No.17: Hastings

Hastings, in it’s own words…

This week was extra special as I had company from my favourites, we booked it in January and we stayed HERE

Everyone at work will be glad this trip is over so that they don’t have to listen to me say the word Bothy over and over again in a (bad) Scottish accent, but honestly, this is now one of my favourite places on Airbnb.

We got to Hastings early and were instantly put off by how busy it was so, after parking up in the shopping centre, we headed straight down to the beach and away from the bustle. It wasn’t long before we were picking our way through a closed attraction park as we made our way to the green bit at the edge of town on the map.

Before we got to the South Downs, we arrived in a lovely area with hundreds of black huts for drying fish and narrow shopping alleys that host little shops, selling everything from cigars to curios and sea-inspired ‘art’. This is Hastings Old Town, go to this bit and only this bit when you visit, thank me later.

After Old Town, there are steps leading up to the South Downs Way. This was much more my thing and, letting the pup off the lead, we headed out on a proper adventure…

except, we didn’t because he’s the worst dog in the world and he ran off with another pack of feral wolves and refused to come back for neither love nor food! Although he could have been punishing us for this

The South Downs is a stunning stretch of countryside, relatively busy but beautiful none the less. We ambled our way through woodland and down little narrow paths until a particular sign caught my attention.

Being someone that loves options, I made a beeline to this chilly stretch of beach – as I crunched my way down to the sea I glanced a tall man, wearing only a backpack, disappearing off the beach and into the bushes – more on that later.

Not wanting to be showy or an attention seeker, I did all that I could to blend in.

The sea was not warm.

Running back to my clothes (budget bay-watch moment!!) I caught site of the tall naked man being creepy and peeping at us from the bushes – this was disappointing and gives the whole nudist thing a bad name… If anyone spots a tall mid-forties blond guy that resembles Dolph Lundgren creeping about the South Downs, you have my blessing to throw things at him (I opted for a death stare, but the beach is also made of pebbles).

Back in Hastings, we stopped in the old town for a quick cream tea – really tasty but over-priced – then we dodged our way back to the car past some peculiar creatures (smoking, swearing kids) and headed back to the Bothy where we introduced Fuggle to cows

At the back of the Bothy is a hill where a folly has been built against the skyline – it was a really good place to end the day.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<BIG NEWS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I’m doing a charity fundraising challenge in August to raise money for CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably – a charity that is dedicated to providing support for men with mental health issues. To find out more, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/conquerthetwatts and donate where possible.

Robin xx