Sussex Adventures

Although I was based in west Sussex we didn't limit our visits to that area. We went back to old familiar territory (I lived in East Sussex for over a year!) and explored new along the way. I didn't keep a daily log of where we went and I won't bore you with it all, but I'll touch on highlights and if there's something more you'd like to know, all you'll have to do is ask.

We went to Battle and had tea, but didn't tour the Abbey, though we had tea at its very gates.

The Abbey entrance
Our tea stop just to the left coming out of the gates. Battle is where the Battle of Hastings was actually fought, and the architecture is delightful, as you can see.

Then we left Battle for new (to me) territory. we were on our way to Rye, an old friend, but stopped at Winchelsea to see the old gates from when it was a gated town, and also to visit the church. We were "chased" out of the church when school children began arriving in large numbers. It seems that it was prize day, and though we enjoyed some of their music, we had no desire to wait while each child was recognised for the year's progress. But Annette had noticed that Spike Milligan was buried in the churchyard, so we went on a hunt to see if we could find the grave. It is marked by a Celtic cross, now how appropriate is that???? Actually, it looks like a St. Cuthbert's cross (shades of Lindisfarne!) - all 4 arms of the cross are equal. (Hmmm, not sure Cuthbert's has the circle!) And we found him, or should I say it?

Then we continued on the Rye. Rye was one of the Cinque Ports ... interesting because the sea has receded, leaving Rye with a small harbour, but not the place of coastal importance it once was. It seems to me that they said that Rye is now some five or seven miles inland. That's some recession! Many of Rye's streets are cobblestone, very picturesque, but killers to walk on! And of course, it's on the Downs, which means there are as many ups as there are downs - sorry, just couldn't resist. But it is certainly in stark contrast to Essex county!


As we wandered through the various historic towns which have preserved their buildings, many of which are private homes, I thought they were wonderful to look at, but wondered what it would be like trying to cope with the realities of living with walls that are no longer straight, and roofs that seemed to sag, and decided that although I enjoy looking, I'm glad that I don't have to deal with them!

We also went to Bosham, (pronounced Bozzam, please) a lovely little town with a gallery of boutiques for artists and artisans. It also has the feature of having a street that disappears at high tide. Best you know or pay attention to the signs, otherwise you might come and find that you'd left your car in a spot that was now under water. It was drizzly when we arrived, and the tide was in, meaning that you could only see on white line for the edge of the road, but I didn't think of my camera until the tide had turned.




Obviously, the UK has come up with the means to have paved streets or causeways that are submerged under sea water for hours each day and yet seem to stand up pretty well to their submersion. Though I must confess, walking on pavement that has just recently been exposed by the receding tide, which may also have seaweed and other detritus on it, is not a favourite activity of mine. We walked along for a piece and then withdrew to higher ground, though we did walk all the way around the bay to the other side -- and all the way back, resisting the urge to take the short cut which was gradually becoming increasingly visible to us.


On our way home the weather didn't co-operate so we went to a butterfly and exotic bird sanctuary and enjoyed the opportunity to study both birds and butterflies that are not native to either country.

Another day we went to Seaford where you can see the chalk cliffs, and walk along them (sorry, I only went halfway up - but the wind was strong and I didn't want to have to cling to my hat, or fight against going for an involuntary flight!) We visited the Long Man of Wilmington, a figure cut into the chalk long years ago. I'd only ever seen him from the main road before.

We also went to Lewes, where we met while we were both working at the White Hart Hotel. That's where I lived when I was running away from "the Call", though I only realised that some years later. Because it's a town built on the Downs every street is up and downhill. I remember my first winter there we had a modest snowfall and the cars couldn't make it up the hills! But I need to point out, that these are real hills, not landfill sites that are little bumps on a flat landscape. If you lived in one of these towns, and walked at all, you'd be very fit in no time!

We went to Arundel and walked the paths along the river to the lake. We admired birds of every description. I found out what a moorhen looks like, and a water vole (Ratty from The Wind in the Willows, I'm told.)

I renewed old friendships and made new ones. It was a busy week and a good one. My last night there we went out for dinner with Annette's father and his wife, and were driven there in a gorgeous Rolls Royce (sorry, I didn't take my camera even though I know he is a RR enthusiast.) I think it was a 1981 Silver Shadow II -- I am sure of all except the Shadow part. Sorry, I think I just failed my car enthusiast's test!

And then, like all good things, my time in the UK came to an end. We left for Gatwick around 6 am, I caught the shuttle to Heathrow shortly after 7, and was checking in before 8:30 ... only to find that no gate was given because the flight (which they had assured on the phone was on time) was already delayed half an hour. That half hour became an hour and half, and even once we were boarded we waited another half hour for takeoff. That delay meant .... oh yes, connections missed - not just for me, but for a very long line of people. It wasn't helped by having only two people processing those who had connecting flights. We'd made our declarations, collected our bags, and queued 'forever' to surrender our cards and go on to the conveyor belt for "connecting" luggage.

I missed my flight to Windsor. And I missed the next one too because that's how long the line was for the Air Canada staff to try to find new flights for connecting passengers. All of them were not from our flight, and I understand the delay for us (and probably for them) was weather in Toronto which delayed the original flights. I was one of the lucky ones. By the time I reached the desk some 3/4 hour later, there was still a flight going to Windsor. Yes, I had to wait until 10:50 pm, and yes, it meant poor Jane had to wait till midnight, and yes, it meant that I'd been up for a full 24 hours by the time I got home -- but I DID get home. The young woman behind me had missed her first connecting flight (Halifax) which meant she'd missed her second connecting flight (Deer Lake, Nfld.), and there were no available flights to Deer Lake the next day because they were all sold out. I'm not sure what happened to her, but it was a great reminder of how much more difficult it could have been -- and it happened at the end of my trip, not at the beginning.

And now you are up to date!

Tomorrow I fly to Asheville, North Carolina for the Network of Biblical Storytellers Festival. I'm attending five workshops, and have received notice that I am registered in my first choice for each of those sessions. There are also Plenary Sessions with a Keynote Speaker (Richard Swanson), and other activities. our days start 7:15 and there are activities until 11:00 pm so I'm not sure how much blogging I'll do, though our information does say that our rooms have wireless Internet!

During my travels I did pick up some more books, and will try to add them to the side panel shortly, but right now, laundry, lunch and packing call!