Sussex

Wayne arrived in London on Friday night and on Saturday we picked up our car and headed south.  I was a bit concerned about driving through London from the busy Kings Cross Station but it was really no worse than driving through Brisbane.

As we both have ancestry in the south of England, we headed for Sussex.  We stopped at Rotherfield and spotted the Catts Inn.  As this is a name that features in my family tree, we decided to eat lunch there.  It was a typical English pub… old guys at the bar, a dog in the eating area and the barmaid in her pyjama pants.  We asked if there were meals and she listed off the menu.  Both of us enjoyed a beautiful meal and a pint of beer for the same price that I ate a serve of fish and chips for in London.  Then we went and had a look around the local church.

We then headed for St Leonard’s on Sea where my cousin Christine and her husband Steve have a holiday house.  We were welcomed to the seaside with blustery, miserable weather but we had such fantastic company, that the weather was insignificant.  We ate out at a local Indian restaurant which was simply superb.

This morning Christine and Steve took us into the old part of Hastings where Steve proceeded to tell us the merits of each pub we passed.  The weather was not great again this morning, so fishing boats had not been out but Christine explained to us that they are put out to sea and returned to dry land by little tractors.  Often, the seafood is served in little stalls right on the seaside which get their produce fresh from the fishing boats.

As Christine and Steve had to get back to London, they left us in town to explore.  We took the funicular up the hill to take in a spectacular view of Hastings.

We then wandered back along the beach in blustering winds to the house and picked up the car.  We took a drive through Rye which was a gorgeous little town but due to the rain, we opted not to get out and walk… so we may go back tomorrow since it’s only 15 minutes away.  Then we drove through Westfield and stopped at Sedlescombe.  Both of these towns feature in Wayne’s and my family history.

Our final stop for the day was Battle, which also features in my family history.  Battle is the  site of the Battle of Hastings where William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold II to become William I in 1066.