The battle of Hastings - the sequel

Riding back from the pub was pure bliss, with the wind behind me.  For several years, I've been anticipating riding along the south coast, blown along by the prevailing south westerly wind, but it mostly didn't happen.

Despite retiring to my tent at 7pm, I didn't wake until 7am, although I did have to put more clothes on during the night to keep warm.   Amazingly, the wind had dropped a bit and the sun was out.  It was still cold but much more enjoyable than yesterday.

Leaving Norman's Bay

I rode eastwards towards Hastings with a big smile on my face.  The wind had gone round a bit to the side, the sun was shining, and it was flat.  Norman's Bay is in a rare un-built gap after Eastbourne on the almost continuous built-up south east coast.  It got its name from the Norman landing in 1066, when it was a much bigger bay before the sea level dropped, stranding some of the Cinque ports like Rye.

Soon I reached Bexhill-on-sea, which is clearly a place to live (or perhaps to retire to) with mostly houses along the sea front.  Then St Leonards which morphed into Hastings, where I had a delicious breakfast.  Hastings has an interesting old town to the east, with many seaside fishermen's shacks and an interesting-looking High Street.  It also has a cliff railway up the cliff  which I was about to climb.  The climb was mostly on a traffic-free road which was very steep, unsurfaced in parts, and went on for ever.

Bexhill, looking back towards Eastbourne 

Hastings

Eventually I was on the top, with enticing views over the flat plain to the north, but I wasn't going that way.  I descended to Petts Level which is cut off from the sea by a huge banked sea defence - I guess it's at risk of flooding.  Then at Winchelsea Beach I found a track along the coast through Rye Nature Reserve, a few pleasant traffic free miles leading to Rye Harbour.  Both Winchelsea beach and Rye Harbour have been moved since the sea level dropped.  Rye appeared across the fields, up on a hill, and I did a bit of a tour of its cobbled streets, and found an appropriate place for lunch.

Rye

The clouds had been gathering and it rained lightly in the afternoon.   I rode a nice cycle path to Camber Sands, which had similar sea defences and acres of sand.   I was near Dungeness and it seemed a good idea to ride a few miles to nearby Denge Marsh, but it wasn't.   There was nothing to see except an awful track at the end of the road.  The real Dungeness was a bit of a let down too.  The Romney Hythe & Dymchurch railway wasn't working, and its cafe was shut, so no tea stop.

Dungeness - new lighthouse

Then it was directly north into the wind, on a very exposed road.  I flaked out at New Romney, a small "Caravan Park" which has OK facilities, pitched up and went for a curry.