Monday 17 May 2010

Whilst you were sleeping...

 Whoever said "English food is crap" has never eaten here, where we had a fantastic lunch in Hove in the company of some people who were purportedly locally and internationally famous*, but can't really have been, because there was no minder, no bling, no mobile phones, no entourage & no tantrums.  






We wandered up & down the seafront, reminding ourselves about the bygone beauty and tragically lost opportunity of the West Pier, and admired the bathing huts - what a typically ingenious English use of space - kettle, chairs, table, umbrella...



and we admired the English determination to soak up every last ray:




What a hoot - sound asleep in the midday sun - at home he'd be burnt to a crisp in about 3 minutes.


And we went to Beachy Head, where I very gingerly stuck my head over the edge & looked down - ooh, nasty:



That's about 300 metres down, Gentle Readers.

And then we went to the site of the Battle of Hastings, which, interestingly, is in Battle.  We walked round the entire site, and it's really hard to see how the Normans could have won, given that the English had the advantage of home ground, higher ground, and the moral imperative...


The battle was nearly 1000 years ago, and it was hard to imagine such violence in such a beautiful place..




Unimaginably, the Abbey which was raised on the site, and finished in about 1094, was allowed to be partially destroyed during Henry VIII's "Dissolution of the Monasteries" in the 15th Century, but the ruins are very picturesque.




And they sell great teatowels in the shop!



*Edited to add, JUST for AJ - *Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim



4 comments:

  1. Oi, where's the *companion at the bottom!? I might EXPIRE from curiosity!!

    Looks lovely, I'm sure there are grotty bits in all the places you've been, but your photos make everywhere looks so good. I'm sure the tourist boards should be hiring you! Have you seen Emma Ball's tins? They have beach huts and seagulls on. We have some with biscuits in.

    http://www.emmaball.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=beach&x=0&y=0

    Cheers,
    AJ

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  2. Did he have Zoe and the kids with him?

    Only reason I know who that is, his wife - zoe ball - has a show on Radio 2!

    Cheers,
    AJ

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  3. Beautiful photos - loving this holiday! x :)

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  4. I'm one who always thought that English Cuisine was an oxymoron, looks like they've improved .. slightly! Nice to be able to feel smug about our beaches tho!~

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