A stunning day, warm from the outset and as I had noticed that several of the neighbouring towns had events on today, I decided that we would stay put and not attempt to get around Eastbourne or Hastings and risk getting caught up in traffic in the heat.
Instead we contented our selves with several walks along the beach, making the most of the low tide sand and coastal breeze to keep cool….
I also took the opportunity to de-sand the van, having no immediate neighbours I was able to take all the carpets and mats out for a good shake, wash the windows, hoover and wash the floors and experiment with putting the awning out for the first time.
Looking at the forecast for the next couple of days we might be in for more of the same but actually a break from sightseeing is quite welcome at times though I might try an early dart to Camber? Decisions…
A lovely day with a bit of cloud and breeze around to keep the temperatures comfortable and so getting a fairly early start we headed for Dymchurch and after a little bit of searching found somewhere to safely park the van as we went for a walk along the sea wall (at high tide there is no beach along this bit of coast) to enjoy the miles of uninterrupted and glorious sand….
We walked beyond the busy resort of Dymchurch to the next village beyond – St Marys Bay and it’s glorious beach stretching to the horizon and the silouette of Dungeness Power Station….
We then headed back to the van and drove down the coast towards Dungeness, stopping briefly at the pebbly beaches of Littlestone-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea…
Parking up again at Dungeness we had a good wander around this beautiful yet barren landscape enjoying the New Lighthouse, Old Lighthouse and the quirky almost shanty type houses with no apparent structure to their location….
Even though you are very aware of the presence of the huge Nuclear Power Station the area has the feel of untamed wilderness – I found it quite magical, though I imagine on a bleak grey winters day it would be quite desolate….
The vast pebble beach was littered with sea anglers fishing and barbequeing and though remote there are several cafes and a pub all doing a grand trade on this fine Saturday afternoon….
The road ends here (which seems very appropriate) and so it was a bit of a detour around to rejoin the coast at Jury’s Gap just beyond a Military Base of some sort and by the time we arrived the beach had gone!!!….
A little further down the coast we had hoped to visit Camber Sands where some beach remains below the dunes but every available parking space was either gone or had a height restriction so we shall either have to try and get back here early next week or save Camber sands to another time. As we started to head back to site we spotted this pretty scene with the dunes of Camber and a golf course on one side of the road and a picture perfect farm scene on the other….
A beautiful clear sunny day but with a nice bit of coastal breeze preventing it from feeling too hot, however we change our plans from heading out in the van and opt instead for an early walk, taking advantage of the low tides to walk along the firm, wet sand heading eastwards.
A glance back from the beach to show the proximity of our campsite – Normans Bay CCC….
And a quick survey of the beach infront of the site – Normans Bay Campsite Beach…
As we make our way down onto the sand which is much easier to walk on than the pebble bank and has the added benefit of keeping us cool. The sea is flat calm so Tilly is quite happy to trot along the shoreline.
Normans Bay is just a hand full of houses, some lucky enough to be perched on the pebble bank along with a few small fishing boats and what might be a Martello Tower….
Further along the beach we reach the larger village of Cooden and it’s beach….
We continue a little further to the outskirts of Bexhill-on-Sea where a sea mist is starting to roll in….
We plan to visit Bexhill another day, so at this point we head back to Cooden where the sea mist can’t reach us and sit on the pebble bank for a while just enjoying the sun and tranquility – there is something quite soothing to the soul on these long stretches of seemingly almost untouched beaches.
We don’t linger too long as it is getting rather warm and the tide is coming in and we manage to make it most of the way back to site along the sand until the tide pushes us back onto the pebble bank for the last few hundred yards.
Having had a decent walk we spend a delicious afternoon back on site, me reading in the sun and Tilly snoozing in the shade underneath the van – delightful.
Much as yesterday the coast was shrouded in mist with the sun teasing us with its presence but not actually breaking through until around 5 by which time we were back on site – still a glorious evening!
I had booked the van into a Ford garage in Eastbourne as I think the vehicle battery is loosing power too quickly when parked up for a couple of days and so by just after 9 we were walking down through the town to the seafront. The concrete promenade runs for about 4 miles from Sovereign Harbour in the east to Holywell in the west (where the Seven Sisters cliff walk starts). As expected when we arrived at Eastbourne pebble beach, visibility was pretty poor with the Pier only just visible….
Still it is nice and warm and we enjoyed walking along the promenade, hoping that the sun would eventually break through, as we walked we were accompanied by the occasional low rumble of a fog horn somewhere in the distance….
After a good few miles we arrived at the western end of the promenade at Holywell Beach where only the immediate white cliffs were in sight – Beachy Head was not even a shadow, though I know it is there…
Walking back the mist has lifted a bit and we are able to see Eastbourne Pier, though as it is not dog friendly we were unable to explore the various cabins, which is a shame….
We continued walking away from the centre of Eastbourne and enjoyed a coffee and a sit on Redoubt Beach, whilst Tilly got some off lead time to sniff her way along our section of beach….
Ready to continue on our way we passed Lumpit’s Beach which looked to be the fishing section of beach and also a bit of a boat graveyard….
A lone sailing boat visible out in the bay – the only real indicator of where the sea meets the sky….
PS. The lone ship turns out to be a full sized replica of the Nao Santa Maria – Christopher Columbus’s Flagship built in 2018 and touring the coast as a floating museum…
The eastern end of the promenade finishes at Langney point, the entrance to Sovereign Harbour and I think a Martello Tower?….
We wandered inland looking over the calm waters of the outer harbour and Sovereign Harbour Beach on the other side….
As we approached the inner harbour it rather unsportingly started to rain with a look that says it is set for awhile, so we decided that was probably a good point to make our way back to the garage….
It was rather disappointing to arrive back at the garage to find that at 3.30 pm they were just about to start on the van (I dropped it off at 9!). I spoke to the workshop manager and he explained that they would want to keep the van over night to test the battery over an extended period of time, clearly that is not an option so I decided to just continue to monitor it and get the Bailey’s Dealer where I bought it from to do a full investigation when I take it to them in July.
A cloudy and grey day until about 4pm and then lovely and sunny, which was a little late for todays excursion as we headed west to Seaford. Over the South Downs there was a low mist swirling around as we drove down into Seaford and found free seafront parking at the eastern end of the beach.
We started our walk at the Seaford Head viewing jetty with Seaford Head dipping in and out of the swirling mist….
We didn’t linger as the tide is quite high and the waves were occasionally breaking over the top – Tilly’s worst nightmare crashing waves and instead clambered up to get a closer look…
Quite other worldly and offering a fair panoramic view down on Seaford and it’s beach….
Back on sea level we enjoyed the couple of miles walk along the promenade of Seaford Beach….
Passing the most westerly Martello Tower (small defensive Forts built along the east coast in the early 1800’s as protection from invasion by Napoleon) which now houses a museum….
The promenade continues beyond Seaford to Newhaven and it’s continuation of the deserted pebble beach….
Here we stopped for a while to watch a ferry coming in to Port dwarfing the small town….
Heading back the way we came and returning to site to enjoy the glorious late afternoon sunshine.
Today’s stats:
Miles driven – 40 (this included quite a Sat Nav mystery tour!)
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