The Lord Lucan Experience.

Another walk from the ‘Cheeky Walks in Brighton & Sussex’ book by Tim Bick, David Bramwell and John Ashton. This one was in Newhaven, East Sussex and followed the last steps of Lord Lucan- a cad and a bounder who in 1974 reportedly killed the nanny, abandoned his car outside 26 Norman Road in Newhaven and then walked into the sea never to be seen again. There are lots of alternative theories as to his disappearance but this one is the one we are going with on this walk.

Besides the car abandoned road, we walked along the stretch of beach where he folded his clothes and left them in a neat pile before drowning himself; an industrial deep water working port;two disused railways; the eerie and deserted village of Tide Mills and up to the underground New Haven Fort.

Norman Road Newhaven where Lucan’s borrowed, bloodstained Ford Corsair was found abandoned.

The Pier head where two fisherman reported seeing Lucan walking on the beach.

Newhaven Cormorant statue by Derry Mountford.

It was a figure of eight walk that felt longer than it’s six miles, but covered the majority of Newhaven.

And Lord Lucan… is he dead or alive? Did he feign his own death or could he not live with the guilt; or the fear of boing caught? Retrace his final steps and form your own conclusion.

Groovin in the Ghost Village. (Cheeky Walks in Brighton & Sussex).

Another walk today from the Cheeky Walks in Brighton and Sussex book- this time across rolling downland around Woodingdean, ‘crossing the abandoned ghost village of Balsdean, evacuated and destroyed by Canadian artillery training practice during World War Two’.

Abandoned farm buildings, sheep and the Amex Stadium (home of Brighton and Hove Albion FC) made up the landscape. It was a grey November day, but a good trek across the chalk land all the same. According to the book you needed to walk it to the sound track of Brighton musical duo Grasscut’s album 1 inch/ 1/2 mile- apparently a ‘musical romp through the Sussex landscape’. Incidentally Grasscut also designed the route.

Brighton’s Back Passages.

Today we followed the ‘Brighton’s Back Passages’ walk (p.46) from the above by David Bramwell, John Ashton, and Tim Bick.

Starting at Morrison’s supermarket in Kemp Town, the first back passage was a tunnel- shaped covered alley.

A few passages later we hit Quadrophenia Alley ‘where Jimmy and Steph get it on…’ and apparently ‘Fans have been known to re-enact the love scene here’.

The next Alley off Little East Street had ‘ambient music installed in an attempt to calm passing drunk vandals… and has been decorated by legendary Japanese street artist Lady Aiko.’