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I went 220 miles to Devon for 30 minutes – Sunday.

I went 220 miles to Devon for 30 minutes – Sunday.

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I was on my own because Amanda was unable to come with me this timesmilies but she drove me to our local station where I was to catch the train to London but we were greeted with the news that the train was cancelled. Brilliant!  smilies  smilies

The next train was in half an hour which meant there would be little margin between getting to London Waterloo and catching the train to Axminster. Missing that train would mean an hour's wait for the next one.

I did get the next train and changed at Stratford onto the Jubilee line bound for Waterloo. When we were about halfway to Waterloo I decided I'd get to Waterloo at the time my train was due to leave and so probably wouldn't get it. As we travelled nearer to Waterloo the time/distance between stations seemed to be getting shorter. Was there hope yet? smilies

We finally arrived at Waterloo about ten minutes before my train left so I had a chance and finally reached the entrance to the platform with five minutes to spare. I did, after all, catch my intended train at 11:15 AM. smilies

This train, on the Waterloo-Axminster line, is the sort of train I travelled on:

After an uneventful journey of 2 hours and 45 minutes we arrived at Axminster in Devon. My bus was waiting outside the station and we set off south for the coast shortly after.

What I really wanted to do was to go to Lyme Regis in Dorset which is where I'm staying for the next few days. The bus soon reached the Devon/ Dorset border and I'd left Devon about 30 minutes after I'd reached it.

It was an interesting 30 minute ride on roads which were often only just wide enough for the bus and, at last, we were on the downhill stretch into Lyme Regis where I got off. After a very short walk I arrived at the Royal Lion Hotel which was to be my base for the next three nights.

Very friendly and efficient staff here and I was soon shown to my room. Note that the sea is just at the bottom of High Street.

It was a triple room with the single bed that I used just out of sight on the right (You can actually just see the corner). The entrance to the room was at a higher level hence the few steps down with part of the banister rail showing. The bathroom was also at the higher level. There was also a small outside terrace accessed using the door at the far end where a small part of the sea was visible.

A nice room in, what turned out to be, a nice hotel. It was, at one time, a coaching inn and dates from around 1610.

I telephoned Amanda to let her know that I had arrived safely and then made myself a cup of coffee. Having settled in I wound up my legs and set off to explore. I have a feeling that I should have had a larger spring fitted.

At the bottom of High Street is the Square and you can see that the time is now about 3:15 PM.

I headed west along Marine Parade which was lined with chip shops and ice cream shops together with an amusement arcade at the far end. This proved to be the tackiest part of the town but very popular.

I reached the harbour and just HAD to walk out on one of the harbour walls known as the Cobb.

This harbour wall features in Jane Austen's novel 'Persuasion', and in 'The French Lieutenant's Woman', a novel by British writer John Fowles, as well as the 1981 film of the same name, which was partly filmed in Lyme Regis.

Do you think I'd make a film star?

Lyme Regis is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and in the 13th century developed as a major port. The first record of the Cobb is in 1328 and it has been destroyed or severely damaged by storms several times. It was swept away in 1377 when 50 boats and 80 houses were also destroyed.

The next (top) picture is Lyme Regis seen from the outer end of the Cobb and the second picture looking across the harbour shows the western most part of Lyme Regis, like a small detached village, which is also known as the Cobb. Confusing ain't it?


A 15 minute walk further west along the beach with a low tide and I reached some exposed slabs of rock which were obviously very fossiliferous.


Each of those circular shapes are Ammonites which are about 200 million years old (at last I've found something which is older than me). In the second photograph erosion has effectively sectioned an ammonite showing the internal septa.

I walked back along the beach and, at this juncture, I have to admit that sandals were not the best choice of footwear (sand and gravel gets between feet and sandals) but I didn't want to wear boots for the whole time so I was stuck with them.

From the Cobb village I went up into Lister Gardens which is mostly grass and trees with a good view of the harbour.

A little further towards the town it changes to Langmoor Gardens which features a number of flowering plants and is, consequently, more colourful.

Back in town I found the Riverside Walk.

The River Lym, down in the gully on the left, is really quite small except when it's in flood and is only 3 miles long from source to sea although there were as many as thirteen mills using the energy provided by this short river before the steam engine was invented.

There are plenty of narrow lanes and streets here and I eventually emerged on one opposite the Guildhall.

Back to the hotel in plenty of time for dinner.

(Tomorrow, Monday: I take a ride, go up in the world and suffer abject failure)

 

Cow Gap

Cow Gap

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Day One

The weather forecast for the next 3 days was cloudy but dry. Well, we can handle that so off we went to Eastbourne. Why Eastbourne? We'll get to that later.

We decided to travel by train. We don't have to drive and we don't have to find somewhere to park (the hotel doesn't have its own car park) – can't be bad.

I looked at the train status on my smartphone and saw, with some dismay, that an empty train had derailed earlier and would be causing a delay on our journey. Bummer! smilies The delay was reported to be 20 minutes and we had 45 minutes to walk across to Stratford International Station to make the connection. We were going to Stratford International not because Eastbourne is considered to be exotic but because we can use the high-speed line to get to Ashford and thence a local train to Eastbourne. That delay would still leave us with 25 minutes for the change which should be plenty.

We caught our 'usual' train, which was on time, from our local station and although there was a small delay we arrived only 10 minutes later than planned leaving us oodles of time for the connection. Having alighted at Stratford, in Greater London, we walked across to the International Station with plenty of time to spare. The train arrived on time and 30 minutes later, after an uneventful journey, we arrived at Ashford in Kent.

The Eastbourne train was waiting in the platform and we were soon headed for Eastbourne where we arrived at around 12:40 and after a short walk we were at our hotel at lunchtime.

Driving time would have been about two and a half hours and the train journey, including waiting times, was 3 hours so not really much difference.

Having arrived at lunchtime we had a brilliant idea – we could have lunch and so we did. After lunch we wandered off towards the pier. The last time that we were on Eastbourne Pier the steps up to the Camera Obscura level were closed off and I was hoping we might be able to get up there this time but, no, the steps were closed off. That's two bummers in the same day. smilies

We didn't do a lot today and went back to our hotel to prepare for dinner. Tomorrow is the big day.

Day Two

After breakfast at about 9:30 AM we left the hotel and walked down to the seafront. This view is looking in the direction in which we are headed.

We followed the coast road westward until it reach the grass downland where it bends sharp right. We bent sharp left along a track going towards the cliffs. When we reached to edge of the cliffs we could see back to Eastbourne.

You may just be able to see the end of Eastbourne Pier sticking out beyond the promentary where the beach disappears from sight. The weather is better than forecast this morning but the sun is watery and it's not very clear. There is also a strong wind of about 15 mph gusting to 21 mph which we could do without. Looking in the opposite direction we can see our first target – the shore. Do you think that the sign is trying to tell us something?

You may notice that the shore is covered in rock fragments caused by erosion and we are planning to walk on that. smilies

We still have a way to walk along the top of the cliffs yet. We follow the footpath until we see a path forking off to the left and we follow that fork.

We start heading down. That shore looks nearer but it doesn't look any better. More steps to go down.

Can you read the name on the sign? It says 'Cow Gap'. 'Gap' around here is a point in the cliffs which is low enough for it to be practical to build some steps down to the shore. There aren't many gaps. We have visited the other two and have been waiting for an opportunity to visit this one so we've made it at last.

There is Amanda at the foot of the steps and we are now on the shore. Take a look at the shore because we are proposing to walk over a half mile on that. After a while of scrambling it was nice to reach some solid rock to walk on for a while and just showing at the foot of the cliffs on the horizon is our second target – Beachy Head Lighthouse.

We eventually ran out of solid rock but after yet more scrambling we came across a nice large patch of sand. Woo Hoo! That was a welcome relief.

Unfortunately that nice flat sand didn't last for long and we were back to scrambling once again. We did reach another relatively small area of flat rock but there was more loose rock ahead.

The next picture shows how the shore looked further on. That's not going to be easy to walk on.

That cliff on the right is Beachy Head. We realised at this point that we wouldn't make it to the lighthouse because the tide had now turned and was coming back in so this is as near as we got. smilies This is not a good place to be caught by the tide.

On the way back to Cow Gap we had a good look at the rocks and saw many old fossils. (Waits for obvious comments. smilies )




The pictures above, in order, starting from the top are:

Ammonite shell impression
Turitella type shellfish
Section of a Brain Coral
Section of a sponge

We also came across two plants which are typical of this environment.

Sea Kale which looks rather like cabbage.

 and Rock Samphire which looks like, well, Rock Samphire.

On the way back to Eastbourne I managed to sneak up on this Speckled Wood butterfly.

We went back to our hotel to change and were out again in time for afternoon tea. Yum yum. Tomorrow I'm doing another walk and Amanda is going to a museum.

Day Three

Amanda decided after yesterday's walk that she didn't want to do more walking today so she is going to visit the 'How we lived then' museum, packed with nostalgic items from the past, and I am getting on the bus.

My bus, the number 126, leaves from a stop near the railway station at about 9:45 and I walk up to the stop with time to spare. Whilst I'm waiting a lady asks me if the 126 goes to Alfriston. I explain that I hope it does because that's where I'm planning to go. We share a seat on the bus and chat. It turns out that her name is Nicky (Nicola) and she is on holiday from Switzerland and someone here suggested that she would probably like visiting  Alfriston.

We arrive in Alfriston after about 30 minutes and she decides to join me on a visit to the Clergy House. Amanda and I have stayed in Alfriston before but were unable to visit the Clergy House because it opens only on some days and wasn't open when we were last there.

The Clergy House is a 14th-century Wealden hall-house and is owned by the National Trust. It was their first ever purchase in 1896 and cost the princely sum of £10.00.

This picture shows why it is called a hall-house.

It has a hall-like room which goes right up into the roof. Very impressive but, I would imagine, a devil to heat in the winter.

This shows the kitchen with all mod. cons. Well it does have a sink and water pump.

There were also some nice gardens.

Nicky was apparently going to spend the whole day looking around Alfriston so I said goodbye and made my way to the river.

Not much of a river I grant you; more like a stream at this point. However I plan on following the river down to Exceat where I hope to catch a bus back to Eastbourne so I set off.

I soon came across a group of locals having a meeting and there's one on the extreme right that's right on my path.

We shall see what she will do when I get closer. Well I walked close by her right-hand side and apart from a brief glance at me she got on with her eating. They must be used to seeing people.

I passed the little village of Littlington part of which is shown here. Pity the weather isn't better.

Soon after I passed littlington I had my first glimpse of the white horse, on High and Over, seen across the reeds on the edge of the river to the right.

A little further on and there is a better view of the river with the white horse beyond.

The banks of the river look muddy because the river is tidal at this point and the tide is low so the river level is down. Incidentally High and Over is the name of a hill between Alfriston and Seaford and is the hill directly ahead.

This is about as close as I got to the white horse then following the river takes me further away.


At one point I walked past these Canada Geese who seemed to be honking away most of the time. There were also some other white birds in the distance which I couldn't identify. They all sounded as though they were having a honking good time.

It didn't take much longer to get to the bus stop at Exceat and a little while later along came my bus back to Eastbourne.

After an uneventful ride (front seat, top deck) we reached the top of the hill down to Eastbourne with a good view of the town laid out below. That probably would have looked nice in good weather.

I got off the bus at Eastbourne Station where Amanda was waiting for me with our luggage and we got the train back home. It was a short but enjoyable trip. We will probably be back.

 

Time and Tide

Time and Tide

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Friday was Amanda's birthday and it was forecast to be a nice day so we thought we'd have a short trip to Tollesbury. We walked along the sea wall until we spotted some Sea Lavender and went down onto the marshes to have a look.

The salt marshes are riddled with channels which form quite a maze.

There is a large channel running along the outside of the wall which the lavender was next to but just a short way on we could see a narrow land bridge across this channel. We walked across it and a little further on there was a crude wooden bridge although we have no idea who would have constructed it. However it looked quite substantial, and it was, so we walked across onto the next bit of marshland. The next wooden bridge didn't look so well constructed so we gave that one a miss.

We carried on a little way with channels on both sides until we could see that there was no way on and turned round and headed back. We got back to the sea wall and then saw some other people starting to do what we did. They decided to risk the ricketty bridge.

You can see the other bidge that we used to the right of those people who did get across safely. We went back to look at the lightship because we were now about two hours to high tide and the path out to the ship can be covered at high tide. We could see that the water level now was only about 5 inches below the path and still rising.

It was now time for lunch so we went on the 'The Loft', where we had been before, and had a pleasant unhurried lunch. Afterwards we went back to the sea wall to see how the tide was progressing and it was progressing very well thank you.

The picture above is looking along the route that we had walked just an hour ago. If you look at the previous picture showing some people on the ricketty bridge you should be able to see, to the right, a wooden post with a white top near the other bridge. That same post is visible a short way in from the right edge of the picture.

We walked back to 'The Loft' and this is what we saw.

The Loft is the farthest one of the old sail lofts.

You can't say you weren't warned.

This view of The Loft was at high tide with the water not quite reaching it. However on some tides the water does reach The Loft.

We went home after an enjoyable little trip.

Lynn – Day 3

Lynn – Day 3

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Another day, another sunny morning.

Today we are going further north to the coast at Hunstanton known colloquially as 'Sunny Hunny'. It's about 40 years since I was there last and we are going once again to look at the cliffs. It was a straightforward, uneventful journey and we reached the old lighthouse in about 30 minutes. We went into the obvious, very large car park to find that the charges were approximately £1.80 per hour with a small reduction for longer stays. We turned round and left.

We drove along the road past the car park entrance and found space further down to park in the road at £0.00 per hour unrestricted. No contest really.

We were now going to walk back the way we came, along the top of the cliffs, until we can access the beach. A short way after leaving the car we came across the only remaining part of St. Edmund's Chapel built in 1272.

Hunstanton has long been associated with Sir Edmund who, as King of East Anglia, led a small army against the invading Vikings, was captured and, after refusing to give up his Christian faith, was tied to a tree and shot by Danish archers. Legend has it that when St Edmund first came from Saxony in AD855 he landed near Hunstanton cliffs.

Then of course there's the old lighthouse.

There has been a Lighthouse here since 1665 which was built of wood with an iron basket of burning coals as a light. Hunstanton had the world's first parabolic reflector, built here in 1776, and the current lighthouse was built in 1840. There is no access inside as it is now a private residence.

We went on past the lighthouse down towards the beach as the cliffs became lower and lower. We could see a large expanse of beach and, further out to sea, a bank of mist touching the water.

Having reached the beach we reversed our direction so that we were now walking back along the beach, instead of the cliff top, in the direction of our parked car. The cliff here comprises three layers of which the bottom layer is Carstone. This is a type of sandstone and shows a distinct pattern of raised, rounded blocks here when eroded by the sea.

The cliffs themselves are the striped cliffs I mentioned in the Prologue and you should be able to see three distinct colour bands. The youngest rock at the top is bog standard white chalk laid down during the Upper Cretaceous then below that is what is known as Red Chalk laid down during the Lower Cretaceous. Both of these layers are limestone. At the base is the Carstone which is brown in colour and which we saw protruding above the beach as rounded blocks in the previous picture.

For those of you who prefer to work in years these sediments are around the 100 million year mark – a teensy bit older than I am.

We walked a little further on until we found some steps and a path to take us back to the top of the cliffs. You can probably see that these cliffs are subject to significant erosion.

After that final look at the cliffs we found a nice little cafe at the top of the cliffs overlooking the sea where we had lunch. After lunch we walked back to the car and headed back to King's Lynn.

About 5 miles this side of King's Lynn is a small village called Castle Rising where we expected to find, as you've probably guessed, a Norman castle. What we didn't expect to find was an imposing Norman church.


On the other side of the church is the old market cross dating from the 15th century which we thought was in a rather nice setting.

The church itself had a rather spendid, and typical, Norman doorway.

Opposite the church was the Tudor Trinity Hospital founded by the Earl of Northampton in 1614 and although the roof is now tiled the original roof was thatched. The term 'hospital' in Tudor times was applied to almshouses.

The inhabitants, known as 'Sisters', were expected to be "of an honest life and conversation, religious, grave and discrete, able to read, a single woman, 56 years of age at least, no common beggar, harlot, scold, drunkard, or haunter of taverns" and had to attend chapel every day.

Finally we got round to seeing what we came here to see – the 12th century castle.


I'm standing on the high earthwork bank which completely surrounds the castle with a very, very deep ditch on the outer edge. That's Amanda teetering on the edge in the second picture.


The main stairway into the castle is quite impressive and it was meant to look that way to impress visitors.

The rest of the castle, however, is accessed via the more traditional medieval spiral stairways and passages.


When we came to leave we realised that we were the only people in the castle. An interesting experence.

It's worth a visit if you're ever that way.

The end of another day and tomorrow we go home – but …..

 

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day Two

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day Two

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We got up this morning to find a cloudy sky but it is supposed to get brighter later. After breakfast we paid our bill and booked out but left our luggage until we were ready to leave Brighton later in the day.

We went down the road again to Marine Parade to have another look at the little electric railway. I went onto the platform to take this picture.

In this next picture you may get a better idea of the railway's location. The beach and pier is on the left with the road to the right. The Brighton Wheel is visible above the roof of the train.

Notice the patches of blue sky that have started to appear. Without the sun it was cool enough to give Amanda goose bumps. I didn't feel quite so cold so perhaps I had duck bumps. We walked along Marine Parade away from the pier until we reached the Madeira Lift. Built between 1830 and 1840 the lift was originally hydraulically operated but now uses electricity. It saves a climb between Madeira Drive and Marine Parade and is free so we went for a ride.


Amanda photographed this old Victorian relic at the top of the lift.

We stayed at the upper level and walked back into town to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery which is in the Royal Pavilion grounds.

We were, originally, planning to visit the Booth Museum in Brighton until we discovered that the one day each week that it closes is a Thursday – today. The Brighton Museum building was originally the stables for the Pavillion which is why it is built in the same style.

It has an eclectic collection with numerous exhibits. When we arrived we went straight to the cafe for coffee and this next picture, of one of the galleries, was taken from the table at which we were sitting.

When we had finished our drinks we went back downstairs to start looking around. You may notice that even the archway in this gallery has the 'Eastern' theme and, remember, this was just the stables.

One of the first galleries we visited was dedicated to ceramics.


I noticed the piece in the lower picture particularly because it reminded me of Tipoo's Tiger that we saw in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and on the label its said:

"Commemorating the death of a young Englishman mauled by a tiger in India in 1792. The popular Staffordshire figure group (1810) was probably inspired by a wooden hand-organ, which was carved and painted to look like a tiger attacking an Englishman in uniform. Displayed in London from 1808, the organ was known as "Tipoo's Tiger" and is now on display in the V&A."

They also had an Egyptian Gallery of which these mummies were part.

There was a gallery about the Ice Age.

Numerous other galleries on varied subjects so there is plenty to see.

It was getting near time for us to leave so we walked back to our B&B to collect our luggage and then caught a bus to the station. So what was our final impression of Brighton? It hadn't really changed from our initial impression in that Brighton did look generally shabby and uncared for although that could not be said of the buses. They have an excellent bus service with frequent buses and the buses themselves are modern, bright and smart with electronic displays on board.

Brighton is not one of those places that we would be keen to see again but it probably would make an interesting day trip from London.

When we reached the station we were really pleased to see that our train was eight coaches with very few people on board, so that we had our pick of the seats, and that it was a modern unit with air conditioning. A relief from the journey up.

The journey was about an hour and we arrived back at Farringdon at around 3:30 PM, caught the Undergound to Liverpool Street and decided to have a slight detour. When we went to Spitalfields last we missed a couple of things which we decided to find this time.

We went back to Bishops Square next to Spitalfields Market.

Although this is a modern development it's not all new round here. If you walk to the north end of Bishops Square farthest from Brushfield Street you will see a large stairwell going apparently nowhere.

You may notice that in the farthest right-hand corner in the above picture there is also a small lift for those that cannot easliy manage stairs. So, what does it all mean?

You'll see that in the left-hand wall there is some glass. This is a window to the ruins behind.

You are looking at the remains of a Charnel House, dating from about 1320, which was discovered during excavations in 1999 and it is thought that parts of the masonry may date back to the 12th century. For those not 'in the know' a Charnel House is a store for human bones disturbed during the digging of graves within a cemetery.

Long before the Charnel House was built, the Romans used the area as a burial ground and a Roman lead coffin was found near this site which contained the body of a woman.

It explains onsite:

"The crypt of the chapel of St Mary Magdelene and St Edmund the Bishop built in about 1320 and sited in the cemetery of the priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital. In the chapel above, services were held to dedicate the bones beneath. After St. Mary Spital was closed in 1539, most of the bones were removed, and the crypt became a house until it was demolished in about 1700. The crypt lay forgotten beneath the gardens of terraced houses and then Stewart Street until it was found in archaeological excavations in 1999."

If you now go back to the other end of Bishops Square, across Brushfield Street, along Fort Street into Artillery Lane, turn left go round the first bend, past Gun Street to the second bend and you will see these:

These are Georgian shop fronts surviving from the 1750s.

Now that was a worthwhile diversion but now we go back to Liverpool Street Station and catch a train home.

 

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day One

Bright, Brighter, Brighton – Day One

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Wednesday was cloudy when we got up but we were planning to go to Brighton for an overnight stay and the weather was supposed to be better down south. I had become quite frustrated the day previously in trying, and failing, to find available accommodation in Brighton. I didn't think that Brighton was so popular that every bed would be taken. When I'd got to the point of giving up I thought to call the Tourist Information Office to see if they could do any better and they were able to offer me a choice of two! They also explained that Brighton University was having graduation days so the place was stuffed with students' relatives. That explained it.

We set off from home on the 5 mile drive to our local railway station confident of getting there in plenty of time to buy tickets before the train came in. We reached the edge of the village, wherin lies the station, and joined a long traffic queue. Bummer!

We occasionally get a traffic queue at this junction which we traverse very quickly but it was never this long. We decide that we aren't going to get to the station in time which means we aren't going to arrive in Brighton until 1 o'clock, an hour later than we expected. Double bummer!

We eventually arrive at our car parking place and start our walk across the fields to the station. We weren't in a hurry because we knew that there was no chance of catching our planned train and we were going to have to wait a half-hour for the next train. As we sauntered towards the station we saw a diesel hauled goods train go through the station towards London.

'Hang on', I said to Amanda, 'our train uses that line so it must be at least a few minutes behind that goods train'. So we increased our speed and got to the ticket office with no train in sight yet. Tickets in hand we went on to the platform to see a train approaching in the distance. It turned out to be yet another goods train. Then an announcement tells us that our train is running 8 minutes late. So that was a bit of luck otherwise we would definitely have missed it. We both breathe a sigh of relief.

On the way to Liverpool Street Station we realise that we are going to have no more than 20 minutes to get from Liverpool Street Station to Farringdon Station, using the Underground, instead of the more comfortable 30 minutes it should have been.

We had to wait only 3 minutes for an Underground train and had only 2 stops before Farringdon so we arrived with plenty of time. As we hadn't been to Farringdon Station before we weren't sure how far we'd have to walk to get from the Underground platforms to the platform for the 'normal' train. It turned out to be about 5 seconds. All we had to do was to walk across the platform to the other side.

However the indicator board tells us that the next train to Brighton is due in now – 15 minutes earlier than we expected. It duly arrives but is only 4 coaches long and consequently sails past us to the far end of the platform. We leg it to the train and do manage to get seats even though it is fairly crowded.

One of the stops in London was Blackfriars where the station is built on a bridge across the Thames so that one gets a good view east along the river when the train is in the platford. We could also see St. Paul's Cathedral off to one side and later we went very close to Southwark Cathedral.

The train turns out to be one of the older type trains which don't have air conditioning but do have windows that have openings at the top. The electric motors and driving gear also make a lot of noise – a sort of combined grinding and whining so we had a hot stuffy noisy jouney for an hour.

We were glad to get out at Brighton and were travelling light, as it was only a one night stay, so we walked to our Bed & Breakfast which took us about twenty minutes. It was hot but at least it was a clear blue sky. On that walk we formed an initial impression of Brighton that it was noisy (lots of traffic), scruffy and uncared for – not a good start. Did we have the same impression when we left? I'll tell you when we leave.

The people who were running the B&B were very pleasant and showed us to our room. It was the last room in the place, on the third floor, and was very small but it also had a small price tag – 67.50 GBP for the night including breakfast. We left our luggage in our room and walked the short distance down the road to Marine Parade on the seafront. This is my very first photograph of the trip showing Madeira Drive down below, Brighton  Pier and the Brighton Wheel.

As we started to walk along towards the pier we saw a train coming along on the Volks Electric Railway which is the oldest electric railway in the world having been operating since 1883.

Going down from the upper level to sea level and walking a little further brought us to the little terminus station on the railway.

Shortly after we arrived at Brighton Pier and headed seaward. After a short while we stopped and looked back towards the shore.

You probably couldn't tell from this distance but the beach is comprised of pebbles – no sand. Doesn't seem to deter people from sitting all over it does it?

We very soon found a stall selling fried rice and noodles and it was lunchtime so we thought we'd sample some fried rice. It incorporated prawns and pieces of chicken in no small number. We found a parked flatbed trolley to sit on and eat our food which turned out to be very tasty and there was plenty of it. Neither of us can remember what the stall was called and I don't remember seeing anything else similar but we can recommend it.

Walking further along the pier it widens considerably.

We could see (and hear) that we were getting near an amusemnt park type area and, in places, it was very noisy with piped music often being excessively loud. Amanda spotted this Galloper (Roundabout) which tend to be favourites of hers.

We were now about as far seaward as it is possible to get so we turned back towards the shore. Looking back we could see some of the 'rides' including the Helter Skelter and the Galloper just to its left. I can also remember walking past a Ghost Train.

We were pleased to see that the deckchairs were free to use and there were plenty of people using them.

We left the pier and headed into the centre of the town where we soon found the Royal Pavillion. Well you couldn't really miss it could you?


How about this forest of spires?

Built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, between 1787 and 1823, it has, as you will probably notice, an exotic oriental appearance.

Entrance to the grounds is free but you have to pay to go inside and let me warn you that photography inside is prohibited. You may have realised by now that that really annoys me and, probably, a lot of other visitors too. I certainly wouldn't pay the entrance fee under those circumstances but we were able to go in because we each had a free three month Art Pass which expires at the end of July.

We entered the grounds through the entrance which is furthest from the main entrance to the house but we left from the other entrance going past the Brighton Visitor Information Centre and across to East Street where we turned right and were then in The Lanes.

The Lanes is a small area in Brighton which is a maze of small streets and alleys with many small shops of all sorts and used to be the fishing town of Brighthelmstone dating from the late 18th century.

It is, in our view, probably the most attractive area of Brighton and certainly didn't look scruffy in the slightest. We saw an amazing variety of shops from expensive jewellers to cake shops.


We were both beginning to tire by this time so decided to call it a day and headed back to our B&B via Steine Gardens and the Victoria Fountain.

More tomorrow.

 

Under an Essex sky

Under an Essex sky

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Today, Thursday, is the BIG one. I plan to do an eight mile walk from Tollesbury to Salcott-cum-Virley along the edge, and through, some of the Essex salt marsh.

It wasn't practical for me to drive to Tollesbury as I wasn't reurning there so I planned to go by bus but Amanda immediately volunteered to drive me to Tollesbury. So was it her altruistic nature showing through? Well, no it wasn't, it was because I was planning to have lunch, when I got to Tollesbury, in a little tea room that we discovered recently and which neither of us had tried and she certainly wasn't going to be left out of that.

So we parked the car and headed down towards Tollesbury Waterside. This tea room is called 'The Loft' because it is in one of the old sail lofts which I have mentioned before.

We arrived at around 12:30 to find plenty of vacant tables, chose one and settled ourselves down and you can see Amanda avidly studying the menu. We didn't have long to wait for our order to be taken and my coffee and Amanda's tea arrived very soon after. It wasn't very long after that that our lunches arrived so the service was certainly good. I was having Mediterranean vegetable soup which turned out to be very tasty and the bread, from the local bakers, was excellent. Amanda had a free range chicken, homemade sausage meat stuffing and cranberry sauce sandwich which she thoroughly enjoyed. The food served here is all local produce and they also have some very tempting cakes which, I believe, are also homemade. Although it was quiet when we arrived by the time we left it was very busy. An obviously popular place.

Having sampled the fare I was very tempted to suggest that we spend the afternoon sitting here drinking coffee and eating cake but decided that it wouldn't make a particularly interesting blog post. So it was time for Amanda to go back home and for me to start my walk the beginning of which was virtually next to the tea room.

My route, produced on my GPS as I walked, is shown on this map with the start at the bottom.

There are waypoints marked at 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours into the walk with the final waypoint at the end.

This is the start of my journey into the unknown (I haven't done this before) so up onto the sea wall and out into the wilderness. This next view is only a few hundred yards, if that, from the start of the path shown above with the salt marsh stretching off into the distance past the houseboat.

It wasn't long after I started that I saw a Little Egret standing in the marsh and I was hoping to get a photograph with the telephoto when I was near enough but it flew off long before that.

I suppose it would have been about 30 minutes into the walk when I took this next photograph.

The habitation on the horizon is West Mersea on Mersea Island on the other side of Salcott Channel. By the time I get to waypoint 'B' I shall be a lot nearer but that won't be for some time yet.

Not long after taking the above photograph I turned round and looked the other way. This picture was taken at that point with the sun and Tollesbury just out of the picture to the right. I'm probably looking towards Shinglehead Point (see map).

After about 40 minutes I reach Old Hall Farm which, as you can see on the map, is at the end of a little lane which comes in to the marshes and stops at the farm.

A little further on at the 1 hour mark I saw this next view looking across the marsh to Tollesbury. A little to the left of centre, on the horizon, is the Tollesbury Lightship and you can just about see the tower on the lightship sticking up above the horizon in the larger picture. It looks a long way away now.

Not long past the last view I reach a junction where I have to decide to branch left and take a shorter route or carry on round the edge the long way with no chance of changing my mind. I ask myself 'Are you a man or a wimp?' and my legs quickly answer 'A wimp, a wimp' but I decide to ignore them and go the long way anyway. I may regret that later and my legs certainly will.

Further along the wall I found that I had to wade through a lot of Norfolk Reed. It's certainly unusual to find it on the top of the wall as it normally grows on the edge of water. You can see the wall curving gently to the left with the River Blackwater on the outer edge of the marsh to the right.

Occasionally I hear the cry of a Curlew but don't actually see any. I am now heading along the sea wall on the northern edge of North Channel which runs between me and Great Cob Island. If I turn and look inland I'm looking across Old Hall Marshes towards Peldon (off the top of the map). The water in the foreground will be fresh water because it's on the inside of the sea wall.

A little further on I met this group of local ladies having a chat on the wall.

They didn't seem particularly pleased to see me and went off in a huff. I think that they were envious of the fact that I could navigate the stile and they couldn't. The buildings visible beyond are part of West Mersea on Mersea Island and are a lot nearer now than when I mentioned them earlier.

It was pretty breezy out here and there were a number of sailing vessels on the water including these small sailing boats which appeared to be in a race of some sort.

I then come across a small shell bank (bottom right of next picture) with Mersea Island in the distance. You may be able to see that the sea wall runs straight ahead towards Mersea and then turns abruptly left. That turn should be around my 2 hour mark. You can also see that parts of the marsh are now almost submerged as the tide is coming in.

I finally reach my two hour point, waypoint 'B', and I'm as near to Mersea as I'm going to get. Doesn't look very far away does it? The sun seems to have taken a break though.

Looking inland over Old Hall Marshes, at this same point, I can see Pennyhole Fleet.

Pennyhole Fleet is the area of fresh water in the foreground. A 'fleet' is an old channel that has since been blocked at both ends. Whilst I'm looking at this view I hear a lot of distant honking and then seen a flock of geese flying in from the right and they curve round towards me and land on the far side of the marsh. They are too far to see once they've landed but they are probably Brent Geese coming from more northern climes to overwinter in this country.

A little later I took this photograph, again of Old Hall Marshes, because I rather liked the look of the back lighting when looking directly into the sun.

Surely I must be getting near the end by this point? Well the bad news is that I still have an hour to go and I am beginning to get tired. My legs are trying to mutiny but I'm in charge and they do as they're told. So there!

I'm now at Quince's Corner, just short of the three hour 'C' waypoint.

Quince's Corner is a small bay in Salcott Channel. You can probably see the curved shape in the picture with Mersea over to the far left and the path I've been following along the top of the wall and it can't be far to the three hour mark surely? Well no it isn't far and I reach it shortly after (waypoint 'C'). I pause to telephone Amanda to get her to come to Salcott to pick me up and then continue towards salcott. A little after this I hear a Curlew and see it land on the opposite edge of the channel.

Those buildings in the trees on the horizon must be Salcott. I wish they didn't look quite so far away.

I finally get to the point where I have to leave the wall and cross a field to get into Salcott and there, at the end, is Amanda waiting for me at the end of the lane (waypoint 'D').

That turned out to be 8.5 miles in 3 hours 30 minutes. Whew!  :cool:

It was, however, a lovely day to be out on the marshes although a lighter breeze would have been a bonus and I suppose I'll do it again – sometime. :mrgreen: