A Walk Around Brighton and Eastbourne

Last weekend found me again at the coast. It had been a glorious week and continued on through the weekend.

The last time I was in Brighton the children were small. Their father and I took them down to the Pier and spent the afternoon along the promenade. That is as much as we saw of Brighton, and probably as much as we could cope with at that time with small children in tow.

This time was completely different. My guide grew up in Brighton and I received a running commentary on the area along with some amusing anecdotes. Unfortunately, my camera decided to go on strike on Saturday. Initially it was quite a bummer, but me ever the optimist and it being a glorious day, I decided that fate just wanted me to relax and enjoy being in the moment. Brighton will still be there and I can come back another time.

As I didn’t have an opportunity to take photographs, I will refrain from commenting on the architecture, of which there is a wide variety of styles and colours. I will say that I did find it all interesting.

We wandered around through the famous Lanes to look at the many unusual shops, restaurants, cafes and tattoo parlours. We eventually made our way through the crowds to walk along the seafront. As it was a very sunny day, there were many people out with their children sitting on the beach and enjoying the sunshine.

My guide took me to a lovely seafood restaurant that looked out toward the promenade and the sea and had a late lunch. The place was packed, which is always a good sign. It was wonderful to eat, drink, have lovely conversation and watch the world go by.

As with all good things, lunch came to an end and we wandered back to the car via a different route, this time through the main shopping precinct. Brighton is a very busy, bustling town and seems to have all the main high street shops as anywhere else, as well as a few cultural amenities. As and when I visit Brighton in the future, I will let you know what is going on. I was quite interested in visiting Brighton for the fact that they do have Argentine Tango there!

I have been spending the last few weekends in Eastbourne. Compared to Brighton, Eastbourne has a quiet, genteel charm. The town is relatively small in comparison, is very clean, slightly shabby with Victorian architecture mixed in with some of a more contemporary design. The seafront is extremely well maintained with some very beautiful buildings on the main coast road. The beach has a blue flag. You can walk along the lovely seafront all the way towards Beachy Head. I haven’t been that adventurous yet. There is plenty of time for that.

After having had a wonderful champagne brunch to celebrate Mother’s Day, we went for a walk down to the seafront and to do a little exploring. We also managed to get my camera working! I was really pleased as this was the first time I was able to take photos of Eastbourne and the weather continued to be gloriously sunny.

We didn’t really go very far beyond the seafront. It was so beautiful and the tide had gone out a bit. We wandered onto the beach and I took some photos. I just loved the way the water made patterns in the sand.

Before we headed back home, and as a special treat, we went to Favo’Loso for some fantastic ice cream and coffee. This place is a combination of a cafeteria, ice cream parlour and diner. It was packed full of families out with the kids. Some people might find that quite daunting, but I found it rather nice. My children may be grown up now, and although I prefer to have my evening meals child free, I still find it pleasant to see families out together as long as the children are relatively well behaved.

I found an article from The Independent about Eastbourne that you can read here, and which will give you a flavour of this lovely seaside town.

You can also learn more here and here.

If you would like to see some more photos, here is the link to my web album or you can view the slideshow on my sidebar.

A Walk Along Norman’s Bay and Pevensey Castle

I spent a couple of day’s on the coast again. The weather was absolutely GLORIOUS!!! I drove down on Sunday with the top down. I hadn’t seen so many convertibles and motorcycles out in ages. At least I got to feel the wind in my hair. I think spring has finally sprung.

On Monday, we went to Norman’s Bay. There isn’t much in Norman’s Bay apart from a few lovely houses and some shabby looking beach huts on a very long pebble beach. Over here they call it shingle, but it is still stones to me and quite challenging to walk on. The sun was shining and the sea sparkled and was as flat as a pancake. All you could hear apart from the gentle sound of the waves on shore was the loud crunch of our footsteps on the pebbles.

We took a break to lie on the pebbles with our faces to the sun and to listen to the sea. It was so relaxing and was my meditation for the weekend. We had a lovely lunch outside right next to the beach. It was bliss.

The area around Norman’s Bay is steeped in history. Apparently Normans Bay was part of the Napoleonic defences of England in the early 1800's. Many Martello towers were built between Eastbourne and Hastings to try to prevent invasion.

After lunch, we drove over to Pevensey to have a look around the tiny village and Pevensey Castle. There are some lovely walks around the area. We had a walk around the castle, which dates from Roman times, and part of which is being renovated. The gates were locked and I wasn’t able to get a proper look inside the enclosure, but my camera managed to do a walk about.

If you want to see the rest of the photos, please click here. Or you can click on the slideshow.

A Walk Around Seven Sisters and Cuckmere Haven

A friend of mine invited me to spend the weekend on the coast. A change being as good as a rest and needing a break to clear my head from all of this job worry, I agreed to go and visit.

I love the sea. I love the smell of sea air and I love the sound of the waves. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, I can sit and look at the waves for hours. I find it really relaxing and therapeutic. All of my troubles seem to disappear in an instant. It is one of my many forms of meditation.

On Sunday, we went to Seven Sisters Country Park which is in the Sussex Downs and is an area of outstanding natural beauty. The weather was glorious. It was sunny, without a cloud in the sky. It may have been a bit windy and a little chilly, but glorious just the same. The views in this area are breathtaking, with the rolling hills of the Downs dotted around with sheep and their new lambs.

Here is an aerial map of our walk - scroll up a bit and from the centre square, and following the white line from the winding river straight to the sea. For most of the way it is a concrete path, so the walk was flat and gentle. There were many people out with the same idea as us. Did I mention that the weather was glorious? From the car park and back, it took us about an hour and a half, including contemplation of the cliffs and the sea. We would have spent more time in contemplation, but we could see that some dark clouds were starting to roll in.

At the end of the path is Cuckmere Haven, where you can get a really great view of the chalk walls of The Seven Sisters. Apparently, they each have a name and are called Heaven Brow, Short Brow, Rough Brow, Brass Point, Flat Hill, Baily's Hill, and Went Hill.

The beach here is full of pebbles and is very pretty. According to Wikipedia: “The beach was commonly used by smugglers in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. For example, in 1783 two gangs of smugglers (each numbering 200 or 300) overcame officers of the law by weight of numbers and carried away a large quantity of goods.

In the Second World War the site was subject to significant attention from the Luftwaffe as they flew missions to identify potential landing sites for the invasion of the UK mainland. As a result a series of counter-landing constructions remains, including numerous pillboxes, anti-tank obstacles, ditches and tank traps. Cuckmere Haven featured heavily in the war effort: at night lights were placed to confuse bombers into thinking they were above Newhaven and an airfield was set up further inland. As well as the permanent constructions, the river was heavily mined.”

After our walk, we headed off to a lovely pub for our Sunday lunch. We went to The Tiger Inn in East Dean, which has just re-opened after having been closed for refurbishment. The food was excellent. While we had our lunch, it poured with rain outside. It seems we had timed our walk perfectly.

The weekend was all I could have hoped for and more. Now let’s hope the rest of the week follows suit.

If you would like to see more photos of my walk, click here. Or view the slideshow on the sidebar.