Brighton Beautiful
24th October, 1992
25th October, 1992
26th October, 1992
27th October, 1992
28th October, 1992
29th October, 1992
30th October, 1992
Saturday, 24th October, 1992
e left Lavenham with regrets on all sides, our hosts expressing (no doubt) conventional regrets at our going and asking us to make sure we call in again if passing. We were very cosy in Grandma's Cottage and I adore Lavenham.
nyway we headed south and managed to circumnavigate London on Crowley's M25 without too much trouble, arriving in Henfield, the nearest town to the Caravan Park at 12.30. Since we couldn't check in until after 3.00 we had lunch in a nice little cafe, did some shopping and explored Henfield, then went off to the seaside, Shoreham-on-Sea, only a few miles away. We managed to park and walk on the beach, nearly spraining our ankles on the extremely large grains of sand. It will take a few thousand more years before it is a beach by our standards. A few hardy souls in wetsuits were surfing and windsurfing.. (There was plenty of wind, not much surf)
Living Area of our Caravan, Downsview
nyway we bought some maps of the area and came back to the Caravan Park. The van here is fantastic, the best so far.
The lounge and dining room have arm chairs and sofas and lovely built-in glass fronted cupboards, a down spotlight and a gas fire with electric glowing coals. The whole section can be curtained off for cosiness and is very comfortable. The bathroom has a hipbath as well as a shower and the bedrooms are relatively spacious with bedlights and a stool at the dressing table. Unfortunately, they have had lots of rain here lately and the ground is VERY soggy. I hope that's over but the weather forecast said heavy rain on Sunday, Hope not.
Sunday 25th October, 1992
aylight saving finished today which gave us an extra hour in bed and still we got out by nine. We headed across West and East Sussex and Kent to Romney Marsh and the Cinque Ports. We ended up going through five of them, Tenterden, Hythe, Old Romney, New Romney and Rye. (Apparently there were a lot more than five.) When we arrived in Hythe, following a blustery trip through lovely country lanes with the Downs behind and oast houses and autumnal trees in the foreground, we headed for the station of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway, a steam driven miniature narrow gauge (15") railway which bills itself as the smallest public railway in the world. This is because, unlike all the other steam railways, it is not a preserved railway, it has never been out of service since the 20's. It still carries the local kids to school and back every day! We had no sooner arrived than a lady popped her head out of the door and said "Do you want this train, hurry or you'll miss it. Buy your ticket from the guard." So we hurried and caught it, not knowing anything about it, and found ourselves on a fourteen mile trip to Dungeness, via Dymchurch, New Romney, and a couple of smaller stops. We went over bridges, under tunnels and over level crossings, through holiday camps and across marshes steadily getting drearier until, at Dungeness, there was nothing but shingle, wind, two lighthouses and a Nuclear Power Station. It is the longest of the small railways and quite interesting.
fter that we headed off to Rye, pausing briefly at the Martello Tower at Dymchurch to climb to the sea wall (which is the equivalent of a dyke) and look at the sea and sand (!)
Rye was marvellous, an island passed over by history as its sea frontage silted up and receded. Some of the buildings are really ancient, like the Ypres Tower, built in the 13th Century and some of the old shops and pubs in the town are obviously ancient. It was so picturesque. It got dark about 5.30 because of the time change so we drove home in the dark. Not so easy in the wind and the rain which had been intermittent most of the day. However, we made it.
Monday, 26th October, 1992
oday dawned fine, clear and cold, so we headed off to Hever Castle, near Edenbridge in Kent. It was a lovely run through back country lanes full of autumn tonings and we went via East Grinstead, where Annie didn't go with Norman. It is a very substantial town, actually, there have been worse places to live.
Hever Castle near Edenbridge, Kent
ever Castle is not one of the better known tourist places, but my guide book did not lead us astray. It is quite beautiful, a 13th C castle improved by 15th C owners and renovated and gardens designed by the millionaire Astors in 1905.
The Castle was famous anyway as the home of two of Henry VIII's wives. It was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and there is a lot of memorabilia about her and Henry, who was here quite a lot as well, and it was given to Anne of Cleves as a refuge when Henry divorced her practically on sight. It has a maze and a lake, two moats and a working drawbridge and portcullis. It is great, we really enjoyed it.
Water Garden, Hever Castle Grounds
hen we left we headed for Royal Tunbridge Wells, a Georgian Spa town on the lines of Bath and second only to it in popularity. The Georgian section, called for some reason "The Pantiles" is a pedestrian precinct full of old shops (mostly selling antiques) and has the old Chalybeate or well, where you can still get a "dipper" of the ancient waters during the season. Very picturesque.
Tuesday, 27th October, 1992
Postcard of Royal Pavilion, Brighton, East Sussex
eoff's 21st! I hope he had a happy day. We spoke to him and he said he had. We went to Brighton on an overcast but not too bad day. Luckily we got there early enough to explore the "Lanes", a mini shambles of mostly antique shops, jewellers and restaurants, on foot, then we went to the Royal Pavilion. It was like everything I'd heard and read, absolutely unbelievable! The decor was stunning, right over the top mostly but with some details, like the central lamp in the Banqueting Hall which has to be seen to be appreciated and the lotus flower lamps in the Music Room, I really loved. Some of the furniture, sofas with crocodile feet and standard lamps wreathed in dragons are rather a hoot. But the kitchen with its enormous collection of copper cooking utensils from huge stewpots to tiny confectionery moulds is a cook's dream.
hen we came out it was raining, and blowing a gale. We got soaked (well our hair did) walking to the end of the Palace Pier (full of arcade games and old fun fair rides) but we had to go there. The sea was very wild , crashing on the shingle. We left,almost blown away. It was the wildest day we've had since Lewis/Harris, when we were nearly blown off Dun Carloway Broch.
Wednesday, 28th October, 1992
Rosemary at the White Cliffs of Dover
e left very early today, scraping ice off the car windows. It was fine and cold, blue skies and sunshine. We drove to Dover, nearly 100 miles where we partook of the "White Cliffs Experience". It was lots of fun, basically a mixture of fun fair, archaeology and living history. We were there with the Romans, on Romantic channel crossings, in the shelling of the war. It was very well done, with something for everyone of any age. We walked, still in fine sunshine, to the end of the Prince of Wales pier, by the Hovercraft dock. Here we saw the actual white cliffs, with the Castle perched foursquare on top.
Gatehouse, Dover Castle
here was not enough time to see the Castle and the Hellfire Corner display as it closed in 2 hours so we drove on to Canterbury (20 miles or so) and visited the Canterbury Tales Pilgrimage. It was very enjoyable, with several of the stories told and very well staged. After this pilgrimage we walked on to the real Cathedral. The entrance was through an ancient archway and we went through it and on to the Cathedral.
Glimpse of the Cathedral from the Old Town, Canterbury, Kent
Despite its being the premier church in Britain, we found it rather sombre and dull, perhaps we have seen too many cathedrals lately but to me the best have been Ely and Kings College Chapel. However, we saw the shrine of St.Thomas a Beckett and the place where he was murdered. Also lying in the same area is the tomb of Edward the Black Prince, which is quite impressive.
The centre of Canterbury is quite medieval, with narrow streets with names like Buttermarket and Beer Cart Lane. It began to rain again quite heavily as we made our way out of Canterbury, with lightning as well. It was 8.15 by the time we got back and 9.00 by the time we ate. A very long day, and we want to return to Dover to see the Castle exhibition. Maybe Friday, a rest is indicated for tomorrow, I think.
Thursday, 29th October, 1992
Arundel Castle, West Sussex
e had a pleasant day today. It was fine again and stayed fine (wonder of wonders) all day. We drove first to Arundel where I knew there was a castle, I had a picture of it on a jigsaw puzzle when I was a child. When we arrived however, we found that the castle didn't open till noon so we just explored the town (picturesque and seething with antique shops) and looked at the exterior of the castle which was really lovely.
hen we drove on, via Chichester, to Fishbourne where there is an excavated Roman palace. We thought it would be like Wroxeter, or the forts on Hadrian's Wall but it was different. For a start it is enormous! Only about a quarter has been excavated and this includes formal gardens of which they know the design from the different coloured loam and compost of the bedding trenches and have reproduced. But the high point of Fishbourne is the mosaic floors! They are marvellous and the Museum is fascinating. One of the curators, he must have been, talked to us for ages about the mosaics and actually got a lump of one to show us how they moved them. Most are in situ in their original sites but one was on top of another so they removed it so both could be seen. It is the biggest known Roman building north of the Alps and as such it is of course very important. It was fascinating and having it personally shown to us was great. Tomorrow we return to Dover and then off again for our week in Bath.
Friday, 30th October, 1992
Dover Castle, Kent
ast night was freezing, literally. The car was caked with ice and the sides of the van were icy as well. We were up in advance of the lark, scraped off the ice and headed back to Dover. Arriving there around 10.30 we made for the castle. It is huge. There is a Roman lighthouse, a Saxon church and a Norman keep. There is also a network of tunnels from medieval times, Napoleonic scares and the Second World War. It was from the operations rooms at "Hellfire Corner" that the evacuation of Dunkirk was organised and the movements of enemy shipping and aircraft were monitored. We were upstairs and down stairs, in and out of tunnels and generally having lots of exercise. A lovely sunny day and very
interesting if tiring. Tomorrow to Bath!
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