Walk 36. Hastings to Cooden

 Today’s start point is the RNLI lifeboat station on Hastings seafront. This sits in between the Stade, with it’s working fishing fleet, and the ‘touristy’ area of kid’s funfair rides, penny arcades, crazy golf, and ice creams etc.

Fortunately the sun is just starting to appear as I set off past the attractions, most of which are closed at this time of year.

Just across the road is a tall cliff with the remains of Hastings Castle on the top…

Meanwhile on the beach we have some ‘municipal art’…

A few minutes further on is Hastings Pier. Originally built in the Victorian period, it seems to have had something of a chequered history with various episodes of storm damage, fires, changes of ownership and so on. It was largely rebuilt a few years ago and reopened to the public in 2016.

Past the pier the prom continues into the distance…

At some point I pass from Hastings into St Leonards, although it’s hard to tell where as they are thoroughly merged together! I only know I’m there because I pass this sign…

Apparently St Leonards also used to have a pier but the only visible evidence I see is this info board…

About an hour into the walk I come to a place called Bulverhythe. There doesn’t seem to be much to it. The path passes between some beach huts…

…then runs alongside this railway depot…

The railway actually hugs the beach for quite a way here…

It veers off inland when I reach Galley Hill on the approach to Bexhill.

Reaching Bexhill I walk along the East Parade past some neat white beach huts and blocks of flats across the road that look well kept and maintained…

A little further on is a sculpture of an old car and a sign to the Motor Racing Heritage Centre…

Apparently Bexhill-on-Sea bills itself as ‘The Birthplace of British Motor Racing’! 

In May 1902 the 8th Earl De La Warr organised the first ever motor race in Britain along the sea front here. He was able to do this as it was his own private land and so not subject to the blanket 12mph speed limit that applied across the rest of the country.

Talking of the Da La Warr family, a few minutes later I discover the De La Warr Pavilion. This grand-looking building was opened in 1935 and today is a centre for the arts and culture.

Continuing along the well-maintained prom there are more white beach huts and more flats. There are no signs of the usual beach front businesses such as penny arcades and the like - Bexhill is obviously far too gentile for all that nonsense! It does have a colourful old clock-tower though…

A few minutes later the road heads inland and the prom ends. I am now walking along a concrete sea wall that skirts the back gardens of some pricey-looking houses that have great sea views!

The sea wall ends after a while and I plod along the pebbles for the rest of the walk.

Fortunately I don’t have far to go and soon reach my end point for today - the Cooden Beach Hotel

So that’s it for today. It’s been a nice easy stroll on good paths although quite urban for most of the way!

Walk 35. Fairlight Glen to Hastings

 My start point today is back at the bottom of Fairlight Glen, on the bridge over the stream…

I set off through the woodland, climbing out of the glen. It doesn’t look it on the photos, but this is a steep old path! As I am wheezing my way up I’m passed by a bloke jogging up. Smug git.

Shortly I reach the top and the path levels out across the cliffs…

Here be witches…?

Ten minutes later the bushes thin out and I can see the Rock-a-Nore breakwater and car park at the eastern end of Hastings seafront…

I just have one more glen to cross. This one is called Ecclesbourne Glen and is a bit smaller but, if anything, even steeper than the others!

Like the others, this one also has a small stream at the bottom…

…and a stiff climb out…

Reaching the top, I find a wide grassy area with the remains of an Iron Age hill fort in the middle.

I stroll down the gentle slope to Hastings…

The path passes the top station of the funicular railway that runs up the cliff, although it seems to be closed today. 

Beside it is a path of many, many zig-zagging steps…

Halfway down gives a great view of Rock-a-Nore and The Stade…

The steps emerge onto a small road. There is an alleyway to the seafront past the houses to the right…

I come out next to the popular Dolphin Inn…

Across the road is The Stade, home to reputedly the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe! The word ‘Stade’ is Anglo-Saxon and means ‘landing place’, so there have likely been people fishing from here for a very long time! The area is famous for the black-tarred Hastings net huts, used to store the fishing gear…

After a quick look back at the funicular from below…

…I head over to the lifeboat station where I am finishing today.

Walk 34. Cliff End to Fairlight Glen

Today’s walk will take me over the cliffs through Hastings Country Park.

Although research suggests that it is possible to walk along the base of the cliffs all the way to Hastings, it would seem to entail a lot of trudging over pebbles and clambering over boulders! So I’ve decided to take the easy option and follow the English Coast Path along the top!

There is a short walk along the road through Cliff End to start, then the path is signposted to the left…

 

It heads uphill between the back gardens of Cliff End and is a bit muddy…

In less than ten minutes I’m through the village and into the woods on top of the cliffs. There is a nice view looking back at Pett Level…

Shortly the foliage thins out and I see the village of Fairlight ahead…

The path goes downhill into Fairlight, then climbs again through the village…

Eventually it emerges back on the cliff top…

Another ten minutes or so and I reach Hastings Country Park where there is a handy information board! I find I am in the Fire Hills, and yes, the views are pretty good…

It’s a nice easy walk along the cliff to the old WW2 era radar station. It apparently closed in the 1960s, but  doesn’t look derelict from what I can see!

From here, the path drops quite steeply into Warren Glen. It is wooded and muddy and slippery in places, but I make it to the bottom where I find a small stream…

Now the fun begins! It remains wooded and muddy and slippery as I climb out the other side of the glen. It is also quite steep in places!

After a stiff climb, I reach the top and find that I have to repeat the whole process down into Fairlight Glen! I slither down to the bottom and find another, slightly larger, stream…

At this point I’m a bit hot, hungry, and knackered! So I decide to make this another mini-walk like the last couple and call it a day here. I find myself heading back up the steep hill and turn off inland toward the visitor centre and the Bale House cafe for coffee, a fat sausage roll, and cake…