Rye – Coastal Road Trip

Day 39 – Rye to Worthing

Today we are driving from historic Rye in East Sussex along the coast to Worthing in West Sussex. Storm Ophelia was approaching the UK today. As the day progressed we started to see a very unusual dark and orange looking sky, caused by the storm pushing Sahara sand and Iberian wildfire smoke our way.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Seaford, Beach, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — Seaford Beach, with Storm Ophelia on its way.

Rye

Coastal Road Trip, Rye, Cobbled Street — Our first stop of the day in Rye, the small ancient town was so quaint with its cobbled streets.

Coastal Road Trip, Rye, St Mary Church, Cobbled Street, Julian, Jarno — St Mary Church’s turret clock is the oldest working clock of its type in the country.

Coastal Road Trip, Rye, St Mary Church, Church yard, Park, Bench — Tudor houses fronting on to the churchyard.

Coastal Road Trip, Rye, Ypres Tower — The 13th century Ypres Tower town defences. In 1377 the church and town had been looted, set on fire and destroyed by French invaders!

Coastal Road Trip, Rye, Cobbled Street — The steep cobbled Mermaid Street. Although it was an early Monday morning there were already a few other tourists pottering around. Glad we hadn’t been here on a busy summer weekend.

Coastal Road Trip, Rye, Rye Harbour — The town is now 2 miles inland as a result of the River Rother starting to silt up 500 years ago. So we drove down to the coast to view Rye Harbour.

Winchelsea

Coastal Road Trip, Winchelsea Beach, Waves — Winchelsea Beach. The town, a bit further inland, dates back to the 13th century. It was Britain’s first properly planned ‘new’ town.

Hastings

Coastal Road Trip, Hastings, Rock-a-Nore Beach, East Hill — The view from The Stade at Hastings back to Rock-a-Nore Beach and East Hill.

Coastal Road Trip, Hastings, The Stade, Beach, The Old Town, Fishing Boats, Julian, Jarno — The Stade Beach in front of Hastings Old Town.

Coastal Road Trip, Hastings, Net Shops, The Stade, The Old Town — The tall black wooden Net Shops on the beach front at Hastings. They were used to dry fishing nets.

Coastal Road Trip, Hastings, The Stade, Net Shops, Hastings Miniature Railway, Turntable, The Old Town — The recently restored Hastings Miniature Railway.

Coastal Road Trip, Hastings, The Old Town — Looking up All Saints Street in The Old Town.

Coastal Road Trip, Hastings, The Old Town, All Saints Street — We had just walked past The Crown Pub, which had just been voted the best place to have a pint in the UK. Unfortunately we only read that after leaving Hastings….

Bulverhythe

Coastal Road Trip, Bulverhythe Beach, Beach Huts — More colourful beach huts on Bulverhythe Beach, just a few miles west of Hastings.

Bexhill-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Bexhill-on-Sea, Promenade, Channel View, Tea beside the sea — The elegant Bexhill-on-Sea Promenade.

Coastal Road Trip, Bexhill-on-Sea, De La Warr Pavilion, Promenade — The De La Warr Pavilion on the sea front at Bexhill, now a local centre for contemporary art. Bob Marley had his first ever UK performance there too.

Cooden Beach

Coastal Road Trip, Cooden Beach, White Beach Huts — Driving past some rather large houses we reached Cooden Beach.

Eastbourne

Coastal Road Trip, Eastbourne, Eastbourne Beach, Beach Huts — Yet more colour-coordinated beach huts along Eastbourne Beach.

Coastal Road Trip, Eastbourne, Eastbourne Pier, Beach — The view along Eastbourne Beach to the pier. By now we were starting to see the weird coloured pre-Storm Ophelia sky.

Coastal Road Trip, Eastbourne, Eastbourne Pier, Beach, Truck, CAT, caterpillar — Caterpillar trucks were shifting around shingle on the beach, to restore the sea defences in preparation for winter storms.

Beachy Head

Coastal Road Trip, Beachy Head, Beachy Head Lighthouse, Cliffs — Really dramatic views over the chalk cliffs at Beachy Head to the Lighthouse.

Coastal Road Trip, Beachy Head, Beachy Head Lighthouse, Cliffs, Julian, Jarno — Don’t look down….. you could walk right up to the cliff edge!

Coastal Road Trip, Beachy Head, Belle Tout Lighthouse, Cliff — Belle Tout Lighthouse, now a private residence. In 1999 it had to be moved 17 meters back from the cliff edge to save it falling off due to coastal erosion. It was featured in the BBC’s ‘The Life and Loves of a She-Devil’ and James Bond’s ‘The Living Daylights’.

Coastal Road Trip, Beachy Head, Belle Tout Lighthouse, Old Foundations, Birling Gap, Seven Sisters — Parts of the original building and foundations, right on the cliff edge. In the distance you can see the cliffs of the Seven Sisters past Birling Gap.

Birling Gap

Coastal Road Trip, Birling Gap, Seven Sisters, National Trust, — The bright white Seven Sisters chalk cliffs viewed from the National Trust managed Birling Gap.

Seaford

Coastal Road Trip, Seaford, Beach, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — It felt like the end of the world. The lighting was totally surreal. Such a dark sky in the distance over Newhaven, contrasting against the bright blue-green sea, and the warm colours of the pebble beach. Storm Ophelia was on its way.

Coastal Road Trip, Seaford, Beach, Beach Huts, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — Another palette of candy coloured beach huts on Seaford Beach.

Newhaven

Coastal Road Trip, Newhaven, Port, Lighthouse, Breakwater, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — The lighthouse at the end of the breakwater at Newhaven, we had also seen it in the distance from Seaford.

Coastal Road Trip, Newhaven, Fort, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — The path down to Newhaven Fort, with Seaford Bay in the background. The fort was the largest defence built on the Sussex coastline.

Brighton

Coastal Road Trip, Brighton, Pier, Beach, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — As we know Brighton well, having had our UK base and home there for the last few years, we just stopped briefly to take photos of the famous Brighton Pier (AKA Brighton Palace Pier).

Coastal Road Trip, Brighton, Pier, Beach, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — The Brighton Pier is now the only surviving pier at Brighton, the Royal Suspension Chain Pier was its predecessor, but you can still see remains of the West Pier opposite the British Airways i360 tower.

Hove

Coastal Road Trip, Hove, Beach Huts, Promenade, Beach, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — The long promenade at Hove, Brighton’s coastal neighbour.

Southwick

Coastal Road Trip, Southwick, River Adur, Fishing Boat, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — Actually we didn’t stop at Southwick, but we got stuck in a traffic jam along the River Adur, so managed this picture of a fishing boat from the car window.

Lancing

Coastal Road Trip, Lancing, Beach Hut, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — Lancing beach was really busy with kite-surfers, unfortunately the photos were pretty terrible (I blame the weird pre-storm lighting), but we caught them on video, check below.

Coastal Road Trip, Lancing, Beach, Worthing Pier, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — Looking west towards Worthing Pier in the distance.

Worthing

Coastal Road Trip, Worthing, Worthing Pier, Beach, Sahara sand, Iberian wildfire smoke dust, Storm Ophelia — Worthing, our final stop on this four day part of our Coastal Road Trip. The original pier dates back to 1862 though through fire and storm damage it has been rebuilt and updated many times over the years.

Daily video

Day 38 – Sittingbourne to Rye

On day thirty-eight we will be covering most of the Kent coastline, so a long day of travel, and the weather is absolutely fantastic for mid-October!

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Dungeness, Lighthouse, Romney Marsh, Fifth Lighthouse, Sunset — Dungeness Lighthouse

Isle of Sheppey

Coastal Road Trip, Isle of Sheppey, Sheppey Crossing, A249, Bridge, The Swale — As we have a lot of ground to cover today, we made an early Sunday morning start driving over The Swale to the Isle of Sheppey.

Leysdown-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Leysdown-on-Sea, Beach, Leysdown Coastal Park, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, Thames Estuary — After a quick stop at Sheerness on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey, we headed over to Leysdown-on-Sea’s beach on the east of the isle, with views across the empty Thames Estuary.

Coastal Road Trip, Leysdown-on-Sea, Beach Huts, Leysdown Coastal Park, Isle of Sheppey, Kent — Smart beach huts lined up on the front at Leysdown Coastal Park.

Whitstable

Coastal Road Trip, Whitstable Harbour, Market, Ice-cream Van, Huts, — My Whippy on early morning duty at Whitstable’s Harbour.

Coastal Road Trip, Whitstable, Tankerton Slopes, Beach Huts — More colourful beach huts along Whitstable’s Tankerton Slopes. If you look carefully you can see the remains of Herne Bay Pier Head out at sea.

Herne Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Herne Bay, Mopeds, Clock Tower, Central Parade, Kent — An MOD scooter meet-up in front of Herne Bay’s Clock Tower on the Central Parade. A great day for a bike ride.

Coastal Road Trip, Herne Bay, Pier, Boats — The Pier at Herne Bay….

Coastal Road Trip, Herne Bay, Pier, Pier Head, Boats — …. and out at sea the remains of the pier head, which got separated from the rest of Herne Bay Pier in a storm back in 1978.

Coastal Road Trip, Herne Bay, Jet Ski — A jet-skier making the most of the October heatwave.

Coastal Road Trip, Herne Bay, Saxon Shore, Beach, View East to Reculver Towers — Then looking east, views along Herne Bay Beach and Saxon Shore towards Reculver Towers in the distance.

Reculver

Coastal Road Trip, Reculver Towers, Roman Fort, Anglo-Saxon monastery, Church, English Heritage — The medieval Reculver Towers, the remains of the church of St Mary, looking stunning against the blue sky.

Coastal Road Trip, Reculver Towers, Roman Fort, Anglo-Saxon monastery, Church, English Heritage, Julian, Jarno — Reculver has suffered major coastal erosion over the years, and now the Reculver Towers are perched right on the edge of the sea cliff.

Margate

Coastal Road Trip, Margate, The Bay, Harbour, Panorama, — A panorama of Margate Bay.

Coastal Road Trip, Margate, The Bay, Harbour, Lighthouse, Harbour Arm — The lighthouse at the end of Margate Harbour Arm breakwater.

Coastal Road Trip, Margate, Turner Contemporary, Beach, ANOTHER TIME, Antony Gormley, Sculpture — On Fulsam Rock by the Margate foreshore, the Turner Contemporary was exhibiting the lone figure ‘Another Time’ by Antony Gormley. A nice reminder of day 7 of our Coastal Road Trip, where we had seen the complete version of Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ sculptures submerged in Crosby Beach.

North Foreland Lighthouse

Coastal Road Trip, North Foreland Lighthouse, Joss Bay, Kent, Isle of Thanet — On the way to Broadstairs, the North Foreland Lighthouse sitting above fields leading down to Joss Bay.

Broadstairs

Coastal Road Trip, Broadstairs, Beach, Viking Bay, Harbour — Broadstair’s Viking Bay with its steep cliffs down to the beach.

Ramsgate

Coastal Road Trip, Ramsgate, Pirate Van, Victoria Parade — Whilst stopping on the Victoria Parade above Ramsgate’s Beach, we realised we had parked in-front of this funny pirate themed camper-van….

Coastal Road Trip, Ramsgate, Pirate Van, Victoria Parade, Sign — … please do not disturb! 😉

Coastal Road Trip, Ramsgate, East, West, Pier, Lighthouse, View from Victoria Parade, Beach — Views down to the east and west piers at the mouth of Ramsgate’s harbour and marina.

Coastal Road Trip, Ramsgate, Yacht Marina, Harbour, Boats — Ramsgate’s Yacht Marina looking almost Mediterranean with the bright blue sky and waters.

Deal

Coastal Road Trip, Deal, Deal Castle, English Heritage — The 16th century Deal Castle. If you Google aerial photos of it, you will see it actually looks somewhat like a flower from above.

Coastal Road Trip, Deal, Beach, Boats, Fishing — Wooden fishing boats resting on Deal Beach.

Coastal Road Trip, Deal, Pier, Beach — The Pier at Deal is better seen from a distance. It was pretty brutal looking close-up!

Dover

Coastal Road Trip, Dover, White Cliffs of Dover, National Trust — Finally we have made it to the famous White Cliffs of Dover. It had been on our to-do list for quite some time. It seemed like everyone else had the same idea to visit on this sunny Sunday afternoon as it was pretty busy. Fortunately the land is managed by the National Trust so we parked for free, which made up for the pricey coffee and cake!

Coastal Road Trip, Dover, White Cliffs of Dover, National Trust, Jarno — Thumbs-up from Jarno….

Coastal Road Trip, Dover, White Cliffs of Dover, National Trust, Julian Shadow — … and a wave from Julian’s shadow.

Coastal Road Trip, Dover, Ferry, Port, Terminal — Looking down through the sea mist to Dover’s bustling ferry port.

Coastal Road Trip, Dover, Dover Castle, English Heritage — Dover Castle silhouetted against the bright but hazy evening skyline.

Coastal Road Trip, Dover, Banksy, Brexit, EU Flag, Street Art, Castle Amusements Building — Banksy’s Brexit street art just off a roundabout, as we drove through Dover. Not the best welcome for our European neighbours as they arrive off the Dover ferry onto mainland Britain.

Capel-le-Ferne

Coastal Road Trip, Capel-le-Ferne, Battle of Britain Memorial, lone pilot, Harry Gray, Folkestone — The lone pilot sculpture by Harry Gray at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne, just outside Folkestone.

Coastal Road Trip, Capel-le-Ferne, Battle of Britain Memorial, Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 Replica US-X, Sunset, Folkestone — The sun starting to set over the Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 Replica US-X planes at the Battle of Britain Memorial.

Folkestone

Coastal Road Trip, Folkestone, The Grand, Hotel — We were struggling what to take a photo of as we drove through Folkestone, until we past a row of handsome hotels above the cliffs on the Leas Promenade. Agatha Christie, wrote Murder on the Orient Express whilst staying here at The Grand.

Sandgate

Coastal Road Trip, Sandgate, Beach, Sunset, Sandgate Esplanade — The long seafront and esplanade at Sandgate, just west of Folketone.

Dungeness

Coastal Road Trip, Dungeness, Nuclear Power Station, Romney Marsh, EDF Energy — Our final stop of the day at the surreal Dungeness. The area was a weird mix of beach, barren marshland, artist community, pub, gift shop, train station, lighthouses and a nuclear power station. What a mix!

Coastal Road Trip, Dungeness, The Old Lighthouse, Nuclear Power Station, Romney Marsh, EDF Energy — The Old Lighthouse and its neighbor, the nuclear power station….

Coastal Road Trip, Dungeness, Lighthouse, Romney Marsh, Fifth Lighthouse, Sunset — …and closer to the headland the current lighthouse. Not your traditional lighthouse, but pretty sleek, and looked great lit-up in the clear evening sky.

Daily video