Pevensey - Sussex

One of Les' complaints (complaints??!!) over many years of camping, renting cottages & general holidaying has been that we never seem to spend much time exploring the area immediately around wherever we're staying. Sorted that today!

Left the van happily parked at our Norman's Bay site (more on that in a moment!) & walked along the shingle beach to Pevensey Bay, across the Levels to Pevensey & its castle & then took a quiet lane out to 'The Star Inn' before pebble-scrunching our way home to complete the loop

Barbecue in glorious late-afternoon sunshine, fine bottle of red & a good DVD - just like being on holiday!

Norman's Bay beach, close to our van

Highlight of the Day: fixing an electrical problem with the van that we didn't know existed but has, apparently, been troubling it since the start of LeJog..... without recourse to experts, simply by reading all the small print in the Owner's Manual!

The problem came to light when all the lights went out, last night, while we were watching a DVD (more on that in a moment!). To cut a saga to a soundbite, it transpires that the Leisure battery hadn't been charging since the 'hook-up' icon disappeared from our Control Panel.... some time in May. Fuses replaced, buttons pushed & problem addressed, we left the poor van to recuperate (re-charging its battery!) whilst we went a-strolling!

On DVDs: given the vagaries of TV reception we decided to bring a box-set of old Hitchcock films to keep us amused. Having watched 'Rear Window' on Wednesday & 'The Birds' on Thursday it was ironic that things should conk out close to the end of 'Family Plot', the only one so far that we haven't seen before!

No van = no driving &, thus, the opportunity to visit a few local hostelries

Started at 'The Moorings', Pevensey Bay - also known as 'The Pub on the Beach', which is where I was sitting when I took this photo
Sheltered here many years ago on the 'Coastals' walk: shutters were rattling, rain was hammering on the roof & they served me an excellent pint.... only the time & the weather have changed!

Beer of the Day: 'Sussex Best Bitter' from Harvey's Brewery in Lewes; had this in a couple of pubs now & it's well worth trying. Light brown & looks heavier than it tastes. Brewery founded in 1790.... so they should know what they're doing!

Almost mown down by 2 teenage-girl cyclists as they dived off the A259 at Pevensey Bay... we'd been too quick for them, so they tried again at the entrance to Pevensey Castle! Most apologetic on both occasions, I'm not sure they found it as funny as we did but they finally managed a smile when we stopped for them (again!) so they could take photos of each other in front of the castle!

Amazingly, the outer walls at Pevensey were built by the Romans in the 4th century - the best-preserved remains anywhere in Britain
Much of the inner castle was the first to be built by the Normans when they arrived & secured their position in 1066. This may look like just any other castle.....

Elizabethan cannon supported on a not-so-ancient carriage! Elizabeth I ordered the demolition of the old castle but she was ignored! The most recent additions are World War II pill-boxes & gun emplacements disguised to look like part of the ancient stonework!

When I spotted a bus going To West Ham Les thought I was going daft, but here you are! Separated from Pevensey by Butcher's Field though we were having no joy finding anyone to sell us barbecue-fare
That was finally rectified by the shop on a neighbouring camp-site.... the benefits of walking!




Stopped at 'The Smugglers' before leaving Pevensey - we had a choice but thought we'd keep the theme going!
Another fine pub (3 Shepherd Neame ales on draught!) with a huge sunny garden that we had all to ourselves; there's also a covered stage for what seems to be regular weekend live music, the Howlin Blues Band were performing tonight while Thursday is Jam Session night!
Les was just happy they could rustle her up a Cream Tea for lunch!

The pub dates from 1527 &, not surprisingly, has its share of ghost stories but I was more interested in its smuggling past as it only assumed its current name in the 18th century
Apparently it was home to the Groombridge Gang who, in common with many others, made a good living from smuggling tea for sale in London; when duties were reduced in 1784 they turned their attention to spirits & tobacco, continuing to thrive until the introduction of coastguards brought matters to a head at Pevensey Sluice in 1833..... which leads nicely to our last pub of the day!

'The Star Inn' at Pevensey Sluice which was, indeed, originally built c1402 as a Sluice House to control the flow of water on the reclaimed Levels
It became a pub in the middle of the 17th century, known as 'The Star of Bethlehem' because it was frequented by shepherds whose flocks grazed the new pastures & it was here, in 1833, that organized smuggling gangs fought with coastguards: clubs & poles against cutlasses!

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): Neil Young's 'Star of Bethlehem'!

There's even a railway story connected to the pub! In 1865 a dead, 72 ton whale was washed up on the beach in front of the pub & Norman's Bay station was hastily constructed to accommodate day-trippers from London keen to observe the monster!

Three excellent pubs in one day.... now that's unusual!