08:05:56
One of the windows in the tower.08:13:54
One of the less appealing aspects of the tower was the bathroom. In addition to being very cramped, and rather spartan, the shower basin filled up with woodlice each morning. Not a very nice way to start the day.08:14:07
There must be a hundred woodlice here.09:11:31
More surveying of the tower's more appealing features - its windows.
09:11:42
09:14:27
I headed up to the roof to see if there were any nice views to be had this morning. Alas, very grey once again.09:14:39
Almost misty in fact.09:14:48
09:14:53
09:18:56
Me on the roof.09:29:53
Surveying the grounds again before heading out for the day.09:32:32
My car for the weekend and the tower.
09:32:49
The moat.09:33:25
10:20:49
Seaford beach. You'd really expect a few more people than this on a Saturday in August! Of course the weather didn't exactly feel like the height of summer.10:21:34
I was happy to be there though - my first time to be by the sea this year.
10:26:26
Frankie's Beach Cafe, which did a very respectable espresso and a nice toasted sandwich.10:26:59
My espresso with a sea view.10:33:14
Also my toasted sandwich, again with a sea view.10:41:58
The view along the beach to the first of the white cliffs.
10:43:28
A nice stone I picked up to take home.10:43:33
10:45:20
The sea. This may look like a rather unappealing collection of greys and browns but I was very happy to be here.11:17:37
Next on my itinerary I drove to a car park at the edge of Seaford, and walked from there a little way along to get a view of the Seven Sisters.
11:17:53
Although given the visibility today I could never quite see all seven of them.11:18:58
11:19:05
So it's more like I took a bunch of photos of benches with a vague hazy background.11:21:14
11:24:55
Towards the coastguard cottages.11:25:27
11:27:44
11:27:55
Slightly moronic picture of me, again despite the glum weather I was happy to be here.
11:28:11
11:28:19
Attempt to zoom in on the Seven Sisters.11:29:25
11:31:31
11:34:06
11:36:13
The view back inland.11:37:41
Sloes.11:39:41
Nice blue/purple flower - is this viper's bugloss perhaps?
11:40:49
One last look at the Seven Sisters before getting back in the car and moving onto the next item on my itinerary.12:13:54
I decided as I was in the area to make a quick visit to Rathfinny - which has to be one of the largest vineyards in England.12:14:22
Despite this being a serious and large scale operation many of the buildings on site still had a decidedly agricultural feel.12:15:01
12:15:52
This building, however, is obviously a bit more modern.12:15:59
12:16:35
Picnic tables out amongst the vines - I briefly considered lunch here but it didn't sound very vegetarian friendly.12:16:43
12:16:49
12:22:42
I bought a bottle of their Blanc de Noirs while I was here.12:22:46
12:22:48
12:22:53
12:24:49
I guessed that these vines were Pinot Meunier (based on the floury like dusting on the leaves) and was pleased to discover I was right.12:25:12
12:25:15
12:25:25
Me in my tweed cap (hiding my terrible hair cut) amongst the vines.12:27:09
Indeed they were Pinot Meunier.12:27:31
13:23:04
Next stop, the Plough and Harrow at Litlington for lunch. There's actually a brewery in the village, and I was pleased to see the pub serving their beer (although I probably committed sacrilege by having a shandy as I was driving).
13:24:24
These cheese chips were very good.13:55:59
Next stop was to go and see the Long Man of Wilmington. Following two previous failed attempts to see it (where I either forgot about it until I had walked to far past, or where I had approached it from the wrong angle and couldn't get a good look at it), this time I was taking no chances, and parked in the designated car park and walked from there.13:57:32
13:58:38
13:58:45
13:59:23
14:00:17
Blackberries.14:01:17
14:01:21
Possibly the best view I got of the Long Man of Wilmington.14:02:37
14:03:55
Interesting how it seems to change shape as you get closer.14:04:09
14:06:00
14:06:04
He looks a bit squat now.14:07:38
14:08:23
14:09:01
14:16:39
14:16:50
The view back down the hill towards Wilmington Priory.14:20:21
14:21:15
14:22:55
14:23:46
14:26:23
14:26:32
14:28:58
Last view of the Long Man before getting back in the car again.15:04:22
Next, I decided to drive to Firle Beacon, and go for a short walk along the ridge here. Unfortunately today's glum, grey weather just refused to abate, and so the views weren't nearly as nice from here as they could have been.15:05:22
15:11:07
Still, it was nice to be walking along the South Downs regardless.15:11:09
...and I have to admit I quite liked the lazy way I did it today, where the car did most of the effort of getting up the hill!15:12:50
15:15:19
Cows near Firle Beacon.
15:15:44
15:17:15
15:18:39
15:21:22
15:22:31
15:23:33
Investigating some burial mounds near Firle Beacon.15:24:07
A long barrow apparently.15:24:48
15:25:20
15:26:00
Wild flowers near the top of Firle Beacon.15:28:42
The trig point.15:29:51
The view from the top, such as it was today.
15:30:00
15:30:26
Looks like somebody else had a tower!15:31:03
More flora atop Firle Beacon.15:31:21
15:31:45
Scabious?15:32:04
15:40:35
15:48:08
Cows again.
16:25:07
I drove back down to the bottom of the hill, to visit the pretty village of Firle. Here's the Ram Inn.16:25:58
16:34:20
Popped in for another bitter shandy here.16:48:06
Beware of the trains.
16:48:53
Picturesque rusting old bikes by the roadside - I assume there's a story behind these?16:49:36
Houses in Firle.16:50:04
16:51:07
16:51:18
Firle Stores.16:51:48
Honesty boxes for fruit and veg.16:52:54
The path leading to the church.16:53:36
16:54:30
The church in Firle.16:55:58
16:57:27
Forge and Carpenter's Shop.16:59:11
Another brewery!
17:04:56
Pretty cottage as I headed back to the car.17:32:52
Heading back to the tower now. I thought I'd stop briefly on the private road (more of a track really) which led to the tower. It was really long, and you had to proceed very slowly because of the potholes. Almost ten minutes of driving just to get to the nearest public road.17:52:07
Back at the tower for the evening. One of the downsides of the location was that long, pothole strewn private track to get to it. I didn't really want to have to keep driving up and down it, so once I got back at this point in the day, I decided to just stay here for the remainder of the evening.17:55:01
I did take a walk around the broader grounds though, to see if I could see the tower from some different angles.
17:56:05
Birds on a wire.17:56:26
The tower seen across the fields.17:56:32
17:57:45
A little footbridge.
17:57:50
17:59:38
18:00:22
A particularly rickety old bridge across the moat here.18:01:04
I walked over it rather gingerly.
18:01:19
Conkers.18:02:19
The back of the tower.18:03:41
18:04:19
Another part of the original house that was here perhaps?
18:04:35
Exterior views of the windows.18:04:51
Bench outside the tower.18:39:45
Time to taste some local wine up on the roof I decided. So I cracked open the bottle of Rathfinny I had bought earlier in the day.18:40:38
Cheers.
19:00:35
I took these pictures with portrait mode and a self timer, but I think it struggled with blurring out the background a bit.19:01:47
19:02:54
The particularly bad side of my terrible DIY haircut.19:04:10
19:10:31
Rathfinny on the ramparts.19:10:47
19:11:02
19:11:22
19:11:27
19:57:00
It almost looked as though the sky might brighten a little.19:57:11
20:19:11
Just the tiniest bit of pink from the sunset poking through the clouds.
20:19:27
20:19:52
20:20:15
20:21:31
20:21:43
20:23:03
Bit more pink sky here.20:23:09
20:43:02
...and now it was just getting dark.
20:43:21
20:43:57
I think I was trying to zoom in here to see where the cork had landed.20:50:00
Also decided to have a glass of the other nearest vineyard to the tower - good old Breaky Bottom.20:50:11
20:50:28
21:32:26
Attempts to do some astrophotography - I think the sky did actually clear a little after it got dark.21:34:05
21:42:48
Can see a few stars poking through there.
21:45:19
Errr...?21:48:55
A few more stars...21:52:15
I keep trying to get a decent photo...21:55:28
This is starting to get interesting - a decent number of stars there.
21:57:29
Definitely a clearer sky now!22:04:13
22:08:51
I think this one might be the best of the lot, quite a lot of celestial detail here.22:14:16
I think I must have moved my phone during the long exposure here.
22:16:13
Not bad either.22:17:56
22:25:09
Just black. Time to go to bed!