Marie and I left Folkestone at 9am, taking the M20 to Sevington then the winding, narrow A2070 and A259 through the old villages of Rye, Winchelsea and Guestling Thorn. Not a route for the faint-hearted with no room for error dodging oncoming vehicles and passing with bare inches to spare. Thankfully we arrived in the town of Battle with all side mirrors still intact. We intended to stop and visit the partly ruined Benedictine Abbey, built on the site of the Battle of Hastings where the armies of King Harold and William the Conqueror clashed to decide England's future, but our booking was for the next day. So we drove on to Hastings and parked near the ruins of the Castle built by the same William of Normandy in 1070. The site was closed until April but we had a close up view of what was left as well as the medieval town below the sandstone cliffs, Beachy Head lost in the haze to the west. We could see the Stade, the shingle beach that has been used for more than a thousand years, home to Europes largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats. Most seemed to be ashore, perhaps the reduced quota for cod keeping the fisherman at home. We explored the old town and walked down to the rocky beach, the cold and damp fog now blowing in from the Channel. Old Hastings looked rather old, tired and worn, years of Covid having their effect on this seaside town and what it needed I thought was some good clean up and fresh paint. We returned up to the West Hill, site of the Castle ruins, eager to get out of the chilly weather. Instead of walking up the steep stairs we rode the old Hill Lift for 2 pounds each, senior rate. This particular funicular railroad was completed in 1891, working by cable using a variety of power sources as a counter-balance and still runs up and down every few minutes through a 350 foot brick-lined tunnel cut through a natural cave in the hill. Then we drove through more narrow winding streets to meet up with Nathen and Glen, our hosts at our AirBnb in Hastings. We had a light supper that night with a very old dog and cat for company, ready to return to Battle, 20 minutes away, the next morning.
GWS
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| AirBnB 13a Emmanuel, Hastings |
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| Hastings Castle and view of the Stade and fishing boats |
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| West Hill funicular |
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| the shingle beach, Hastings |
