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…

Walk 33. Winchelsea Beach to Cliff End

Today I set off from Winchelsea Beach in lovely Autumn sunshine, although it is a bit breezy! 

The path runs along the top of a big shingle bank at the back of the beach. Walking over pebbles is a slow and tiring process, but as it turns out, this surface is well compacted and a bit of a doddle to walk on!

Once past the holiday chalets of Winchelsea Beach, to the landward side is a sheep-filled Romney Marsh…

It’s at about this point that I see orange flashing lights in the distance and men in hi-vis, and I realise I haven’t seen any traffic on the coast road. Turns out the road is closed while work is carried out. Bugger! The bus I was planning to take back to my car runs along this road. So I decide I’ll only continue to Cliff End and walk back to the car!

The tide is high and looks on the turn, so the waves are crashing onto the beach in a picturesque manner…

I come across an information board about the Anne which was wrecked in 1690. It is only visible at low tide though, so nothing to see at the moment.

Reaching the little settlement of Pett Level, which seems to blend in to Cliff End, the road closure is very obvious…

The path is now a concrete sea wall and I pass some boats and some pricey-looking beachfront properties…

The beach runs out at Cliff End so it seems a good place to finish today. Next time it will be over the cliffs to Hastings!

Walk 32. Rye Harbour to Winchelsea Beach

Today’s walk is just a short one I managed to fit in!

Starting at the Martello Tower at the end of the last walk…

…the nice tarmac path follows the bank of the River Rother down to the sea. 

Most of this walk today is around Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, which is a large area of mostly salt marsh. Surprisingly it has been built up by the sea over the last couple of hundred years - the Martello Tower was built on the shoreline of the day!

Beside the path is a Discovery Centre with exhibitions, loos, cafe, etc.

Here is the view across the wetlands…

A couple of minutes further on is this distinctive hut…

Apparently the ‘red roofed hut’ is a bit of a local icon and is a privately-owned fishing hut. It’s age is unknown but it dates to sometime before 1900.

Also down here are a couple of WW2 pillboxes…

Reaching the mouth of the river I get an excellent low-tide view of Camber Sands where I walked last time…

From the river mouth I turn right along the path that runs between the beach and the nature reserve. The beach curves away into the distance and the cliffs that are between Fairlight and Hastings.

A short walk down the path and I come to a bird hide and some birds in a lake. I consult the handy notice board and am reasonably confident in identifying them as cormorants! Possibly.

I think this may be the first actual wildlife, that isn’t a seagull, that I’ve seen in a nature reserve on this entire journey!

Anyway, moving on. 

Five minutes later I come across a ruined building. As I approach I think it might be another pillbox, but there is an information board that identifies it as Gasson’s Ruin - named after the family that used to own it. Looks like it might be a bit bleak living here in the winter!

Another five minutes on, I arrive at another building. This one is just derelict, rather than an actual ruin! It is an old lifeboat station that once housed the Mary Stanford lifeboat. As the info board explains, this was the scene of the worst disaster in the long history of the RNLI…

I continue along the path for another twenty-odd minutes which brings me to Winchelsea Beach and my finish point for today, the splendidly-named Dogs Hill Road!

As I said, just a short walk today, but plenty of things to see!