Dear old Sussex by the sea

Hallo, blogspotters.

This is my most ambitious photo gallery yet. And I've found something new - photos load in reverse order. So the first photo was meant to be a PS - a wee depiction of the never-failing politeness of the English. I'm still looking for the rude notice that says No Parking.

The next set are all about Hampton Court Palace and garden - a very sumptuous palace built by Cardinal Wolsey, under Henry 8, then taken over by Henry when the Cardinal fell from grace and his head no doubt fell from his shoulders. In the second piccy you can see a fountain that literally flows with wine on festive occasions, except that these days you pay 3.50 a glass to quaff from the fountain. Loved the wee dogs and dragons on the roofline to the right.

The formal gardens are wonderfully Tudor, but in fact only a few years old as they kinda got lost during Victorian times and have been faithfully re-createdfrom the original plans and, literal archeology. Vut very stunning. Jane took a zillion garden photos.

These pics are of the town of Battle, where the Battle of Hastings was actually fought - several miles inland from Hastings on the coast (which, by the way, is THE most decrepit town we've seen anywhere. What amazed me at Battle was that William the Conquerer very nearly didn't conquer - it was a very long battle by medieval standards - and by all the odds, he shouldn't have won. Harold, his opponent had the high ground, and William's lot had to fight uphill, where neither his archers nor his cavalry had any advantage, and in fact, all Harold's lot had to do was hold them off, and he would have won the day, But by a combination of guile and good luck, Harold's troups got lured off the high ground, Harold got his arrow, and the rest is history. But history teetered on a knife edge that day, and it is fascinating to speculate how history may have been rewritten if it were not, basically for a random arrow.

One wonders what or who may have been burnt at the bonfire site.

After the battle, William, as a penance, built an abbey on the battle site. Here is a tiny detail that rather caught the imagination.

This is the battlefield site. Although the picture doesn't show it well, it is a steep uphill slope to where the abbey walls are, and where Harold's 5000 strong shield wall stood to fend off William's troops.

Dear old Eastbourne looked like somewhere that had been built a few centuries ago, updated to the 1950's, and then frozen in time - except that on the pier, the concert hall/ballroom had been filled with spacies. But the atmosphere of the town was quite wonderful - it was the kind of place where you almost felt undressed if you were not carrying the obligatory 'ice'. But very sweet, very uncle Alf and Aunty Mae.

So, that's all, folks, from dear old Sussex by the sea. Note, by the way, the colour of the sky!

Go well, and don't forget the seaside spades.

Richard & Jane.