Rye and Hastings

Taking advantage of our location, we traveled by train to the nearby town of Rye. Cobbled streets, timber-framed buildings, narrow doorways, rustic pubs and plenty of ye olde tourist shoppes, Rye was quaint and twee but also very pleasant. 

We initially wandered lost, confused by google maps, but soon found the cosy Cobbles Tearooms, where we ate scones, spongecake, and drank caffeinated beverages. I looked out for Miss Marple but couldn't see her.

This B n B looked great.

Twee.

Ye Olde.

A good ol' patriotic window display. Is "Tudor Edwards" the author's real name? Also note the soldier's resemblance to Thatcher on the cover of 'When the Fighting is Over'.

The town of Rye was perched on a hill overlooking a large expanse of green parkland, including a very good children's playground, and looked further out to the sea. We naively thought we could walk down and swim in the visible river but turned out to be very much an industrial zone with steep, rough concrete banks and many fishing trawlers. The path leading down from the town however was picturesque.

Back up, we wandered to this old tower, adjacent to an ice cream shop.

More pretty lanes leading down.

Colonic irrigation place.

Near the old castle the houses were clad in roof tiles.

Inside the castle, we found another man trap.

A peculiar display in the castle presented an AV depiction of life in the women's prison. The initial confrontation with the mannequin was disconcerting.

I enjoyed a pint of local ale from the Ypres Tavern.

New depths of twee.

Down from the castle Rye actually had a half decent record shop. There I found the following cheap 12" singles that I'd been lazily keeping an eye out for for some time:

Heading back we stopped at St Leonards, Hastings, and walked to the seaside. St Leonards is gentrifying, as evidenced by boutique t-shirt stores and fusion cafe-restaurants, but isn't there yet, as evidenced by the many, many charity shops, the numerous broken windows, and down and outs limping about the town. I loved it.

We all loved St Leonards so much that I took the children back there the next day. Further encouraging the return was the weather which was the hottest day we'd yet had. The rocks are not easy to walk barefoot on but once in the water it gives way to pebbles and eventually a kind of sand, so we all waded out and swam.

Up on the promenade was a cafe selling decent coffee, very slowly made, and fried fish sandwiches. Something very enticing about these benches built into the wall.

We found and caught a jellyfish.

From Seaside to Countryside

Awaking in Brighton, we had a wonderful breakfast of smoked salmon and eggs before strolling to more of our old haunts. We visited an old secondhand market and noticed a gumball machine with sweets that had clearly been affected by the recent heatwave. Or decades sweating in that glass.

We then walked down to the centre of town.

We were headed to stay in the house of family who lived on a farm in the East Sussex countryside. We passed expansive plains viewed from the train.

Lewes is famous for fireworks and pagan oddness on Guy Fawkes night. I once worked here in the County Council office and was fired when caught using MS Paint during work hours.

ST Leonards Warrior Square in Hastings was an interesting destination and one we would revisit a number of times.

At the farmhouse the children frolicked in the country air.

One day I took a long walk through meadows to the nearby village of Burwash, past sheep, blackberry bushes and over streams, taking me to the wonderful Rose and Crown.