Easter Journeys Part III: Be ready to emergency break, in fact, just come in the back way

Our final leg of the journey was brought us through the Cotswold to see Gemma’s friends Elaine, Simon, and their lovely daughter. We spent a day in Bourton on the Water, where Elaine and Simon live. Bourton is the ‘Venice of the Cotswold’ because of the pretty little river merrily bubbling through the town and is largely accepted as being the quaintest, cutest, and premier destination village in the Cotswold.

The pub on the Hill

This is no mean feat as the Cotswold is known for being the cutest and quaintest destination in England. After some beers, ice cream, and sneaky paddle in the river Gemma and I moved on to our hotel high on the hills just outside the village of Cleeve Hill overlooking the surrounding countryside.

The next day, our final day before returning to work we drive home via Stratford upon Avon to visit the birthplace and final resting place of the Bard.

The Swan Theatre

We wandered along the banks of the River Avon and paid our respects at the Holy Trinity Church before poking our noses through the Old Town to photograph Shakespeare’s birthplace.

Shakesspeare's birthplace

Our Easter trip done, we wistfully turned our backs on the sunshine and returned home. Time now to install a bathroom, building a cocktail bar, decorate our pool room, and finally complete my damn gaming cabinet (although with a pool room I don’t really have anywhere to project it).

 

Swans on Avon

Easter Journeys Part II: Traffic is only a problem when you can't find a park

From Sandwich our coastal journey began. Over the course of the next five days we shot down the coast stopping in Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, and Hayling Island.

The British south coast - cliffs and rocky beaches.

Without have much expectation I was thoroughly surprised by each destination. I think what I didn’t expect is for each place to have such distinctive characteristics. For instance, Hastings, Eastbourne, and Brighton are three coastal towns known for the tourism, all have excellent promenades, towering cliffs, lovely beaches, strong fishing history, and great weather. However, Hastings is heavily characterised by the (aptly named) Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror’s subsequent conquering of England as well as an old town built on a silted over river.

Remnants of Hastings Castle. On top of a massive Hill. Not sure how this battle was lost :)

Eastbourne is a resort town and has promenade market’s, astounding listed hotels, and a history of being the destination for gentry (there may ave been more to Eastbourne but we only stopped there for breakfast on the pier). Brighton has the Lanes, an extremely narrow shopping and eating district with tailors and jewellers to rival those of London, and a palace known as the Royal Pavilion.

We spent a couple of nights in Hastings. We visited the East and West Hills, wandered through the Old Town, learnt about its fishing industry, and generally enjoyed the good weather.

A model of Hastings historical fishing area

 Also, they had a Tintin pub. Admittedly, the employees seemed a bit hazy on their Tintin knowledge, but they served belgium beer. Like all British towns, Hastings had a phenomenal history. Battles aside, it was built as a fishing village around a great bay which fed into a river. Over time, the bay silted over which impacted the community quite significntly. The Old Town of Hastings was then built on top of this bay and the wharfs manufactured so that the fishing industry could continue to strive. Then Billy from Normandy turned up...

Overlooking Hastings Oldtiown from East Hill. A thousand years ago that was a river.

Our visit complete we drove up the coast stopping at Eastbourne for breakfast and explored Brighton for lunch before continuing on to Hayling Island where we stayed for another two nights.

The garden on Eastbourne promenade.

Brighton is one of those places I had heard people talk about but not understand why it was so popular. We only spent a couple of hours there, and while it offered the same seaside experience many of the UK coastal destinations provide it was the Lanes that made it something special.

The lion peir at Eastbourne. Hoepfully the people in the foreground providwe some context as to the sheer size of the structure. Coastal towns on the south of England often have an iconic pier.

We did not stay long enough for me to udnerstand their historical significance, but the were close tight, and narrow. A bit like to the streets in Venice (minus the canals). And the shops there seemed substabtially more upmarket than most shops ouside of London. By this I mean independent stores providing expensive wares like tailors or jewellers. 

The Palace at Brighton.

I am pretty keen to return to find out more about Brighton. Just maybe not in a long weekend. That is hot and Sunny. Which brings the tourists. Who drive. And parking can be....challenging...and time consuming...to come across.

 

A map Hastings, conveniently located as you enter the island.

Hayling Island is a delightful place just east of Portsmouth. We were greeted by delightful thatched cottages, lovely walks along the coast, and its crucial role as a WWII military base and depot. We spent Easter Sunday here and were not disappointed with the Easter BBQ put on by our hotel. At one stage on Easter Sunday Gemma and I observed an endless procession of cars on the main road while we were out walking, but for the life of us we could not determine were they were all going as there did not seem to be many people.

Literally everywhere on Haylng Island.

Then we stumbled across the beach; every square inch of its rocky coast was packed with people and towels, car parks were full, and the obligatory seaside amusement park packed. We went to the pub!

Jessie finds her own beverage at the pub.