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Day 6 - From Hastings to Lower Horsebridge - Day's mileage 33.3

    Our host, Mrs. Ward, was a different kind of person. Although she operated a B&B, she claimed that she had once owned a bar. In fact, she had signs advertising a Saturday night bar for invited and B&B guests in what was now being used as the breakfast room. She also had a permanent boarder. The house itself was a maze of passageways leading to various bathrooms, bedrooms and showers. The previous day, I had told her that I needed to work on the bikes early in the morning before breakfast and asked what time she got up. She replied, "Ten to eight, breakfast's at eight." She thought about it and then handed me the keys to the garage where the bikes were stored and told me to let myself in when I got up in the morning.

    I went down about a half hour before breakfast and changed the struts on Jeanette's rear rack to the ones I had rescued from the broken Blackburn. The struts that came with her Trek rack were a little short and caused the rack to sit tilted slightly forward. The longer Blackburn struts corrected the problem and allowed the rack to sit upright. Doing so also moved the rear panniers slightly farther back so that she did not occasionally tick them with her heels.

    We were the only guests at breakfast. The scrambled eggs were slightly green in color but tasted normal. The toast was burnt and the sausage overcooked. So much for starting to gain an appreciation of filling English breakfasts! We paid our bill and mounted our gear on our bikes, ready to do some touring. The weather was starting to improve and the sky, while cloudy, appeared brighter than we had seen it since arriving in England. It was going to be a nice day!

    Before we left Hastings we rode down into the old waterfront town. The four block by two block area looked like it was struggling to gain business and had some amusement type shops and fishing shops mixed in with the medieval looking storefronts. Most looked a little worn.

    We started riding west along the waterfront and immediately picked up Sustrans Cycle Route #2 again. The signs led us along cycle paths and low volume roads all the way to Pevensy Castle, a distance of about 12 miles. We were actually riding in shirt sleeves for the first time and it felt great to be free of the raincoats.

    Pevensy Castle was the first fort built by William the Conqueror after defeating King Harold. It was built on the foundations of an earlier Roman fort. Both could be seen as we walked around and surveyed the property. We rented audio handsets and listened to the 45 minute narrative, walking along as instructed while doing so.

    Shortly after leaving the castle we said goodbye to Sustrans #2. It continued west while our destination, Herstmonceux Castle, required that we travel north. I was sorry to leave the route since it had taken good care of us during the last four days. Our new route would take us through the Pevensy Levels and through the village of Wartling before reaching the castle, a distance of about nine miles.

    The riding was easy. The roads were practically deserted and had a tree canopy for much of the way. Again, the feeling of Middle Earth came over me. The lush green growth of the  foliage and the scattered, well kept, flower adorned houses along the road made for exhilarating cycling. When we were almost at Herstmonceux we saw that The Royal Observatory was located next to the castle property. The signs at the entrance advertised programs open to the public. We had decided on visiting the castle though and kept riding till we reached the entrance to the estate.

    Herstmonceux was built by a supporter of William the Conqueror. The original castle had been destroyed and was replaced by a palace in the 1800's. The castle was currently being used for a college but the extensive gardens were open to the public for viewing.

    The gardens were large and impressive. My wife and I are partial to flower gardens and spent most of our time walking through the formal gardens.  One of the gardeners was tilling some ground in one of the flower beds. I approached him and asked him what the name of the poppy was that I had seen growing wild along the roads. He told me the Latin name and then told me the poppies were much denser in southern France and Normandy. 

    A sudden chill ran through me. I recited the first line of Joyce Kilmer's poem, "In Flander's Fields, the poppies grow."

    The gardener said the second line, "Between the crosses row on row."

    A knowing look exchanged between us. We both bowed our heads, thinking of the terrible destruction of World War I  that the flowers brought to mind. 

    Jeanette came over, breaking the spell, and the three of us talked about various flowers in the gardens and the garden's layout. The gardens extend over 35 acres and it took us over three hours to walk around and view the areas we wanted to see.

    As we were leaving we stood on a bridge connecting the grounds with the castle and looked into the moat which became a lake on the north side of the castle. The moat was full of huge Koi carp. We have Koi's at home but they're small and only two years old. These fish were 15 pounders and at least ten years old. I hoped that my daughter was stopping by and feeding our fish since they get very hungry in the summer when the water's warm.

    We left Herstmonceux Castle and had instructions on how to find a B&B that we had booked through a TIC earlier in the day. The B&B was supposedly easily found and was four miles from the village of Herstmonceux, a village close to the castle itself. When we reached where the B&B was supposed to be we couldn't find it. I called the B&B's phone number and found I had been given a wrong number by the TIC. I called the operator and she gave me the B&B's correct number. I called that number and found that they had their recorder on.

    I found a pub in Cowbeech where the B&B was supposed to be located and went inside. The bar went silent when I walked in. I felt like I was an unexpected guest at a private party. I asked about the B&B and no one there claimed to have heard of it. Jeanette and I rode back the way we came and I parked her in a comfortable spot and took off by myself. The area was hilly and Jeanette's slow progress would have slowed us down. I  spent another half an hour riding around looking for the B&B or ANY B&B with no luck. I finally rode back to Jeanette and said I couldn't find anything and that we'd better give up and just continue on until we found some place to stay. I was getting pretty stressed. We were in the middle of nowhere and I wasn't sure if and when we'd find shelter for the night.

    We rode along until we found a pub, "The King's Head," in Lower Horsebridge. I went inside and asked and they had a room. Thirty-five pounds. We took it. The room was fine and we settled in and then went downstairs where we had drinks and dinner. The two girls working the bar were extra friendly to us and made sure we were taken care of all evening. Everything was in order.  Life was good again.

Recommended
Kings Head Hotel
South Road
Lower Horsebridge, Hailsham
01323 843712
Rooms from £35.00
Dinners from £6.00 to £15.00

Day 7 - From Lower Horsebridge to Brighton - Day's mileage 26.0