Day 80: Back to Eastbourne

When I was a child my grandfather used to take us out in his car on Sunday afternoon to give my parents a bit of time off. With six children I’m sure that was welcomed. When we asked where we were going he used to say, “there and back to see how far it is.”

I left Eastbourne on May 1^st and started my trip on the edge around the whole coast of Britain and tonight I will have been there and back to see how far it is.

Saltdean is a small village on the outskirts of Brighton and I called in on Ruth an old friend  who had been so encouraging about this trip. She is a writer and she had suggested not only to write a blog but to keep a journal as well . One journal has become three! So much happened that I did not record for the blog, and I just wanted to share some of it with Ruth.

Over a cup of tea I told her about the soldier theme and what some of it had involved. Why? Because Ruth was an army doctor for years. Things I had experienced around the military would resonate with her. It did.

I am waiting to see what I am supposed to do with the ideas and experiences that were shared with me by the soldiers I met on route.As a professional with a foot in both camps so to speak, Ruth may well be part of that too.

Peacehaven is a small town on the coast road just a little further on towards Eastbourne. It would be easy to dismiss it as an insignificant bungalow development but that would be a mistake.

Peacehaven was established in 1916 and originally formed for returning first World War veterans so that they could recover in peace and beside the sea. The land was cheap and people could afford to buy plots and build on them. Originally they could build out of any materials and it may have started like much like plotties movement I saw elsewhere.

Its name came from a competition in the papers set up by an entrepreneur who bought up much of the area and offered free plots as prizes but it was revealed to be a scam. The plots were free but the conveyancing was expensive. The naming competition winner was a lady in Leicestershire called Ethel Radford who suggested the name Peacehaven.

The Greenwich Meridian runs for more than 200 miles through Britain from near Withernsea in East Yorkshire to Peacehaven.  The line is invisible like the equator but there is a monument to it in the town .

Newhaven is another easily dismissed town but again there are some distinguishing features. For a start it is an active port. From here you can take the ferry to France for a day trip.

There is also a 19th century fort there to protect the harbour. It was the largest defence work ever built in Sussex and is now open as a museum.

Seaford is a small seaside town just before the Seven Sister Country Park. It is worth the trip just to visit Pomegranate an unfussy small restaurant run by Steve and Sava. The food is consistently great, with imaginative specials every day. Thankfully an exception to the poor quality food offerings elsewhere on a lot of coastal Britain.

The Cuckmere Haven is famously featured in geography textbooks because it is a fine example of a meandering river with several oxbow lakes.

The iconic Seven Sisters cliffs that feature on the front cover of Bill Brysons latest book (The Road to Little Dribbling) are there in all their glory and are another  popular film location.

The area is  designated.  The Seven Sisters Country Park and the visitors centre is worth a visit. .

It's a lovely flat walk from the car park to the sea where there is a nature reserve.  From the 16^th to the 19^th centuries these beaches were popular with smugglers who were pursued by revenue officers from nearby Newhaven with mixed success.

You can also see old pill box war defences on the route left over from World War 2

On to Birling Gap from where you can stroll along the cliff top to the Belle Toute Lighthouse. The lighthouse was once the Eastbourne Lighthouse but was decommissioned and sold to private owners who converted it to a Bed and Breakfast location. It was shot to international fame in 1999 when it was moved back from the edge of the cliff to prevent it falling into the sea due to cliff top erosion.

And then it’s home.

So….what have I learnt?

I appreciate my own hometown more than I would have believed possible when I left.  It is a beautiful place unspoiled by slot machines and tacky tourist attractions on the promenade but with lots of much more interesting tourist attractions on offer every month.

It is a clean town.

In spite of the recent criticism of the new pier owner, ours is still one of the best piers along the entire coast of Great Britain and I can say that because I have seen almost all of them. I even like the gilding that catches the evening sunshine.

The flowers everywhere I also have taken for granted and think more towns would benefit from the colour and the beauty and the sense of self esteem that come with taking care of your environment.

I LOVED my trip and I know my mother would also have loved every minute.

The best bits?

Definitely the people I met and the small miracles and magical moments I found by scratching under the surface. The local people who advised me what to see and what to do and the surprising number who did not consider that their towns had anything to offer to a visitor but sent me instead to neighbouring places. 

I appreciate the people who make their homes on the coasts of this stunning beautiful island of ours and now know how tough life is for so many of them living on the edges.

Going by myself meant that I talked to people from all walks of life and saw things from their perspective, particularly as these were interesting months politically in the UK with the EU referendum going on.

I missed my family and particularly my daughters. Morgan, beloved number one daughter, acted as my media persona par excellence and sorted my photos and blogs when I had no signal (much of the time) and made sure I was not sued on my return for being totally non PC. She also added all the links for me and tweeted on my behalf meaning that over 8,000 people have looked at a blog that was intended for my six brothers and sisters and my lovely neighbours. Thank you Morgan. Love you lots.

And how far was it to go there and back again? 5649 miles.

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat.

Day 15: Helmsley part 2

Helmsley in North Yorkshire is a delightful place and I am sorry to be leaving

It's 8.30am on Sunday morning, day 15 on my Round the Coast in 80 days road trip, and in Helmsley market square the church bells are pealing while competing with the roar and throbbing of motorbike engines.

The bikes are huge and expensive, BMW and Harleys, and their riders strutting their stuff like modern day Vikings. Cafes are already open for breakfast. By lunchtime the market square will be crammed with them. Why? Why here? The B1257.

Tragically some of the riders have the new look of Sunday bikers who sit behind a desk in a bank in Leeds all week. They are the ones who may not make it safely home tonight. Fingers crossed lads and may angels ride pillion.

Helmsley has some kind of meeting this week to stop the Government licensing Fracking in their neighbourhood. The locals are very worried. I can't understand why there is a need to frack in Yorkshire or anywhere else for that matter.

Just convert cars to run on rape seed oil. Job done!

There is a place near here close to my heart. It is the smallest turf maze in Europe. It was on my way back to the coast so I detoured to find it. It is on the top of a hill near the village of Dalby, and not signposted.

These are rare and historically precious. I was bitterly disappointed to discover that, whereas in the past it has been beautifully maintained by North Yorkshire Council, sadly this was not at all the case today. 

I sent them a plea citing the fact that I had recommended them to Eastbourne Borough Council as part of my bid to have one constructed in Eastbourne new town centre. I am awaiting their response.

Got to County Durham and tried to reach the coast but at Easingham Colliery got to a dead end and kept being funnelled back onto the A19 so gave up. Sorry folks. Saw nothing much of the county but the A19 instead.

Once I got to Northumbria I was in serious sand dune country.

This is not my next Airbnb stop…this is Seaton Delaval Hall where I spent the afternoon.

No point having National Trust membership and not taking advantage of it.

The best bit was the Seaton sluice Ukulele Band who were there entertaining the visitors.

 

Perhaps I will take it on with my local Age Concern group after all.

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is my home for the next three days in a flat, called appropriately Bolthole by The Sea. My host Elaine is welcoming and the flat light and bright.

It's just two minutes walk from the sea. I am looking forward to spending some time exploring this bit of the coast.

Day 1: Eastbourne

The start of a 3780 Mile trip round the coast of Britain. I spent my first day as a hometown tourist in Eastbourne, where I live. I drove into the town centre to do my home town tourist bit. Hardly a major journey - just a mile down the road- but an opportunity to see if my master plan for the whole trip actually works.

I needed to find somewhere I could chat to locals and find out what I must see do. A charity shop turned out to be perfect. They gave me my itinerary and looking disdainfully at my jeans and t-shirt, persuaded me into buying a Per Uno jacket (turquoise and a snip at £6.50) as " I would need it for tea at the Grand."

Places I visited:

Beachy Head and the Visitor Centre

Interesting and free. Can get incredibly windy up there but there are some nice coastal footpaths.
Just be careful though as there is no barrier to the edge of the cliff and they are made of chalk so are known to crumble.

Beachy Head lighthouse and the war memorial. Had to be careful there. A very wet winter has made the cliff unstable but got a good photo of the iconic red and white lighthouse. 

   

Tragically Beachy Head is a renowned suicide spot.

 

The Grand Hotel
The volunteers at the charity shop were right. I needed a jacket. Tea was lovely in a comfortable sun filled lounge where a waiter in what was probably a version of morning dress (looked like an undertaker) whisked a starched white damask cloth over my coffee table with all the panache of a Spanish bull fighter.

The gluten free double chocolate chip biscuit came with the tea.

The tea was loose leaf so I gave myself a little tea leaf reading and frightened the waiter by showing him...

Doesn't it look like the UK with a circle round it? Good omen if a bit spooky! Tea and biscuit £5

The Towner Art Gallery
Big newish gallery usually free, and it has a good coffee shop. 

Great views from the window of the international  tennis in the summer.

The Green Almond

Lunch in my favourite place The Green Almond at the back of the Grand Hotel. 

Fab food, but you do need to book as its tiny and extremely popular. Buffet plate £6.50 Small or £7.50 large plus wonderful puds. All food is vegan and vegetarian, and most of it is gluten free which is such a luxury for me to have some choice.

Seafront and pier

I headed down to the Seafront and Pier to walk off lunch. Odd to think that Eastbourne, Brighton and Hastings have all had pier fires. Eastbourne had a bad one last year.

Eastbourne has a very well known bandstand. It often has concerts and shows and tickets are normally reasonably priced.

Eastbourne has really beautifully tended gardens as you walk along the prom.

Neates

Time for tea. The Volunteers sent me to Neates in Terminus Road where I had one and a bit gluten free scone. One and a bit? Yes they think one is not enough and two too much. Lots of clotted cream and homemade sharp raspberry jam. SO delicious. No wonder they claim to provide the best cream tea in Eastbourne, I agree!

Harbour

Sovereign Harbour is my last port of call (pun intended) for a glass of something chilled as the sun sinks past the yardarm. There are a cluster of restaurants (Italian, Thai, pub grub) and and little shops with a variety of gifts.

Tomorrow my trip starts for real as Gloria, mums ashes and I head off for New Romney.