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Down South – Day 3 – Saturday 26th Sept.

Down South – Day 3 – Saturday 26th Sept.

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We both have aching legs this morning so nothing strenuous today methinks. After breakfast we decided to have a look at the old town area after having passed an interesting half-timbered building on the way back on the bus yesterday so we walked up there.

There is very little left of interest in the old town and I gather the morons that passed for the local council were still demolishing historical buildings in the 1970s. The old church is still there dating from the 12th century, the Lamb Inn (the one we saw from the bus – 1st picture below), another half-timbered house (2nd picture below), the old parsonage  3rd picture below) together with an old barn/coach house and that's it really.

We went back to our hotel for morning coffee and then drove off to Seaford Head where we parked. We had been here before for time enough to take a picture of the well known view of the Seven Sisters with the cottages in the foreground but that was all. We knew that there was a large area designated as a nature reserve which went right up to the cliff edge so we wanted to have a look round.

We turned right off the main track along a footpath which, we could see on the map, went to the cliff edge and soon found ourselves at a place called Hope Gap. This, like Birling Gap, is a point in the cliffs where it's possible to get down to the shore with the aid of a few steps.

We hadn't known about Hope Gap so it was an interesting find. Down the steps we went to potter about on the sea shore. We also discovered that the best possible view of the Seven Sisters, barring using a boat, is from this point; either from the shore or up on the cliffs. In the next picture you can see the Hope Gap steps, the shore (only when the tide is out) and the Seven Sisters.

Where the tide had gone out it had left a wave cut chalk platform with many shallow rock pools. We had a look in a number of pools and saw some shrimps and small fish but nothing else. Someone we spoke to said they'd seen a few crabs but we were hoping to see some sea anemones although we were out of luck.

There were some large blocks of cliff on the shore in places where the cliff had come down but they were much harder than chalk. Probably some sort of Breccia of which there are some in the next picture. The head and shoulders belong to Amanda.

If you count 'The Sisters', not including the extreme right-hand headland which is not part of them, you will probably count only six. That is because, starting from the left, number five is actually two lumps but the first is jutting out and partly obscuring the next so that they appear as one from this viewpoint. The low point between the last 'sister' and the headland on the right-hand end is Birling Gap.

Between Seaford Head, where we are, and the first of the Seven Sisters is Cuckmere Haven Beach which you can see in this picture.

You can see here that parts of the chalk cliffs which form Seaford Head have a significant depth of a brown deposit on top. This is Loess which is a wind-blown sandy deposit which tends to collect in the valleys probably at the time of the last ice age. Water running over these deposits tends to run down and stain the chalk cliffs below.

Having had a good look around we headed back to Eastbourne and having parked our car at the hotel decided a walk along the seafront was in order. We could hear the sound of music in the distance and found that a brass band was playing in the Bandstand on the the promenade so we had to stop and listen for a while. The seagulls obviously don't understand good manners as two of them, at one point, were perched on top of the Bandstand screeching their heads off.

When we had almost reached the pier we saw this very colourful display of flowers.

Going onto the pier we arrived at the Victorian Tea Rooms which I'd mentioned on our first day. We didn't go in, although it looked very nice inside, because it was getting near to dinner time and we didn't want to be tempted by any scrumptious looking cake. Next time perhaps. The dome beyond the tearooms is the Camera Obscura which was closed when we were there so we weren't able to go in.

We spotted this little structure which I assume must be a shelter of some kind. I suppose that if, while walking on the pier, it starts to rain it would offer some temporary respite. We rather liked the view seen through the glass divider.

We walked back to the Wish Tower, near our hotel, so I'll leave you with this last view of the seafront at Eastbourne taken from the hump on which the Wish Tower stands. Amanda has decided that she loves Eastbourne and, I have to admit, there is something about the place. A typical English seaside resort without the usual tastelessness that often goes with it. A rather attractive, grand and genteel town.

Tomorrow we leave for home – but ….

Down South – Day 2 – Friday 25th Sept.

Down South – Day 2 – Friday 25th Sept.

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We woke to another sunny day so the prospects for today's planned walk look good! After breakfast we walked out of our hotel at 9:15 and down to the seafront by the Wish Tower where we turned west. We had about a mile to walk along the seafront before we reached the footpath on the Downs, going past The Grand Hotel on the way and you don't know what grand is until you've seen 'The Grand'. Rooms start at around 190 GBP per night; a little more than we would want to pay. smilies The Grand is the white building and you can see the Downs in the distance where we are headed.

The seafront road climbs quite gently such that it doesn't really notice but after a while when looking back we could see that we'd already gained some height. We soon reached the footpath and started up the Downs towards Beachy Head and now it was noticeably steep. Part the way up I stopped to take a picture of the view which was a good excuse for a brief rest.

Some way further on (and up) we spotted a bench seat so we stopped there for about ten minutes to let a party of noisy school children go past and the noise faded as they disappeared into the distance. We eventually reached the Beachy Head area and had travelled two and a half miles so far. From this point we could see the Belle Tout Lighthouse where we were headed next and from the edge of the cliff the Beachy Head Lighthouse was also visible.

My – tha's a long way down. Walking along the top of the cliffs the views include the sea, the downs and glimpses of the chalk cliffs – absolutely wonderful. The little figure ahead is Amanda and the white headland on the horizon is Seaford Head. Immediately this side of Seaford Head is Cuckmere Haven almost at the end of our walk and in between here and Seaford Head you may just be able to make out the Belle Tout Lighthouse just to the right of Amanda's head.

A little further on and a bit nearer the Beachy Head Lighthouse Amanda photographed me photographing the lighthouse just before I fell over the edge. :shock:

Don't for a minute think that we are walking on level ground. It's all either up or down, some of it quite steep as you should be able to appreciate in this view.

You may notice that the the bottom of the next dip is out of sight down the steep slope but at least the Belle Tout Lighthouse is a bit nearer although there are two of these troughs to negotiate before we reach it. Looking back towards Eastbourne the Beachy Head Lighthouse is still visible and how do you like the look of that last slope we've come down not to mention the one we've just had to climb.

On the way along the cliff tops we saw a number of Clouded Yellow butterflies which was very nice but none of them would stop still long enough for me to take a photograph. We (that's Amanda in front) are about to negotiate the last trough before the Belle Tout Lighthouse.

Hooray! We've finally reached the Belle Tout Lighthouse. Next stop is Birling Gap and that's not very far now.

The lighthouse was moved 56 feet further inland in 1999 to save it from going over the cliffs as erosion progresses and it apparently is now being prepared for opening to the public.

After walking down the slope from the Belle Tout Lighthouse Birling Gap is within sight. Total distance from our hotel to Birling Gap is about five miles.

It is now 12:15 so this is where we break for lunch. After lunch we head up the track visible on the right-hand edge of the picture and on to the Seven Sisters.

It was about this time that I realised that my pedometer was under reading slightly so I'm going to wait until the end of the walk and compare the pedometer reading with the distance I know the walk to be having measured it accurately on an Ordnance Survey map.

After lunch Amanda decided her legs weren't up to going over the Seven Sisters with their many ups and downs, especially with some of them being rather steep, so she caught the bus round to Exceat where we arranged to meet and I set off up the track towards the Seven Sisters at 1:15 PM.

The walk up to the first hump wasn't too bad at all and the view looking back, showing the Belle Tout Lighthouse from this side, wasn't bad either.

The walk over the Seven Sisters was really quite pleasant with some amazing views and I soon found myself on the last but one hump looking at the top of the next, Haven Brow. But oh my goodness – look at the steepness of that final upward slope to the top.

I did make it, however, and here I am on top of Haven Brow, the most westerly of the Seven Sisters, looking down on Cuckmere Haven with Seaford Head beyond and only one and a half miles to the tearooms.  :smile:

I finally arrived at the road in Exceat at 3:15 PM to find Amanda waiting by the gate. That was a total distance of eight and a half miles from our hotel with five hours of actual walking and most of that route is part of the South Downs Way.

We went over to the tearooms for afternoon tea and caught the bus back to Eastbourne. An exceptionally nice day with regard to both the weather and the scenery. I'd love to do it again sometime.

Tomorrow, I think, will be an easy day.

Down South – Day 1 – Thursday 24th Sept.

Down South – Day 1 – Thursday 24th Sept.

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We left home in the morning on a gloriously warm sunny day heading for the Sussex Coast. Our first stop, however, was to be Battle (1066 and all that!) and they have some peculiar parking arrangements in Battle. The abbey has its own car park for which you have to pay and you have to pay again to go into the abbey so we weren't going to do either of those things. The other council run car parks are pay and display but in the Pay & Display cark park off Caldbec Hill there is what they call an overspill car park (unsurfaced) which is free and, consequently, it is very popular. We did actually find a space but it took a 99 point turn to get into it because there was so little room to manouevre.

We had been here last year when Marie came over but I forgot to take a photograph of the Abbey Gatehouse (silly me) so I rectified that omission this time.

We had arrived in Battle shortly before lunchtime and now it was lunchtime so we looked for somewhere to get a light lunch. We found a delicatessen, Battle Deli, which was also a little teashop and went in there.  We both enjoyed our lunch very much and I had the nicest soup I've had in a long while. Very good value. Recommended.

Not far from the car park was this ancient house.

Now there's an interesting shape.

A short way past the abbey is this view. The field on the other side of the gate is called 'Lake Field', although I don't know why as there isn't any lake, and was bought by the National Trust to preserve the view. It's a view worth preserving.

We decided that it was time to move on and headed for Eastbourne. Once settled in we went for a walk along the seafront. It had clouded up a bit by this time but was still pleasantly warm. We drove through Eastbourne, along the seafront, with Marie when she was over here and staying in Rye and it looked quite impressive then so we were very interested to be able to have a good look this time.

It certainly seems a nice town. There were a lot of rather grand buildings, mostly hotels, along the seafront and they looked well cared for; no peeling paint. There was a pebble beach and a pier.

We walked along the pier and were able to catch this view in the evening sunlight.

Nice pier and very well kept with some interesting little buildings including the 'Victorian Tea Rooms' and a Camera Obscura which was closed – pity.

So back for dinner and wait and see what the weather brings for tomorrow's walk.

Hip, Hip, Hoo Rye

Hip, Hip, Hoo Rye

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Tomorrow we leave for Rye and the day after that we meet, for the first time, our forum friend from the U.S.A. – Marie. After that anything could happen. smilies I am hoping that when the hotel says it has Internet access it actually works. We shall see. If it does work I'm hoping to update this report on the day that we arrive and, subsequently, on other days. When I got up this morning it was snowing hard and continued like that for a few hours but, I'm glad to be able to report, it has now stopped and what snow there was on the ground has melted. The weather forecast for tomorrow is sleet with sunny intervals and for Tuesday and Wednesday it's light rain. With weather at this time of year anything could happen. smilies Watch this space!

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Well, Ok, it didn't happen – the blog posting I mean not the trip. It turned out that because we had so much to do the only time I would have had to write the blog would have been late after dinner in the evening and, to be quite honest, I really didn't feel like it. However, here is the report a little late.

The Rye Trip Day 1 – Monday (Rye)

We arrived in Rye, after an uneventful 2 hour drive, at about lunchtime. Driving through the narrow, cobbled streets around Church Square and into Watchbell Street, where our hotel was, was fun! The streets are not wide enough for two cars to pass and some of the corners were pretty tight but we got there. Our hotel was very nice and rather quaint. This shows the side of the hotel in Watchbell Street.

This part of Rye is on the top of the old sea cliff and gives a super view over the harbour and marshes. This view of the hotel is from the bottom of the cliff near the harbour.

This last picture, taken from the bridge on the Rye Harbour road, gives an overall view of the town on the hill with the church tower and spire showing on the right-hand side and our hotel is the building on the extreme left.

We had lunch in the hotel and afterwards went for a walk around the town. The weather was a bit cloudy with some sun but there was a very cold wind. We didn't stay out for long because it felt so chilly and went back to the hotel to organise our belongings and prepare for dinner. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we plan to go to Hastings Old Town by bus and meet up with Marie on our return.

Day 2 – Tuesday (Hastings)

The day dawned with a cloudless sky, not that I was awake at dawn to see it, and as there was no wind it felt a lot warmer altogether. We had breakfast and, as we were planning to go by bus, collected our rucksacks with clothing for all eventualities. We caught the number 100 bus outside Rye Railway Station. The bus stops are arranged in laybys either side of the road running toward the camera with the station at the back and you can see part of the layby on the right-hand side where we caught our bus.

This bus starts from Dover goes through Folkestone to Rye then onward to Hastings where it terminates. It is a double decker so, on those narrow little roads, it sometimes felt like riding in a small house. The bus journey took about 40 minutes and we got off in Hastings Old Town. The first building we saw looked very interesting and was a hint of things to come.

The road the bus used through the old town was a fairly ordinary town road but the streets we wanted to see run off to each side of this. Just opposite us was a narrow interesting looking little lane which we followed and came out in the High Street.

What a fascinating and picturesque street this is with it's ancient buildings and high pavement which runs for quite a long way. You can see on the right of the picture where some steps take the pavement up to an even higher level. I don't know the reason for this, especially as it occurs only on one side of the street, but I would like to find out. This is All Saints Street which runs parallel to High Street but on the opposite side of the bus route. Here the pavement is returning to around road level and there are still plenty of ancient timber-framed houses along here.

There are lots of narrow side alleys which connect these various streets which are great fun to explore. Here is an example.

You should be able to see, in the dark patch ahead, a small slit of light which is where the alley goes through the houses and continues on. We found many others like this, all different, but then spotted one with a sign pointing to 'The Castle and Caves' so, of course, we had to follow it.

This eventually, after a bit of a steep climb, came out onto a large open grass area with amazing views over the old town. This is West Hill.

The view above is looking across the old town to East Hill which we climbed up later. We found the ruins of Hastings Castle on the top of West Hill. There is not an awful lot of it left but what does remain is interesting. There are some old dungeons cut into the sandstone below the castle and they are so confined that a photograph would have shown very little so I didn't take any down there but I did take some of the ruins.

This view is of the modern part of Hastings which is on the west side of West Hill. Just to try and make things clearer – first when coming from the east is the high ground of East Hill then the valley with Hastings Old Town in it. Next is the high ground of West Hill with the castle and caves and finally beyond and below West Hill is the newer part of Hastings including the pier. This is what you see from the castle.

There is a cafe on West Hill where we had lunch before returning to Hastings Old Town. On the way down to the High Street we came across this narrow road by an old chuch.

Yes cars can drive through there but only just. Notice those high pavements again. Having reached sea level once again we climbed up East Hill using the steps which climb next to the funicular which, incidentally, was undergoing maintenance and so was not in use.

Lets face it – if you want to go anywhere in the old town you go either up or down. Level? What's that? After coming down from East Hill it was time to catch the bus back to Rye and while we were walking to the bus stop my mobile 'phone rang and it was Marie to say that she had arrived. We got off the bus outside the Railway Station and walked along to the 15th century cottage that Marie was renting for a week. Marie invited us in and we spent about an hour chatting before returning to our hotel. We had arranged for Marie to come up to the hotel the following morning when we planned to drive to Bodiam Castle, Battle Abbey and Birling Gap. The saga continues on Wednesday.

Day 3 – Wednesday – The three 'B's (Bodiam, Battle and Birling Gap)

I forgot to mention in the previous section that the many little alleyways in Hastings Old Town are known as Twittens. This is an Anglo Saxon word related to the German Twiete meaning a narrow lane. The old English plural 'en' at the end of a word rather than 's' probably means that Twitten is actually a plural i.e. 'lanes'. However, back to the saga. Marie came up to the hotel whilst we were having breakfast and had a cup of tea with us until we had finished our breakfast. I gather she's a bit of an early bird and gets up at a time I would regard as the middle of the night. We set off for Bodiam spotting wild flowers (Wood Anemones and Bluebells) as we drove through the countryside and arrived at Bodiam Castle at just about opening time, parked the car, and walked to the castle. What a picturesque setting and with a cloudless sky!

We had to walk round the moat to the other side which is where the very impressive entrance was. This picture shows the bridge across the moat and Amanda and Marie about to step on it.

We had a look in one of the towers where the wooden floors no longer exist and so it's not possible to go up.

After a bit more wandering about we found the way to the really interesting bits – the top of the two towers where visitors can get access.

 

Medieval spiral stone stairways are definitely not built for two-way traffic. Before starting up it's advisable to listen for people coming down and vice versa. In spite of her dodgy knee Marie was hopping up and down the stairways like a good'un. This picture, taken from 'our' tower, shows people on another tower – just like us. We later went up that one too.

Good views from up there over the surrounding countryside especially if a steam train just happens to be passing.

And in the other direction we could see what appeared to be a Hop field complete with Oast Houses.

Then in the 'other' direction i.e. down, we could see the layout of the inside of the castle although I wasn't able to include it all.

The doorway on the path is the entrance from the bridge over the moat. It appears that they weren't all that primitive in those days when it came to creature comforts. In many of the rooms we saw there would be another little room off to one side which inevitably turned out to be a Garderobe (Toilet). I even volunteered to photograph one of the ladies sitting on one but they both declined. Perhaps that's what is known as 'toilet humour'? That is where we leave Bodiam Castle and sally forth to Battle (so to speak). It was but a short drive to Battle and we soon found the Abbey and parked in their own car park which, at £3.00 a go, I thought was a bit steep. Quite by chance it turned out that we didn't have to pay – but more of that when we've finished our visit. The main abbey gatehouse is probably the most complete building left in the abbey and does look quite impressive.

There are other ruined buildings botted about the place of which this is but one:

It's always worth hunting around for the odd doorway or two because one never knows where it may lead and the most interesting part of this building is not what you can see from here but what is underneath:

At the far end of this building I found this interesting little view. I don't remember what it was but I believe Marie found out at the time and if she can remember perhaps she will jog my memory.

This part of the abbey was next to the original battlefield which is just over the fence to the left where there are 'battle walks'.

Finally the whole abbey complex used to be surrounded by a substantial wall complete with walkway.

Having finished our tour we went back to the car. In this car park there is an automatic barrier at the exit where one is supposed to pay however when it was time to leave there was a car parked on the outside of the barrier which was down. There was a lady talking to one of the English Heritage staff and another lady sitting inside the barrier on the kerb. There must have been some sort of problem/incident although I don't know what it was but another member of staff was waving cars out of the 'in' gate so we didn't have to pay. This part of Battle village I saw through one of the gatehouse windows:

Just outside Battle Abbey was a small teashop which provided us with a lunch stop after which we moved on to Birling Gap and the white chalk cliffs. Amanda was doing the map reading and navigating and we discovered that at Polegate, only a few miles from Birling Gap, some swine had changed the road layout and it no longer matched our map. Howver after a short circular tour we did get back on the right road and arrived at Birling Gap. There is a set of steps here to get down the relatively low point in the cliffs to the beach. We have been here before, of course, and there are pictures on the main web site to prove it. This time we were here so that Marie could see the white cliffs. We walked east along the beach to where the cliffs started to get higher and let Marie have a close look at the stuff. These chalk cliffs are rather friable and bits, large and small, can fall off at any time but they didn't, I'm glad to say, whilst we were there. We went back up the steps and walked on top of the cliffs for a while getting a good view of Birling Gap from the higher ground.

Our car was parked down there somewhere and so, after an enjoyable day, we made our way back to the car and thence back to Rye. So that was Wednesday. Tomorrow, Thursday, will be our last day together as we leave both Rye and Marie on Friday morning. The saga continues on Thursday.

Day 4 – Thursday (Camber Castle and Rye)

Thursday morning and it was dry, bright but cloudy. After breakfast Amanda and I walked down to Marie's cottage and the three of us set off through the town for Romney Marsh and Camber castle. This involved following the Winchelsea Road for a short distance and turning down Rye Harbour Road, across the River Brede at the lock gates and onto the public footpath across the marsh. This shows the view back to Rye from that bridge over the river and you can even see part of the lock gates.

It wasn't long before we could see Camber Castle in the distance – it is pancake flat out here after all. This castle was built by Henry VIII – well he didn't actually build it himself but paid other people to do it for him. It was original very close to the shoreline but a few hundred years later it was abandoned because the sea had receded so far. It is probably around one and a half miles inland now. This picture was taken from our hotel window.

More pictures of Camber Castle can be seen on the Rye pages from our previous trip. After wandering around the castle we continued on a circular route back to rye passing many sheep and lambs and back in Rye we headed for the lunch shop. After lunch we continued our explorations of Rye and ended up at the church. This is the church seen from near the Ypres Tower.

I threatened to go up the tower as the sun was shining and the last time I went up and took some photographs it was cloudy. Marie decided she didn't want to struggle up more steps but when I decided I was going up she just didn't want to be left out of the adventure and changed her mind and so we all went up. This is one of the views from the top showing the Ypres Tower down below and the view across the marshes towards the sea.

After coming back down to earth we took Marie along to see the Ypres Tower.

Built in 1249 this tower is one of Rye's oldest buildings. Going down some steps to the street below we somehow ended up by the Strand Quay and all the antique shops – I'm not sure how I let that happen. Do I need to say that Amanda and Marie disappeared inside pronto? No of course I don't. When they did re-appear some days later we went back to the hotel. At about 6:00 PM Marie went off to her cottage and we prepared for dinner. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Rye and Marie.

Day 5 – Friday Marie came up to the hotel this morning and had a cup of tea with us at breakfast. She was all togged up for her planned walk to Winchelsea. After breakfast we, reluctantly, said goodbye to Marie and she then went off to start her walk and we did all our packing, loaded the car and had a relatively straightforward trip home. Can't wait for the next trip.

Ups and Downs – Day 2.

Ups and Downs – Day 2.

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The weather forecast for our our second day was cloudy but dry and we woke to a clear blue sky and it stayed sunny all day. So much for English weather forecasts.

After breakfast we drove the few miles to Friston Forest where we parked the car in one of the two official car parks. This one is on the west side of the forest about 2 miles south of Littlington.

After paying our 1.50 GBP for a day’s parking, the only option there is, we walked off into the forest heading for the little village of West Dean about a half mile away.

In spite of stopping here and there along the way to look at plants we arrived in West Dean fairly quickly and decided to have another look, we’ve been before, at the little church.

Through the village to the path through the forest to the Seven Sisters Country Park Visitor Centre. Ah yes – that path. Not quite as innocuous as it might sound.

That’s the one. It wasn’t as strenuous and didn’t take as long as you might imagine to get to the top. The next section of path was gently downhill all the way to the visitor centre and we had then walked about mile from the car. We had a brief stop here for coffee in the Exeat Farmhouse Restaurant which I mentioned on the Cuckmere Haven page from our previous trip.

So crossing the A259, Seaford to Eastbourne Road, we headed towards Cuckmere Haven.

Here you can see the Cuckmere River meandering across it’s flood plain towards the sea with the path on the left-hand edge of the picture. You can just about see the sea on the left edge of the horizon.

On our previous visit there was no livestock to be seen but this time there was. This pair were grazing contentedly each side of the path and we had just walked between them when I turned and took this photograph.

Cattle are usually nervous enough that they will move away from people if they get too near but these were obviously used to people and didn’t so much as twitch when we walked between them.

So after walking another mile we soon arrived at the beach at Cuckmere Haven.

Don’t be mislead by the sandy beach – most of it is pebbles and it’s hard work walking on them. I wanted to get some more pictures of the chalk cliffs so we walked further along the beach. Here I am taking my life in my hands, well I could have got seriously wet feet, to get the sort of pictures you see on the web site.

You will notice that, in this close-up of part of the chalk cliff, there are rows of small dark blobs. These are flints formed in the chalk and, when the cliff is eroded by the sea and the weather, they are washed out and rolled by the waves to form the rounded pebbles of which the beach is comprised.

As we started back towards the visitor centre at Exceat we saw a Little Egret in one of the lagoons.

We were back at Exceat in time for a late lunch at the Exeat Farmhouse Restaurant and then walked back through the forest, via West Dean, to our car.

As we still had some time left in the day we drove to Birling Gap and parked in the free car park there. Birling Gap is so called not because there is a complete gap in the cliffs but because the cliffs there are only about 30 feet high whereas the cliff heights either side are measured in hundreds of feet.

There is a metal stairway from the top of the cliff to the beach and this picture was taken from the top of the stairway looking west at the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs.

We did, of course, go down the stairway to the beach and walked east in the hope of seeing Beachy Head round the next corner but we reached a point where the sea was still lapping against the cliffs so were not able to go any further.

I did, however, take this picture after we’d turned round to walk back to the stairway.

On the way along the beach one could not avoid the noise of the surf. The waves crashed noisily on to the beach and, as the water withdrew, the sound of pebbles grinding as they were rolled could easily be heard. Standing there listening to that noise one could imaging how the rough lumpy flints were transformed into smaller rounded pebbles.

When we got back to the car park there was still time for another short expedition so I walked east up onto the cliff tops whilst Amanda stayed down below. Until I reached the top of the cliffs I hadn’t realised that the Belle Tout Lighthouse was so close so I had to go at least that far.

Just before I got there a long thin strip of cloud obscured the sun and I ended up waiting 15 minutes for it to clear – but what a beautiful place to have to wait. The sparkling sea to the south, the Seven Sisters white cliffs beyond Birling Gap to the west and East Dean and Friston Forest to the north.

Coming back down from the lighthouse I saw this view of Birling Gap

The sun was getting noticeably low and it would be dark within 2 hours so we made our way back to the hotel after a very pleasant day.

Tomorrow will be mostly ups and downs.

Yorkshire and the Great North Road

Yorkshire and the Great North Road

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As I said in my posting entitled ‘Mid-summer Madness’ I went up to the North Yorkshire Moors on Friday 27th July and returned on Thursday 2nd August.

I went via the M11, A14, the A1 (The Great North Road), A168 and the A19 and the drive up was moderately awful. The traffic from near the end of the M11 until the junction with the western leg of the A14 was very dense which slowed everything down. Then, once on the A1, it seemed that there was a two and a half mile traffic queue at every roundabout on the A1 and there are 4 or five on that stretch. After I eventually turned off on to the A168/A19 I though that my troubles were over but, no, roadworks on the A19 caused yet another queue.

The journey took 7 hours instead of 5 or less – not a good start.

I did eventually arrive at Baysdale Abbey where I was staying and before you get excited let me explain that in spite of its name it is not an abbey. There was once an abbey there but it has long gone.

Baysdale Abbey is the long building that looks a bit like a military barracks, rather plain outside but comfortable enough inside and sleeps 17. The setting though is very nice. One has to drive up a single track road that winds up to the top of the moors and back down again into Baysdale. That road is the only entrance and exit.

There weren’t actually 17 of us but only 14 and that was quite enough. There was a small beck (stream) running past and fish could be seen in the clear water. Footpaths radiated out from Baysdale and up about 600 feet onto the moors above.

My first trip out was the next day, Saturday, to Robin Hood’s Bay about 6 miles south along the coast from Whitby. We didn’t go straight to Robin Hood’s Bay but headed to Boggle Hole where we intended to park and then walk along the cliff top to Robin Hood’s Bay.

Robin Hood’s Bay is the name for both the bay itself and also the little village near the top of the bay. The snag with this walk is that the car park at Boggle Hole is level with the top of the cliffs and one has then to walk down the lane to sea level and then climb steeply back to the top of the cliffs again. At the Robin Hood’s Bay end one has to go back down to sea level again. Ah well it’s good exercise!

This view is from the top of the village, yes that’s another climb, looking back towards Boggle Hole with Ravenscar on the headland in the distance.

The village has some really picturesque cobbled narrow back lanes which vehicles could not possibly access.

The following day, Sunday, we all went for a round-trip walk onto the moors with quite a lot of stopping and looking. It was only 4 miles, but through dramatic moorland scenery, and we arrived back in time for a late lunch.

On Monday we all went to Whitby which is about 10 miles along the coast from Staithes. Whitby is arranged around the mouth of the River Esk so not only does it have river scenes but also coastal scenes.

Tuesday I went with my younger brother to Staithes on the coast to the east. My first visit to Staithes was about 50 years ago when one could drive down the steep, cobbled village street and park by the roadside. There were also a few elderly women still wearing traditional local dress. I re-visited about 6 years later and not much had changed. Tourism in Staithes was unheard of at that time.

Things have changed a bit since then but the village is just as quaint and charming although the traditional dress is no longer to be seen. The only people permitted to drive down into the village are people who need access such as residents, delivery vehicles, etcetera and there is a large car park at the top of the hill where visitors must park.

On Wednesday we all went back to Robin Hood’s bay via Boggle Hole because some of the group missed the first trip and the following day I returned home.

The drive back was not as bad as the drive up but there was one seven and a half mile queue at one point which delayed me by about 45 minutes.

New pages of the places I visited together with photographs will appear on the web site in due course.