Brighton and Eastbourne

As we left Welshpool we wanted to spend a little time on the south coast of England for the last portion of our stay in Britain. I had never spent much time near the south downs, so decided to look for accommodations near Brighton and Eastbourne.
We found a very good Airbnb cottage located just outside Ditchling, which is only a short drive to Brighton and the coast. The cottage was the conversion of a small "dairy" that was attached to an old farmhouse, which was built in the mid 1600's.

We noticed there was a large manor house next door and we were told that the property where we stayed was once part of that estate. The house is called Streat Manor and is privately owned.

We thought it a bit big for just two people!

We did not fully realize how windy Brighton seafront could be. This day it was blowing a gale!

These guys knew where to find a sheltered spot.

I couldn't help wondering which corporate clients used this form of consultation!

There used to be two piers in Brighton, but this one burned a number of years ago.

We wanted to take a walk on the down-land close to where we were staying and thought starting by this windmill would be a good idea. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing so hard we could barely stand, so we gave up. The windmill looked interesting, but was only open on weekends.

Eastbourne has a very long seafront, some 5 miles in length. We found the town much more relaxed than Brighton, which seemed like a busy extension of London.

We ran into this Lammas Festival Parade and Fair. Discovered that Lammas is the wheat harvest festival and is particular to northern Europe. There were Morris dancers and much drumming, which was really fun. Not sure about the costumes but we heard the roots may be Pagan in origin.  The fair had many artist's stalls, live bands and demonstrations of traditional crafts.

A band of drums in various shapes and sizes.

This guy was the lead drummer with a voice that seemed about to give out, but he lasted throughout the day.

Eastbourne Pier with a lot of renovations underway.

Charleston Farmhouse was close to where we stayed so we decided to chance a tour since we weren't able to make a reservation on line.  We were lucky and got in. This was the home of Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf's sister) and Duncan Grant.  Their home is where the Bloomsbury Group used to meet in the early part of the twentieth century. The group included Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes and other intellectuals of the time.

The gardens at CharlestoFarmhouse, which have been restored to replicate them as they would have been in the 1920's.

We also visited Monk's House, which was the home of Leonard and Virginia Woolf.  It was just a few miles from Charleston.  We were told the Virginia would often walk to Charleston.

Monk's House is in a wonderful location with views over the surrounding countryside. This photo is of Virginia Woolf's writing studio, which had beautiful views of the South Downs.

We continued our visits to famous writer's homes with a visit to Bateman's, the home of Rudyard Kipling. We found the rooms in the house very dark as they are all paneled in dark oak.  Beautiful craftsmanship, but did not feel very comfortable or inviting.  We also got to see Rudyard Kipling's Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, which he described as the only car he could afford because it did not break down. It was also a surprise to discover that as much as he loved motor cars, he never drove.

I wanted to visit Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, to capture my version of this iconic lighthouse. Again, the wind was very strong and it felt like you could easily be blown off the cliffs.  There are no guard rails and about a 400 foot drop!

We had planned to walk along this famous section of the South Coast called the Seven Sisters, but again the wind was far too fierce.

So we sat on the "beach" for a while out of the wind. You can see from this photo just why the cliffs are being eroded away quite quickly.

The cricket season was in full swing during our visit, so when we happened upon a match in progress, I had to stop and watch a few "overs".

We also discovered that we were close to Great Dixter, the home of the English gardener and writer, Christopher Lloyd, whose garden writings we had followed for many years. The gardens attached to this 16th century house are very extensive and formed the basis for much of Christopher Lloyd's writing. We also toured the house, which had been restored by Lutyens, and was quite spectacular.  No photographs allowed of the interior.

A few more images of breezy Eastbourne.

The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea is a good example of an Art Deco public building. There was an exhibit of very unusual graphic art work, but again, no photos allowed.  Another very windy day, so the seafront was mostly deserted.

The view from the Pavilion.

We had to have a meal at the Belgian Cafe when we discovered they had mussels prepared 50 different ways.  We sampled two, the Normandie and the Naturale. Yum.

Diane making a new friend on the promenade.  His name was Jake.

Next stop, Ealing in West London, as we begin to repack and prepare for our flight back to San Francisco.