Rye is a lovely little town. Some of it looks like a set from a Dickens costume drama. Lovely pubs and cafes and museums with elaborate models and maps of the town through the past 1000 years. It is amazing how this was once on the coast defended by a castle, but is now inland
There is a wonderful walk from Hastings to Rye along the chalk cliffs.
Portsmouth Naval museum is fantastic! But you won’t do it in a day: too much to see.
The usual ticket lets you come back until you’ve seen all the displays. But you won’t do it in a day without missing good stuff.
I’ll add a couple of thoughts on Rye which, as you say, is a great day out. That was a pretty comprehensive link you found, but here’s a couple more points of interest. One major literary resident they missed out was Radclyffe Hall:
And I saw no mention of Rye Harbour, a major nature reserve - Linky - if not exactly what you think of when you read the name “harbour”. That is a hangover from Rye’s role as one of the Cinque Ports - very much another point of interest.
j
I’ve been up on the cliffs to the East of Hastings but I haven’t done the walk. May Day celebrations culminate there:
This revived a few years back and was, until COVID, an every year thing for us. Hastings is a struggling town with a lot of poverty - I guess this is a tourism initiative. The parades and food and music are great fun AND there’s a huge motorbike rally which takes place on the same day. The pubs open early in the morning and there is a lot of drunkenness.
Aside from that, the only other reason I can think of to visit (like I said, struggling town) is the Net Shops, which are, so far as I am aware, unique (and very weird).
Wooden proto-skyscrapers (-ish) crammed together on shingle. Bunch of click-on images here: Linky
j
Hastings has a lot of social problems. Long ago, the boroughs of London and other big cities were looking for places to put their problem families and discovered that many old seaside towns had lots of cheap hotels and guest houses that had been left behind by the rise of the cheap package holidays to sunny Spain. Local social workers tend to have large case loads. The South Coast has its fair share of such pockets of a deprivation. It also has some wonderfully picturesque smaller seaside towns, that never suffered from the tourism boom and bust syndrome.
Getting out into the countryside is a big thing for Londoners and people share information about interesting walks. These are gentle affairs, take a train for an hour or so to a station, then follow the walk via pubs, tea rooms and historic sites through lovely countryside and coastal scenery to another rail station that will take you back to the London.
That link was very informative! If I ever go to South East England the first thing on my list would be High Rocks in Kent, but the second would be a walk from Hastings to Battle. Hastings would probably fulfill my limited desire to see an old seaside town, and similarly Battle so I could see a modicum of old abbeys and history. But the direct walk on Battle Road-A2100 seemed like it could be pleasanter once you got out into the countryside, so if I do this I might incorporate the Crowhurst to Battle part into the walk instead.
Lambs Green in West Sussex - I dropped by a couple of days ago. An extreme example of cropping by google photos - click on the image to see…well, the books.
The sign says “Rusper Parish Council’s Book Swap”.
j
That’s pretty cool. Phone booths are a rare bird over here now, and they’ve never been particularly attractive.
@filmstar-en - I’m going to save that link with the list of walks. Sounds like a lovely thing to do as a day trip from London.
What’s this round building? Google Maps
According to the website, it is a motte, the centerpiece of the original castle built there in 1068 around which the larger castle was then built.
nitpick - the motte is the hill its standing on. The building itself is the keep.
I don’t think anyone in the UK would think of those as “SE”. For that you can draw a line from the centre of London down to Brighton and anything east of that would be SE.
But that’s a nitpick, Oxford is lovely (and you’ve been so you already know) The New Forest is nice for woodland walks and birds, Never been to the Isle of Wight. I’ll second The Portsmouth Naval museum, it is excellent.
Always useful for the tourist to check out both “The National Trust” and “English Heritage”. A membership to either of those gets you access to some lovely places.
Two favourites of mine are Dover Castle and also Down House (the home of Chuck D. Evolutionary Revolutionary)
And where would Greater London grade into the SE in people’s minds? Wikipedia says that the SE includes Gatwick Airport, which seems right to me, since there is quite some open space between the airport and the continuously-built-up parts of Greater London. But Wikipedia also says that it includes Oxfordshire which you say that no one in the UK considers Southeast, and also says that it includes Heathrow, which seems odd to me since there isn’t such a gap.
National Trust and English Heritage are public bodies that look after much of the countries architectural heritage. Many of those stately homes you see in costume dramas ended up in their hands when they became uneconomic after substantial inheritance taxes were introduced in the 1920s (see Dowton Abbey). They operate membership schemes that allow members to visit and enjoy a tour of the building and gardens. They general have a tea room, souvenir shop and sometimes a garden centre. Thus neatly covering several of the requirements for a pleasant day out tootling around the countryside in a car or for a coach tour. This is a very popular pastime for seniors and families. English Heritage tend to look after the ancient monuments and buildings that are classified as having special architectural merit - they do the castles. The Nation Trust is one of the countries biggest landowners and has the best picnic spots.
Preserving the countries heritage is partly institutionalised in this way. The membership plans can save a lot in entrance fees.
South East England is, apparently, an official region for government statistical purposes, according to Wikipedia.
There is also the term ‘Home Counties’ which means the counties around London and a couple of others nearby.
To most people it just means the general part of England next to London and the south east coast. There is no ‘check point Charlie’.
true, it is not an exact science
People would say that London was in the South East along with Gatwick and Heathrow. Oxford not so much.
I don’t know what the significance of “open space” would would be, there is lots of open space in that part of the country.
Gotcha. I was assuming that it did not include London.
Ironically enough, Highclere Castle, the location for Downton, isn’t publicly-owned. But you can still tour it.
I think there’s few major stately homes that aren’t open to the public - the nobility cottoned on to the cash potential years ago. It’s only really Russian Oligarchs and pop stars who still like to keep the general public out.