Sometimes I comment on your blogs after you have visited me, however the comment you get from me may not be from the site you visited. That’s because I have more than one blog.
So here is a list of my other ones. 😘
If you get bored here over there on the right under pages there’s some more rubbish to read.
😊
Tilly
Beachy head cliff is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 metres (531 ft) above sea level and is situated close to Eastbourne, east of the Seven Sisters, (cliffs).
Between 66 and 100 million years ago the chalk cliff was formed when the area was under the sea. The chalk lifted and when the Ice Age ended, sea levels rose, the English Channel formed and cut into the chalk to form the dramatic cliffs.
Beachy Head is also home to the ‘Beachy Head Lady’ Human remains were discovered in the 1950s. Later they were subjected to forensic reconstruction, carbon dating and radio-isotype analysis. They were found to be the remains of a woman of Sub-Saharan African origin who grew up in the Eastbourne area in about 200-250AD.
Beachy Head is also a notorious suicide spot,the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team conducts regular day and evening patrols of the area in attempts to locate and stop potential cliff jumpers. Workers at the pub and taxi drivers are also on the lookout for people contemplating suicide, in fact a few years ago when I was walking along the top of the cliff, I stopped to take in the view and was approached by a man who opened up a conversation with me. When my husband came to me with his camera and joined in the conversation he wished us a good day and left. I remarked ‘what a nice man.’ Hubby explained to me ‘he thought you were a jumper’
At Birling Gap there is a National Trust car-park, shop, cafe, toilets and a gantry of metal stairs lead down the cliff to the Beach.
Whether you stand on top and taken in the awe-inspiring views or go down onto the beach and marvel at the height it’s worth a visit
Eastbourne Sea front
Admission Free
Eastbourne’s 1000 foot pier was designed by Eugenius Birch, work to build it started in 1866 and was completed in 1872. The pier was opened by Lord Edward Cavendish on 13th June 1870 while work was till in progress. On New Years day 1877 a storm washed away the shoreward end, it was rebuilt at a higher level
In 1888 the first 400-seat theatre was constructed at the seaward end in. In 1899 It was replaced by a 1000-seat theatre, bar, camera obscura and pier office complex. In 1925, a 900-seat music pavilion was constructed at the shoreward end and used as a ballroom before becoming an amusement arcade. In 1940 all the decking was removed for the duration of the war. Machine guns were installed in the pier theatre. In 1851 a kidney-shaped entrance building was constructed.
Trust House Forte bought the pier in 1968.
Fire destroyed the theatre in January 1970. In 1985 the pier was given a £250,000 renovation that gave the pier a major new arcade. The Duke of Devonshire opened a new £500,000 entrance building on 15th June 1991 after a hurricane damage the landing stage in October 1987.
The pier now has the usual gift shops, arcades, and a very pretty tea shop, ( afternoon teas, we couldn’t get in, it was full to bursting).
Redoubt Fortress,
Royal Parade,
Eastbourne
BN22 7AQ
Admission Free
There are only three surviving Napoleonic Redoubts in the UK, the Eastbourne Redoubt Fortress is recognised by Historic England as being of national importance
The fortress was built over 200 year ago on the south coast to defend England during the Napoleonic Wars and continued to be in use by the military through the First and Second World Wars.
The Redoubt has 24 Casemates which housed up to 200 men and possibly some women as six officers were allowed to bring along their wives. However these wives would have to share the rooms with the men with a blanket hung across the room for privacy.
The Redoubt was built onto shingle beach so is a the moat is a ‘dry moat’ and was covered by five caponiers . These caponiers were used by soldiers to fire on anyone who climbed into the moat to attack the fortress.
The fortress was built with only one way in across the drop bridge, however today there are two entrances to the fortress.
The fortress now houses a small cafe, and at weekend two hard hat tours are taken into the fortress, unfortunately we missed these. I would have liked a more in-depth look.
Normans bay to Eastbourne 6 mile of hard walking. Beautiful scenery but a pebble beach. Walk when the tide is out and you can climb down and walk on flatter sand, but you do have to watch out for soft spots and tar and be prepared to climb back up the pebble slopes at some points. That said forearmed is forwarded. It’s a straight walk passing some very nice beach side houses and a very ‘Seasidey’ garden.
The walk leaves the beach once the path going around Sovereign Harbour where we were lucky enough to see seals enjoying the sunshine, then joins the beach the walk and continues into Eastbourne.
Myrtle Farm
Station Rd,
Sandford,
Winscombe
BS25 5RA
Admission £12 per person
A nice little informative tour of the Thatchers factor and a little look at the orchard, (from the top of a bank). The tour all depends on which parts of the factor are working because of safety issues. We saw where the apples are brought in and taken into the factor, we heard about the apples that are used and the mixing process. I hadn’t realised that cider is made from eatting apples, cooking apples and cider apples or a mixture of each. We saw the bottling process and the 150 year old oak vats it all ended with a tasting session. I am quite partial to a drop of 458.
Thatchers is a family run business and at this time is run by fourth generation cider maker, Martin who took over in 1992. It all started in 1904 when William John Thatcher first made his first apple cider at Myrtle Farm. His farm workers had the cider as part of their wages, and the ciders were said to be the best around. Stanley Thatcher who was born in 1910, was the real cider pioneer, he decided to start making draught cider and sold a lot to local pubs. In 1965 they got their first hydraulic press, in 1970 John Thatcher took over the business, expanding the orchards and the presses. The vats were moved to their new home in 1981.
The factor also has a pub attached called The Railway which is a nice little pub, there is also a Thatchers shop just up the road to buy your goodies. A nice couple of hours even if you don’t like cider.
Glastonbury Abbey
Abbey Gatehouse
Magdalene Street
Glastonbury
Somerset
BA6 9EL
Admission Adults £8.25 child £4.95
The Saxons, who had converted to Christianity, conquered Somerset in the 7th Century. Their King was Ine of Wessex, who was regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the abbey, a local man who boosted the status and income of the abbey, and it is thought that he put up a stone church, the base of which forms the west end of the nave.
In the 10th century the church was enlarged by the Abbot of Glastonbury, St. Dunstan, ( Sigeric the Serious ), who in 906 became the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In 1066, the abbey fell to the Normans. The skilled Norman craftsmen added magnificent buildings to the east side of the existing Saxon Church. In 1086, when the Domesday Book was commissioned to provide records and a census of life in England, Glastonbury Abbey was the richest monastery in the country.
In 1184 the Norman structure burnt down and many of the ancient treasures were destroyed. One story/legend says that in 1191 the monks dug up the bones of King Arthur and his Queen Guinevere from a deep grave in the cemetery on the south side of the Lady Chapel to raise extra funds from pilgrims (pay to see, I presume) to rebuild the abbey. These bones were reburied in 1278 within the Abbey Church, in a black marble tomb in the presence of King Edward I. After the fire the monks needed to find a new place to worship. There is evidence that the 12th century nave was renovated and used for this purpose until the Grate Church was completed some 30 years later and services began again in 1213,
In 1536 Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries saw the end of the church.
As well as the abbey the grounds contain another descendant of the Holy Thorn, St. Patrick’s Chapel which is really sweet, a statute of Sigeric the Serious and boy, museum and gardens. The gardens have pools and a nature walk.
For me the Abbey ruins didn’t have the feel of a spiritual place, I don’t know what it was but it just didn’t have the feel. It has more of the feel of a park with ruins in it. That said it is very pretty.
We didn’t look around the museum as there seemed to be a school trip of some kind going on, and we got half way around the grounds before we had to give up due to the weather, it was extremely hot and neither of us felt like continuing, (perhaps we had been a little to adventurous that day given the heat and the other sites we had seen). so another visit may be needed.
The Chalice Well and Gardens
Chilkwell Street,
Glastonbury,
Somerset
BA6 8DD
Admission Adult £4.50 Child £2.50
(The photo is of me in the healing pool, yes I do believe in this type of thing, I also took the Red waters and the White waters from the White spring although we didn’t go in as it was closed)Chalice Well gardens is not just a garden it’s a place of spirituality, calm and love. (I have heard people say it’s just a very small garden, I think these people either don’t get it or have no soul). I felt really at home here, I just wish I lived nearer.
It’s not a garden to rush around or be loud in and it does have rules.
No smoking, no alcohol, switch off phones, Supervise children, respect the designated areas for quite reflection, remain fully clothed and only eat in the meadow.
The Chalice Well Trust was established in 1959 by Wellesley Tudor Pole to protect the well and waters enable visitors and pilgrims to receive inspiration and enjoyment from the gardens, and healing from it’s waters.
The garden is small but built with lots of little hideaways in which you can sit quietly and contemplate the red waters run throughout the garden and can be bathed in at King Arthur’s Healing Pool and drank from the Lions Head.
The first pool is the Vesica, the water falls from seven bowls into a large pool then into another pool, then into a small river which runs across the lawn. Next King Arthur’s Court and Healing pool, the pool as been on this spot since the 18th century and is fed by a cascade in which you an see the red iron that makes the water red. Just above this is the Lions Head from here you can take the waters, no more than a few sips as the water is very rich in iron. Just above this is the Holy Thorn, well an off cut of. The real Holy Thorn can be found on Wearyall Hill. Then a small path takes you onto the Well Head and Sanctuary but before this on the left hand side hidden in the tall plants is the Angel Seat, tucked under an ivy arch, the back of the seat as an Angle statue to sit next to. The Sanctuary has a small corner with a Madonna and child and a place to sit, and The Well Head. The cover of the well has a wrought iron Vesica Piscis with a lance passing through it. The Vesica Piscis is an ancient symbol of two interlocking circles symbolising the union of heaven and earth, or spirit and matter. The waters flow ceaselessly at a steady rate and temperature that never varies. Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea buried the Chalice used at the Last Supper and used to catch some of Christ blood at his Crucifixion here and a spring of red water bubbled up. Others believe the waters are a gift from Mother earth an acknowledged as the essence of life and the unbound life force.
“The more love we reflect and share with one another, the greater will be the supply available to us: a supply that is infinite, boundless, never failing and eternal. When the truth of this realisation is recognised and utilised we shall be on the first lap of the road leading to the arrival of “Heaven on Earth.”” – Wellesley Tudor Pole
We then moved on to the Abbey.
