Day 106 Tuesday 07/07/2020
I’m not really sure whether we are still in lockdown or not. But we are off for a break in the BGB.
We have come down to the Caravan and Camping club’s site at Normans Bay on the Sussex coast for three nights. We decided on three nights because at the time we booked it was unclear whether the toilets and showers would be open. We thought that we could manage three days washing in the sink and using the PortaPotty. As it turned out all the facilities, except the shop were open. There were a few restrictions on their use, but none that made a huge difference.
By the way Normans Bay is so named because it is the place that William the Conqueror landed to start his invasion of England in 1066.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to cycle into Bexhill to find some lunch. On the way to Bexhill, we passed a pub called The Star, which was serving food. We checked to find out if they were open in the evening as well. As they were we booked a table for dinner, then carried on to Bexhill.
Bexhill has some happy/sad memories for me. After Grace died, it was one of the first places that I managed to take myself off to on my own. I’m not sure why I chose Bexhill, I think I wanted to see the De la Warr Pavilion. I took the train from East Croydon and had a good day. I had lunch at the pavilion, a meander along the sea front and round the town, then caught the train back home.
These thoughts were going through my head as Diane, Brian and I cycled into town. We found a baker’s shop and bought pasties for lunch. We went down to the seafront to eat them where we also found a bar, so we had a beer to go along with them.
I also took a few pictures of the De la Warr Pavilion.
We cycled back the way we had come, arriving back at the van about three thirty.
We walked along to the Star for dinner. Because they were operating under social distancing rules, their menu was quite limited and the service was different. Food and drink was placed on a side table from which you passed it to the other people on the table. However, the cheese bacon burger and chips that I had was fine. Every one else said their food was fine as well. The puddings were large.
In a previous life, I might have said that the food was adequate at best, but to be honest after 106 days it was lovely to sit down to a meal that someone else had cooked for me and where someone else was going to do the washing up. Critical faculties are currently suspended.
Day 107 Wednesday 08/07/2020
When we woke up today, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. I had been woken up by the rain during the night, so it must have been fairly heavy. Bacon sandwiches for breakfast were needed.
We were booked to go to Pevensey Castle in the afternoon. We decided to visit Hastings for lunch first.
A hopeful seagull 
We found a cafe for lunch and wandered back to the BGB along the foreshore. Hastings doesn’t have a harbour, even though it has a fair sized fishing fleet. T he boats are winched up the beach. They are launched (I think) by pushing then down the shingle using an old Caterpillar.
We had booked a slot at 3pm for Pevensey Castle, so we didn’t have a lot of time to look around Hastings.
The castle is an interesting site. Unusual in that it has been used as a fortification from Roman times right up to WWII. (There were gaps when it wasn’t in use). The Romans built it to protect Pevensey Harbour. The sea used to come right up to the walls of the castle. The Roman walls are still visible right round the site. After the Romans left, the Saxons used it. It was William the Conqueror’s base after he landed his army at Norman’s Bay in 1066. It was an important castle all through the Middle Ages, but gradually fell into run. In 1940, with The United Kingdom facing the prospect of invasion the castle was returned to use. For more information click here.
We went back to the van and made cup of tea, while Diane tried and failed to get a photo of some cute, but uncooperative piglets.
Supper was cooked in the van.
Day 108 Thursday 09/07/2020
We woke up on Thursday morning to find out grey and damp. We had thought of going to Battle to visit the battlefield, but wandering around in the rain looking for the spot where King Harold got an arrow on the eye didn’t appeal. We packed up and headed home.
It was good to be able to finally get out after one hundred and eight days.
A Scotsman in Suburbia 