Started the day with a long walk into Eastbourne. Then caught the bus to Rottingdean - a journey across the South Downs and past Beachy Head, Burling Gap, East Dean. Peacehaven, Seaford, Newhaven and onto Rottingdean.
The views from the top of the bus were spectacular as we exited Eastbourne and headed along the coast. Then the scenery changed. Let's just say Peacehaven, Seaford and Newhaven are not the most picturesque of places.
A couple of years ago we stopped off at Newhaven to have a look round. It was a little short of impressive!
Rottingdean on the other hand was well worth a visit apart from one thing - the traffic. The historic High Street was just jammed with traffic. Most of my photographs make it seem deserted but that is really painting the wrong picture. The Cotswolds' is one of my favourite areas of the country but many of the towns there suffer from the same thing - cars parked everywhere detracting from the natural beauty. And so it is with Rottingdean. One of my photographs has a simple message: "Cut Engine, Cut Pollution." It suggests somebody in the town has realised the traffic is just too heavy. A better idea would be "Ban Cars, Cut Pollution."
So a little about Rottingdean: It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 but probably had a settlement in both Roman and Saxon times. In the late 18th century it attracted many visitors wanting a quieter place to stay than nearby Brighton.
It became famous for the arts in the late 19th century with the painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones and his more famous nephew Rudyard Kipling making it their home. Kipling's house is still there and is adjacent to Kipling Gardens. Painter Sir William Nicholson also lived there. Examples of the work of Burne-Jones and Nicholson are shown below.
In 1377, Rottingdean was invaded by pirates. They set fire to the Saxon church tower where many of the locals had fled to. As a result over 100 people died. The following day the pirates were driven out.
On a hill overlooking Rottigdean is a black wooden windmill which you will see in some of my photos. This is a Grade One listed building and has been renovated through Lottery grants and the work of the Rottingdean Preservation Society.
Rottingdean also boasts one of the oldest cricket clubs in the country which was founded in 1758.
There are some very interesting people buried in the local churchyard and I will tell you about some of them in tomorrow's blog including a world famous blues guitarist.
We travelled to Rottingdean from Eastbourne on public transport. It was quite evident that not everyone was following the rule about wearing face masks. I would say that 70% of people were and 30% weren't.
From Rottingdean we walked to Brighton Marina and then caught the bus back. Our walk today was 8.4 miles.