at the tram stop,
in no time at all we were at East Croydon station,
and hurtling towards,
Eastbourne,
Diana had booked a hotel for Saturday evening,
after an hour or so here we were,
in Eastbourne,
we were last here 9 years ago, in 2010,
how things have changed,
time for a late breakfast,
or an early lunch,
so a Chinese buffet it was then, some soups to start,
then for the main courses,
and what a selection,
the dishes of food seemed almost endless,
everyone of our favourites was there,
including carve your own pork,
lots of add ons,
and sushi too,
a nice selection of desserts,
a chocolate fountain,
and lots of ice cream if you still had room!
so a quick pose,
some wine for myself,
and it was time to start,
a glass to go with the soup,
and then the main courses, we had a few of them! the cost was £10.95 each plus drinks,
and this is the place to look for,
well we had to stop for a refrigerator magnet,
I have to remember, if you walk in the middle of the street, you can get run over by a bus,
we had a quick look in one of the malls,
then back outside to look,
at the Neon Sheep,
we continued our walk towards the beachfront,
the roads in the town centre all now pedestrianised,
we were tempted, but did not stop,
I remember the cinema and am sort of surprised it is still going, with all of the modern multi complexes around,
one thing I did notice, the proliferation of charity shops,
some like this one huge,
and other shops closed, so many of them,
I can see the sea!
we were thinking about tonight's meal, Diana fancied fish and chips, and here was an outlet of Harry Ramsden's, famous for his fish and chips, so one to think about,
and there was the pier insight,
Diana booked the hotel, all I said was it would nice to be near the pier,
so a quick pose,
from both of us,
and we continued on our way,
taking a few more photographs as we went,
as you might expect,
lots of the pier,
we started to near the,
Claremont Hotel, which Diana said was where we were staying,
the nearer we got to it, the worse it looked,
it was just a shell, it had suffered from a huge fire,
first the good news, nobody died, but there were a few injuries, talking to some of the locals it was thought an explosion in a downstairs kitchen caused the fire, which lasted 4 days! according to one local resident, 2 months on there us still no official word as to the cause, panic over this was not our hotel!
Diana was playing a trick on me!
before booking in,
we stopped for a few more photographs,
on the shingle beach,
and naturally,
we had to have,
a few poses,
looking towards Beachy Head,
Diana with one of the huge beach front hotels behind her,
we walked to the base of the pier, the road was still closed due to the fire damaged building still dropping bricks every now and then,
another fish and chip restaurant to consider,
we waked up the steps to the road, and opposite the pier,
our hotel,
and it was,
really opposite the pier, well done Diana,
and next to the burned out hotel,
as it happens talking to one of the staff, residents of the burning hotel were looked after at The Pier Hotel as the fire raged next door,
bricks still tumbling from the shell, it is hoped that it will be able to keep the facade in the rebuilding,
Diana following me into our hotel,
the hotels restaurant,
and bar,
and our room,
we could not be closer to the pier if we tried!
our room,
the pier with its clock tower,
looking towards Beachy Head,
booked in,
we decided on a walk,
towards Beachy Head,
looking back at the pier I could make out the moon,
it was a lovely cloudless late afternoon,
a quick pose,
as we continued our walk,
looking back,
as the seagulls looked at us,
by now,
we had reached the bandstand,
so a pose by myself,
the inscription at the rear of it,
as we walked,
I took a few photographs,
of the beachfront hotels,
the pier in the distance,
as we neared The Wish Tower,
looking inland, a green between the hotels,
we made our way,
up to the tower,
which is next to a nice restaurant,
the tower,
beside it a memorial,
lest we forget,
the mast at the top of the tower a handy place for a seagull to look from,
the legend,
continuing along the front,
another huge hotel,
the moon in what was a cloudless sky,
but now a few clouds started creeping in,
as the sun set,
up some more hillside paths,
to the top road,
it was steeper than it looks!
but we made it in the end, we had a fish and chip supper, but unfortunately Diana has the photographs on her telephone, and she is at work,
after our meal we walked back to the hotel for a nightcap, and with that we were off to bed,
the next morning we were up early, I previously mentioned the clock tower on the pier, well if you want a lie in, this is not the hotel to have a lie in in, the clock chimes on the quarter and half hour, then really lets loose for the hour! lucky it does not start till 08.00am, so not a problem for us, just outside the hotel work is going on, it is a huge 24" gas pipe,
all wrapped up,
and ready to go,
we were off to Beachy Head,
so a walk along the UK's highest chalk cliff,
in the far distance a slight sea mist,
the fauna around here have adapted to the high winter winds,
the branches,
growing away from the prevalent wind direction,
and keeping low to the ground,
pose!
walking towards the sea,
a memorial,
to the sacrifices made by the RAF Bomber Command,
of the 110,000 aircrews, 55,573 gave their lives, not only from Great Britain, but also from the Commonwealth and occupied countries during that dreadful conflict, as mentioned for many Beachy Head would be their last sight of England,
look in the distance,
the famous lighthouse,
we will hopefully get a better look at it further along the coast,
a quick panorama,
and a look at,
the signal tower,
no kidding!
the lighthouse,
we were thinking of walking down to the beach,
but later decided against it,
do not get too close to the edge!
around the top of the cliff there are small stones with verses from the psalms,
I was not feeling very happy about being this close to the edge, but there it is,
as an aside, the same photograph but auto corrected in Windows,
looking back towards Eastbourne,
and guess who?
we kept hearing the call of a bird, but not one we were familiar with,
then whilst taking this photograph we saw them, not one but two falcons, what a joy to behold,
then as if things could not get better, one made a dive, I have never seen anything like it before in my life, the sheer speed that bird had when it plummeted to its kill at or near the base of the cliffs, I still can not imagine how a bird could dive as fast that, incredible,
we now decided to retrace our steps,
passing many of these strange trees,
I am not sure what they are, but here are the berries,
and in the centre of the photograph the lichen that grows on the trees,
when I said retrace our steps,
there was a slight diversion,
well it was cold,
so coffees it was then,
back to the pier,
a quick look at what could have been so much worse,
then onto the pier for us,
Diana tried her luck, but the machine was having none of it,
it was time to walk the pier,
looking along the coast,
well I had to have a pose,
or two!
OK enough already!
so a few from Diana,
we almost had the place to ourselves,
which was nice,
hardly a soul here,
if you do not count seagulls!
it was getting a bit chilly,
six months time the place will be alive,
as it happens the piers owners are already repainting the seats, guardrails,
and lampposts,
looking along the coast,
this photograph colour corrected,
and a panorama,
someone has dropped the fish a line, but they have not replied,
if you fancy having a go, all of the equipment is here for hire,
a few of the hotels looking towards Beachy Head,
in the distance lots of cloud is building up,
we were thinking it was a good job we came back when we did,
the sky was looking really menacing,
behind this huge hotel,
starting back towards the shore,
this sign somewhat spoils the fun of the pier,
nearly back,
and here we are at our hotel,
and just across the street,
the burned out one,
before we crossed the road, I could not help but notice the paint job of this car,
front spoiler could be a tad higher though,
a pose before we go in for our Sunday lunch,
we had the pace to ourselves, so we choose the centre window table,
and a bottle of bubbly,
to go with our Sunday roast, beef for Diana,
pork for myself, both of which were delicious, and a new treat for both of us, parsnip crispy curls, coming out of the top of the Yorkshire pudding, we were so full we could not even have a coffee, so bag packed and we were off to the station,
we arrived home in the early evening, so on with the magnet, then feet up for tonight's film, which Diana choose,
For A Few Dollars More, one from Mrs. Brown's Boys, and that was our weekend finished, what a great time we had, and being off season there were so few people around, and as a bonus the weather was really kind to us, with that we were off to bed.
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