely arrived when the cherries are for sale on the Sussex roadside. Grown in the neighbouring county of Kent, you will not come across a finer cherry 🍒
Today’s walk involved a mini road trip down to Winchelsea in East Sussex, about twenty miles up the coast from my home town in Eastbourne.
The ancient town of Winchelsea, about one and a half miles inland from Winchelsea Beach was once a busy harbour-part of the Cinque-Port alliance. The old town was destroyed by floods in the 13th century, and today the sea has receded some distance from the town.
Parking by the recreation ground we followed an adjacent path to the seafront, taking in quirky homes and proper English countryside. The geese flew over, as did lots of small bi-planes- we were close to Lid airport- and the cuckoo sang loud and long:
What do you do?
In April, I open my bill
In May, I sing night and day
In June, I change my tune
In July, far off I fly
In August, away
I must…
Sang to me as a child in the 1970s by my mother.
Burwash, High Weald, Sussex: Rudyard Kipling, sheep, landscapes, cows, trees, bluebells and Reginald Frank Rimmer.
We got lost. We found our way again- across fields and woodland and country lanes.
There is nothing quite like a country village.
A gorgeous sunny walk up on Lewes racecourse on the South Downs in East Sussex on the first warm day in May.
Lewes Racecourse shut its doors for the final time in 1964, bringing an end to more than 200 years of history. However it is still an active training centre today and pedestrians and cyclists need to be mindful of racing horses.
The ‘pop up’ Paddock Bar was an unexpected treat and a real pleasure. A bar in a horse box with straw bales for seats. A pint of Sussex cider in the sunshine on the South Downs was a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Hire a mountain bike from Blackcap Bikes: https://www.blackcapbikes.co.uk/
Check out the National Trust walking trail in the Racecourse area; A secluded gem with sunken bostals, a hidden woodland, views over the Weald and fascinating history: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blackcap/trails/a-walk-at-blackcap
Finally have a look at the The Old Racecourse Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/theoldracecourse/ to keep up to date with the area.
Check out also the Lewes Racecourse History Group’s videos of the racecourse on their YouTube channel:
The views were amazing and the warm weather and lambs made it feel like Spring had truly arrived. It is definitely a hidden gem and my new favourite place in East Sussex.
This Sunday’s walk was part of the Wealdway walk around the Wealden village of Hellingly in East Sussex.
First point of interest was Horse Lunges Manor. This moated manor house, built in 1450 AD was the former home of Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant. He is buried in nearby Hellingly cemetery.
Next up was Horsebridge flour milk, once a thriving, working mill, but now derelict.
This Grade Two Listed old flour mill was built circa 1900, but its history is sketchy, there was a fire between 1908 and 1910, when the mill was rebuilt as a large roller mill. McDougall’s (the flour company)had interests in it at some point.
We also passed a Bow Bells Milestone.
The milestone is one of a series stretching along the A22 and on the A26 giving the distance of miles to Bow Bells Church, in the City of London- erected by Turnpike Trusts that were formed in the 18th Century to improve roads.
It was a beautiful Wealden village walk in the spring sunshine. I had to include a picture of this abandoned outbuilding. It looked like it should be on a film set.
