| Day 26 - East Sussex |
 |
| Copyright Famocon Tours 2001 |
| to go to Home and each of the other days in this itinerary |
| We left Brighton on a better day than the one on which we arrived and headed to the little village of Stanmer for a quick look and then back on the main road to Lewes. From here we meandered through South Malling, Ringmer, Halland, Cross-in-Hand and Five Ashes. This is an easy drive through pleasant countryside. We arrived at Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent, a popular country retreat for Royalty and the gentry during the 1700's and 1800's. Here are elegant tea rooms and antique shops including the Pantiles, a well known colonnaded shopping arcade. A visit to the Corn Exchange to see A Day at the Wells will give you a good look at life in those Georgian times. We then drove through Bidborough to get to Penshurst Place, the first of two historic manors we visited in this area, the other being Hever Castle. Penshurst is a smaller version of Hever with lovely gardens, a shop and a gracious manor house open to visitors. Both locations were not open before 12 noon so don't plan on any early morning visit. At Hever Castle the gardens and grounds attract visitors from all around the world - and they are quite magnificent and well worth the long walk around. Not even the heavy rain could put us off exploring these gardens but, no doubt, they would look better in sunshine. The Castle is of Tudor origin and is fully moated. Inside, this former childhood home of Anne Boleyn and later the Astor family has been restored with great care. There is a definite commercially driven Anne Boleyn theme to the Castle but this only adds to the interest. Here there is a hedge maze and a water maze and a large visitor centre and cafeteria. We were also surprised by the Tudor outbuildings which were quite fascinating as they looked so real forming a little village of workers cottages, adjacent to the castle. But then we found out that they were added in the 1900's by the Astors as part of the conference facilities operated by the castle. Inside, these cottages are in fact lavish accommodation and facilities all interconnected. From here we wound our way through Leigh, Tonbridge, Pembury, Flimwell and Hurst Green to Bodiam and its famous disused castle. As you approach and walk around this grassy and moated castle you will realise it is the most castley looking castle you are likely to see in England - you will of course recognise it from numerous movies and TV shows. We left via Salehurst and arrived at the town of Battle - a large Abbey was built here adjacent to the hill on which the Battle of Hastings was fought. You can inspect the hill and wonder why it took the Normans all day to trudge up the soggy slope when over on the side there is a perfectly good asphalt pathway. Battle is an attractive village and well worth a walk around its streets. We then arrived in Hastings for a quick tour of the waterfront and the heritage streets. Once a haunt of smugglers, the twisting alleyways of the town give way to the waterfront and the largest beach based fishing fleet in Europe. The recently restored Victorian pier is worth a look. Our stay this night was at the best B&B you could probably find in the area - perched right on the coast at Fairlight looking over grassy dales to the English Channel. We had a very pleasant dinner at a nearby pub, and found our way home with the very precise directions given to us by our hosts. This was a big day for us. There is always the temptation to do and see as much as you can but you need also to take the time to leisurely enjoy the places that really appeal to you. |