DAYS 2/3

Tuesday, May 24^th                                                         

Isle of White to Hastings                                                                      Miles 185

Well, my journey on Tuesday was both wonderful and frustrating.  I set off from the Isle of White on an earlier ferry than booked, so I gained half an hour.  However, I then lost two and a quarter hours later in the day.  I first lost 45 minutes by having to find a PC World to purchase a new charger for my Apple Powerbook, as I had left mine in Exmouth.  $65 later I had one so can now charge my computer to write my blog.  Unfortunately late in the afternoon, trying to keep coastal, I found myself in a horrendous traffic jam between Brighton and Newhaven and it took 90 minutes to travel just 9 miles.  All due to a new Land Rover Discovery having broken down right at the junction of two roads merging into one at a narrow roundabout.  Oh well, that’s what comes of buying something from TaTA. Hopefully British Steel works get sold to a better owner!

My first stop was Portsmouth and the ferry gave me a wonderful view of the city and the stern of HMS Victory.  Portsmouth has improved enormously since my last visit here about 20 years ago.  Then it seemed to be black and weeping concrete buildings, hurriedly erected at the end of the war, after Portsmouth was pounded by the Luftwaffe.  Now it seems clean smart and a great mix of modern with the old that remains.  It is also easily drivable and I was able to drive along the front to Southsea.  Southsea has a 2 mile ocean esplanade and the city looked clean and inviting.

On my way to PC World I drove down North End high street.  Not unlike many other high streets in Britain, but a perfect example of how the English high street has been ruined by retail shops being allowed to front their buildings with loud, large and often hideously coloured logos.  The high street shops have themselves been seriously affected by large out of town Superstores, but the high streets don’t help themselves by being so ugly and the councils worsen the situation by making parking either impossible or expensive.  Stratford on Avon doesn’t allow any shop brand names or logos to be displayed outside a shop, they can only have something in the window.  The streets there look quality and uniform, which encourages you to go there.  If the high streets became attractive places to shop and socialize, with easy access, I am sure people would come back and shop there.  North America has a similar problem. Generally there are no English style high streets, but in their place are horrendous strip malls of square boxes, with equally garish colours.  Do we really need a golden arch to tell us where MacDonald’s is located?

After Southsea I headed for Selsey and on the way came across some of the prettiest villages that I have seen, in particular, Bosham.  This is the quintessential English village, facing onto one of the many fingers of Chichester Harbour.  Bosham Quay is hugely attractive and I was able to park right on the hard beach, though you can only do this when the tide is out!  The houses and buildings all around the quay are old and quaint and the rest of village similarly.   

Bosham Quay

Selsey unfortunately has little going for it.  It is not an unpleasant place, but the southern point, Selsey Bill, was chewed up and uninteresting.  I spoke to some frustrated bird watchers who said they had wasted their time going there.  What is interesting though is the lifeboat station that is built at the end of a long pier out into the water with a ramp down which the boat is launched.  (Not sure how they get it back up again). The narrow roads in Selsey were heavy with lorries (trucks) but I had no idea why, there was no heavy industry that I could see.  There were two big rigs parked at the Bill having their lunch.  Perhaps that’s what they all go there for.   A real surprise though is at tiny Church Norton Here there is the most wonderful  and pretty church and graveyard, built on the remains of what was once an ancient castle.

Selsey Lifeboat Station

St. Edith's Church, Church Norton

I
 had to go and see why King George V once famously said “Bugger Bognor”.  Despite the name and his comment Bognor Regis seems a very nice place and I stopped on the Esplanade and had an ice cream.  The young lady who served me from the hut on the beach had “assisting” alongside her a young baby in a pram, whose face showed that she clearly had also been partaking of the ice cream, chocolate it looked like!

At this point I took a break from my coastal journey to drive inland 20 miles to the village of Fittleworth where I had recently found (on Ancestry.ca) that some of my Mother’s relatives had lived here.  The oldest being here in 1475.  Thanks to a detailed grave map in the church I located 7 graves, but the oldest went back only to 1776, so there must be others not identified.  This is the first time that I have ever found graves of any of my relatives, so it was quite moving.

Fittleworth Church (Family tomb is large edifice to tight of door)

I motored back as fast as I was able to the coast again and due to roadworks was diverted through the town of Arundel, with it’s fantastic castle and lovely cathedral.  (Having a cathedral I think makes it a city not a town).  The Castle is the home of the Duke of Norfolk.  I find it strange that the Duke of Norfolk has his castle in Sussex and similarly the Duke of Devonshire has his in Derbyshire.  In British nobility a Duke is the highest of the nobles after the monarch.  William & Kate are the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, yet William was born in Windsor, Kate in Reading and both went to University at St. Andrews in Scotland.  So, no Cambridge connection.  Of course the Prince of Wales (Charles) is not Welsh, so does it matter what the Queen calls them?

Arundel Cathedral (left) and Castle (centre)

I arrived back at the coast close to Littlehampton and Worthing.  All of these places and the little towns in between have row upon row of beach huts on their sea fronts.  As the beaches are pebbly and the towns have a bias to elderly residents, I suppose there is a high demand for these huts where you can brew a cup of tea and look at the sea, but keep out of the wind.  Sleeping in them though is forbidden.  If you could do so I expect they would be garner beach-front prices.  I read that a privately owned one near to Bournemouth was sold fairly recently for well over £300,000.  It must have been gold plated or someone had just too much money.  In most cases though you cannot purchase the huts, only rent them from the Council.

At Shoreham (the scene of an air disaster last year when 13 motorists on a nearby road were killed by a crashing plane), what fascinated me were the houseboats and large barges that were pulled up on the far shore of the estuary of the River Adur.  There must be 40 or 50 of them, presumably all lived in.  The tide was out and they were all beached, but I saw no one using this opportunity to clean their bottoms!

At Portslade you see the industrial face of this area with a number of large cargo vessels loading up with various cargoes.  This is a working town unlike its neighbours on both sides.

Brighton is a beautiful city with its very elegant squares and Georgian houses that come almost to the ocean.  I have included a photo of Brunswick Square.  Almost completely restored with most being expensive homes and apartments rather than hotels or offices.  Ironically the Pier closest to this square is a twisted mass of metal following a fire a couple of years ago, just after it was purchased and set to be restored.  It is fit now only to be pulled down, but nothing seems to be happening to it.  I suspect the owner is still fighting with the Insurance company. My daughter went to University in Brighton so it has a special place in our family.

Brunswick Square, Brighton

Leaving Brighton by the cliff road started wonderfully, but as I explained earlier, turned into a nightmare.  If it wasn’t for the fact that my journey has to follow the coastal route I would have turned back and gone inland.

Just before Eastbourne is the famous Beachy Head.  The countryside here is stunning with rolling chalk downs.  Beachy Head is a very tall cliff of white chalk.  It is most famous as a place where tragically many people choose to commit suicide.  As I drove up to it a car with the wording “Chaplain” on it was just leaving.  I believe that there is someone there every day to be on hand for anyone who is thinking of taking their life.  What amazed me though is that you can walk right up to the cliff edge.  There is no barrier, and the edge looks as if it would crumble if you stood on it.  I stood back about two feet and took photos.  It would be horrendous to visit here with young children; anxiety levels would be off the scale for fear of them going to the edge.

 Sussex Downs towards Beachy head

Beachy Head

Dropping down into Eastbourne I found another town that has really improved.  It always was genteel, but now it has to be called impressive.  Its esplanade is a joy to drive down with elegant and well maintained buildings.  After Bexhill comes Hastings, where I ended my second day.  Most famous for it’s “Battle” in 1066 when King Harald was killed, by an arrow into his eye, by William of Normandy who had come to claim the throne that he said had been offered to him by Edward III.  Harald, of Danish descent, was defeated and William the Conqueror became King.  William being a Norman was also of Viking descent.  The Viking leader Rollo 140 year before was given this part of France in return for a promise to no longer raid Paris.  William was a direct descendent, his great, great, great grandson. Normandy is named for being the land of the North (or Norse) men.

Thursday 25th: Hastings to Southend                                           Miles 204

What a contrast from one day to the next.  From the beauty of yesterday to the bleakness of today.  The county of Kent begins just after you leave Hastings.  This area is one of flat marsh lands, untended properties and buildings that seem to have been built without an architect or even planning permission and the whole area seems seedy and lacking in any character.    I can perhaps get away with these comments as my ancestry searching has shown I have two relatives who came from this area (two hundred years ago).  In the untidy place of Camber there are two holiday camps: Pontins which has a large hideous blue and pink building and Camber Sands, about which I know little other than it is caravans, caravans and caravans.  Indeed further along there is a holiday camp of chalets and bungalows with an absolutely gigantic electricity pylon towering over the main gate and the grid from the power station runs right over the top of it!.  These lines all emanate from the Dungeness nuclear power station, which is visible out on the marshes a mile or so away.  The houses are all facing the sea, but yet do not have a view of the sea as all along the coast a wall or banking has been built up to keep the sea from inundating the area.

Holiday camp with lots of power!

From Hythe, close to Folkestone, there runs a narrow gauge railway, the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.  This is popular with tourists and runs all the way to the power station.

Folkestone is a ferry town rather than a holiday resort and thus there appears to be no attempt to smarten it up to attract tourists.  I drove down a hill towards the beach and saw a very large white structure that I thought was an engineering works, mill or old factory.  I was looking at it from the rear.  Imagine my surprise when I came to the front of it and saw that it was a hotel, calling itself The Grand Burstin.  There were lots of coaches outside so presumably it gets most of its trade from ferry passengers staying overnight.  Its architecture is such that I can only assume that it was once a factory that has been converted into a hotel.

The Grand Burstin Hotel (from the back)

The next town up is also a ferry town, Dover, known for its white cliffs.  At this point I have to correct something written by Bill Bryson. I hesitate to do so, but having read his write up on Dover just last night, I noticed that he described Britain as being the 8^th largest island in the world and named Vancouver Island as being larger at number seven.  I know that this is not correct as I look out onto Vancouver Island from my house every day.  I decided to check in the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, which states that Britain (not including Northern Ireland) covers an area of 229,000 square kilometers.  Vancouver Island is just 32,000 square kilometers, so sorry Bill you have that wrong!  Vancouver Island is though about the length of England and has a population of 1 million as compared to England’s 55 million.  It does have more bears and wolves than England though.

I did not have time to stop in Dover (also it was 6.00am when I was there and nothing was open) but I would have liked to have visited the castle and especially seen the miles of passages that it apparently has in the rocks beneath, carved out by the military.

Dover Castle

There is nothing pretty along this Kent coast until you get to Walmer and Deal. These are quaint, but again, more and more beach huts.  Ramsgate a few miles on is also another ferry port.  These places may be severely hit if Britain votes to leave the EU later in June.  No quick day trips to France or vans (over) loaded with cheap wine and beer, all for personal consumption of course.  The UK Customs & Excise people have seen a huge drop in alcohol taxes from Kent and nearby areas.  I suppose it is modern day smuggling in a different guise.

Turn the corner and it is now the Thames estuary that dominates the coast.  Places like Herne Bay and Whitstable have had their hey days when East Enders came here for oysters and winkles.  Now the beach hut residents prefer fish and chips as they look out on to the muddy foreshore where the tide has gone out.

One thing I did find time to do today was a visit to the historic dockyards at Chatham.  A number of ships and a submarine available to view.  The sub is a member of the Oberon class of which 6 were built, 3 for the Royal Navy and 3 for the Canadian Navy.  There is also a splendid display of a number of old and historic RNLI lifeboats.  Once you have paid to get in, your ticket is good for numerous visits for the next 12 months.  Unfortunately it is too far for me to come again this year.

The business end of an Oberon submarine

Thanks to my GPS, which seems to be programed to take me through every traffic jam and traffic light in Kent, I decided to ignore it and drive on to Southend over the Dartford Crossing.  I only got lost twice, but was more disappointed that traveling north vehicles still use the old tunnel rather than the splendid new bridge that I was looking forward to traveling on.  You have to be going south to use this.

Over the bridge you enter Essex, but this area is very similar to that of Kent on the opposite bank of the Thames.  Lots of chimneys, industry and gas distribution facilities.  The Thames is of course a major port.  The high tidal difference similarly makes the small resorts here as muddy as their counterparts on the Kent side.  Earlier this century, these towns were where the workers from London would come for a day out or an inexpensive short holiday.  Cheap flights and ferries took this business away and the resorts have never recovered.  No doubt this is why I saw so many “Leave” posters here, encouraging people to vote to leave the EU and take their holidays again on the Kent and Essex coasts.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to being joined by Jim.  I am due to pick him up at the railway station at Clacton (a name almost as romantic as Bognor) at 12.43.  He will then travel with me all the way up to Edinburgh.  I have only been “going coastal” for three days but already I am feeling tired by the amount of driving.  What have I taken on?  Jim will no doubt cheer me up and provide good companionship.  One thing I have found out already is that, even when traveling on the road closest to the ocean, it does not always mean that you can see the sea!