Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 12 | Shoreham & Burgess Hill

Day 12 - More Patisserie & Some Swim

I love food. I eat a lot. And I have insane cravings. But I do not regret any of this. I feel pretty blessed that I have the culinary sense that enables me to appreciate the nuances of different kinds of food. In other words, last week when I visited the French patisserie in Shoreham, I had a huge conflict of interest between a moist orange cake and a creamy custard Danish pastry. The cake did win that day but the Danish pastry had been haunting my taste buds ever since!

I just realised I have got no photo from this day that can be posted in this blog! Hence, a Danish custard pic from the internet. Mine looked better !

So, the first trip of the day was to Shoreham patisserie shop by the beach. It was a lazy start today. There had been quite a lot of walking and travelling with more plans to do the same for the next few days. So, today was meant to be slow.

I got myself a huge apricot danish pastry filled with custard and sat on the beach, enjoying the same. Another sunny, clear day today with sparkling blue sea and a few windsurfers. Also, a cat walked into the beach! It was the first time ever I saw a cat on a beach, not sure if it was the first time for a cat too!

Afterwards, we drove to the Burgess hill Triangle for a swim. It was a pleasure being back in this pool, doing glides and trial-summersaults. The day ended with a visit to the local shop, having a hearty meal of spaghetti bolognese for dinner, watching laid back movies and gearing up for a trip the next morning. Till then..zzz.

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 11 | Saltdean

Day 11 - Saltdean Stroll & Fishy Pie

Technology fails and that’s not really the problem. The problem is we are so damn dependent on it that even a tiny failure gets to your nerves! In other words, the cycle booking app did not work when we arrived at Saltdean today for our Tour De Seafront! C’est la vie! When all technology in this world fails, the only thing you can do is stand up on your own pair of feet! So that’s what we did. We walked.

Saltdean Undercliff Road

Saltdean is a nice little coastal village just outside of Lewes. The first thing that you notice when you go to Saltdean is the vibrant blue sea in contrast to the bright white cliff walls and a nice, wide undercliff path that runs all along the sea right into the town of Brighton. This undercliff road is very popular amongst walkers, cyclists and beginner cyclists all alike.

This picture is from years back!

As you walk along this path, you can see the overhanging cliff walls with numerous little pigeon nests. You would also find some areas of those overhangs have nets around them - a protection net for loose rocks and pebbles coming off the cliffs at regular intervals. On the other side of the walk, the turquoise blue sea meets the horizon. On a windy day, you would get sprayed on by the waves lashing against the bottom of the path. As a matter of fact, as per the Brighton & Hove City Council documentation, Saltdean is believed to be named after the salt-spray that covered the grass after storms!

A huge splash in Saltdean, picture from a very windy day

A very cosy little cafe used to sell carrot cakes on this undercliff road. I have had numerous coffees and cakes here. But now, it has been replaced by a posh looking cafe that seems to be selling cafe latte and cappuccino as opposed to just coffee and tea sold in the earlier one. I twitched my obnoxious nose at it and passed on.

We went around the Brighton marina (it is the biggest man made marina in Europe!), admired the extremely patient anglers there, checked out the boats a couple of which were steaming out into the sea and then made our way into the touristy town of Brighton. When you approach Brighton from this side of the Marina, you get on to the nude beach first and then the town pier. However, there were no nude people like the first time I was here. This end of the town was now way busier than the otherwise quietness that I remembered from my early visits. A new walking path has been laid out right on the pebble beach here, making it very easy to walk. This probably explains why this part of the seafront is not so quiet anymore, which in turn probably explains why all the peace-seeking sun-soaking nude people are gone too!

Stretching all the way to Brighton

Anyway, I found Mr.Whippy ice cream truck. So I was happy having my vanilla ice cream with a chocolate stick. In my defence, not that I need to defend, it was quite hot. And quite strangely, when it gets hot, the heat in Sussex gets hotter than the heat in Kolkata, at least, to my skin, anyway!

I checked out my first rented place right on the seafront and then also had a look at the travelodge hotel where I had stayed my very first few days in England. But by now as we got to the Brighton pier, I was quite hot. A perfect nostalgia stroll started taking a toll due to the heat and also, not to forget the crowd ! Holy cow ! Looked like the entire English community was in Brighton this weekend. I know, it does sound odd coming from someone born and brought up in the crowded city of Kolkata, but I do not want heat and I do not want crowds when I am on holidays ! I get that everyday, don’t I ! We realised it was the weekend and we had made a rookie mistake of choosing the wrong day for this visit. Brighton over the weekends gets extremely touristy.

The only decent picture could be captured given the crowd and the heat!

So, again, I twitched my nose like a local, pah-ed at the crowd and walked aimlessly in the Brighton lanes, spotting the old hangout spots, restaurants from the past, wondered about the new shops and then as the legs started giving up, hoped in a bus back to Saltdean where our car was parked.

All's well that ends well. And this evening ended with one of my most favourite experimented dishes ever i.e. a baked salmon & broccoli pie. Oh yes! If you have never tried it, you must. Here is the recipe that we broadly follow but of course with our own convenient tweaks -  Italian Broccoli & Salmon Bake. I do enjoy cooking when it is not absolutely essential and I have the right company! We were extremely hungry and tired after that long walk in the heat and crowd. So, the fishy pie was hoovered up in seconds and we called it a night!

P.S. Nothing beats the smell of a freshly baked pie…mmm.

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 9 & 10 | Lewes & Burgess Hill

Day 9 - Back on the GMT Line

It’s a rest day on Tour De Sussex’ 2024. A four hours drive from Long Eaton back to Lewes, followed by a relaxing lie down in front of the tele and re-energising the inner gut with loads of veggie pasta and garlic bread pretty much sums up the report. See you then after the earth completes its rotation for the day!

Day 10 - Back in the old Home Town

Back in Burgess hill this morning. Again. Yes! I know I am the only one to be excited about this place but you would be too if you had all the weird and wonderful things happening to you in this town. But what was more exciting than being back here, was to be back on the rolling hills on the way to this town.

Way to Wolstonbury

Tracing the old path again, I walked up to the top of the Wolstonbury hill. The same old hill, the same old path, the same old valley view and the same old excitement every time! At the top of Wolstonbury, we sat down and shared some Sainsbury donuts, bought the day before. We fought a little as I complained I didn’t get an equal share of donuts and also the garlic bread the night before! Innocence was pleaded and I demanded compensation. So that was settled! An organised walking group climbed up and once the crowd passed, we said goodbye to the wolfy (the tree, in case you didn’t read the post or the book where the history behind the name is well documented !) made our way into the rabbit valley. Again, there is no such thing called the rabbit valley but that’s what I call this particular valley since my encounter with a large number of frolicking rabbits years ago! It has the most distinct curvy bowl shape, nicely nestled between the Wolstonbury hill on one side and a wild garlic forestry land on the other.

Rabbit Valley

A nice walk results in a nice appetite. We walked back to my old apartment, examined my old balcony from a distance for a bit too long which might have appeared slightly suspicious. That is precisely when we walked up to the main street along the railway station, into the town and barged into my old friend - Susan’s house, exactly at lunch time, demanding lunch, obviously! It was a nice little reunion as a few other old faces joined in along with a couple of new ones i.e. my friends’ kids!

Pyramidal orchid on the hill

After a lovely lunch (bagara rice and butter paneer, courtesy my fancy chef friends!) and a good laugh, we walked into my second most frequented (first, being the farm) place in Burgess hill i.e. the church ! My interest has never been in Virgin Mary though, it was in one of the headstones that belonged to a certain Mr. Walter Waterfall ! There is something about his lyrical name that never fails to amuse us ! And he was still there ! Unlike our Mr. Careless in Bramber who had simply disappeared ! What a relief and a joy !

Near the duck pond at the back of my old flat

The old sycamore tree was there too, with its funny old moss growing in the helicopter seeds. The cemetery looked quite unkempt though, perhaps because of the sudden summer growth spurt. I have had many office lunches in the cosy bushes of blackberry here but now it looked way too bushy to be comfortable !

Dandelions and Daisies everywhere!

Burgess hill has a nice green park, right beside the Amex office. We crossed the church and walked into this park. Local clubs were playing a cricket match. The other end of the park used to have a little cafe which if I remember correctly (the probability of which is pretty low!) was called, cafe by the park. They used to make lovely cakes, but my regular order here was scrambled eggs on toast and a pot of tea. There was something very simple and comforting about it ! That cafe was gone now, replaced by some other shop.

In front of the Bachelor's Farm Gate

My next stop in Burgess hill was none other than the Bachelor’s Farm ! Right behind my old apartment, a narrow trail takes you to this farm. Oh, so many mornings and afternoons and dusks had been spent here! Every day of my week, when I was in the town, I would see at least an hour of me on this farm. I would walk up and down the farm, chat with the horses, check out the Clayton windmills on the distant hill top, sit under the water tower, watch the trains passing underneath the bridge that joins two pieces of the farmland, lie in the grass, read my books, make new dog friends and so much more !

Re-living the old days!

The bachelors farm hasn’t changed. Except for one bit, where it now seemed to have planted some new fruit trees and put a fence around it. I sat there, in the farm for a while. The same old serenity prevailed here. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with a strange emotion !

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 8 | Long Eaton

Day 8 - River Trent & Teenage Swans

Paul who happened to host us was extremely courteous! He graciously offered to take us out on a walk on his usual walking/running route. Of course I readily agreed. So we set off on a relaxing morning stroll; all of us had our hats on and Paul carried a special walking stick too! He used that to beat the bushes. The overgrown springy bushes in some of the paths literally took a good old beating of this walking stick.

Near the Lock Gate by River Trent

The initial stretch of the walk was through the Long Eaton neighbourhood, the houses are slightly different up north and also the roads are pretty flat compared to the rolling Sussex roads down south. On our walk, we saw some of the houses sporting democratic/liberal party flags. Election was due in another couple of weeks.

River Trent Dockyard

We came up to a very old building which happened to be a library where Paul and DD’s ancient ancestors used to work. Now the building has been repurposed into an office or something. We crossed a bridge over the River Trent and went into Leicestershire.The walk then continued along the winding Trent river. It was a narrow river with lots of stylish boats docked on either banks. We came up to the lock gate which was a lovely little area with nice park benches, green fields, cutesy cafes. We got very lucky with our timing as the moment we stepped on to the bridge over the river, a boat seemed to float in to cross the lock gate. We quickly became part of the chuckling audience.

The Lock Gate in Action!

One of the persons was manoeuvring the boat whilst the other one jumped on to the bank to open the lock gate on either side. She had to open one side and then cross over the bridge and then open the other side whilst the boatman waited patiently. Obviously, we could have helped to speed up the process but we just decided to stand and chuckle. The gate did open with a slow grumble and the water filled in making way for the boat.

The proud Heron

After this little episode, we again set off on our walk, tracing the river route back on the other side now. This side of the river was a bit shaded and we met a very long necked, proud heron, several ducks, a few swans and then, a bunch of fluffy teenage swans! There were five or six medium-sized swans with grey fluffy hair sitting in the sun whilst their parents guarded them with hissing sound. Grey, teenage swans! Who would have thought !

Grey fluffy teenage Swans !!! Wow !!!

We finally rounded our way back to the West Park where we had come for a walk the previous evening and then headed back home where a patte sandwich and coffee made the day just perfect!

Walk by the River Trent...

It was such a pleasant walk with the sun on our back, every corner of the road so full of green, the willows making the river extra special. The rest of the evening was nice and snoozy as we spent time with the family in front of the tele watching England just about getting lucky in the football match. Who knew England would finally make it to the finals in this year’s euro-championship after that performance!

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 7 | Bramcote

Day 7 - Goodbye Hymns & West Park Stroll

The morning started with a big family gathering. I put on my black top and black trousers, as per the general guideline. Everyone looked very smart in their formal attire. We drove to the nearby crematorium where a service was held. Hymns were sung in the chorus, followed by an eulogy. A lovely poem was recited post which Frank Sinatra’s song was played in the music box. There were a few quivering voices and hazy eyes.

We made our way to a nearby pub where snacks and drinks were arranged. I met lots of people there. Being the only Indian around made me an easy expert of my country and I parted my knowledge wisely! Either I had a very thick accent or I must have said the right things, because people genuinely seemed to like me!

As the day rolled into the evening, people took their leave. A couple of us decided to go for a walk and stretch our legs. I also had a secret plan for having some more food on top of all those pub sandwiches I already had. Call me greedy! So we drove back to Long Eaton and went out for a walk.

West Park

West Park is a big wide green area in Long Eaton that seems to offer a lot of recreational sporting activities, tree trails, gardening, park runs and so on. The low light of the evening created a perfect ambience as we walked through different paths in this park. It was quite refreshing to be outside after the emotional day. As we headed back home, I got a takeaway from the fish ‘n’ chips shop near the park. You cannot not fish ‘n’ chips when you are in England!

This tree contributed to a long discussion / debate as to what tree is this. Debate is still on!

As we got ready for bed, we realised it was the Summer Solstice day - June 20. DD is always super excited about everything that’s out there in the space. Paul was out with his electronic gadgets too to mark the day. But sleep is so much more powerful than anything else that we soon succumbed to it and the longest day of the year turned into a night quickly.

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 6 | Bramcote

Day 6 - Midlands Chat & Family Casserole

We got up a bit early and went out for a little stroll in the town. Lewes has a nice vibe to itself. It is a big town (bigger compared to Burgess Hill at least!) with a nice blend of history and nature. We walked along the swimming pool and the canal at Pehls, crossed the bridge over the river Ouse, walked along the river towards the Harvey's brewery, took deep breaths taking in the lovely buttery brewing smell of beer in that brewery, then circled back along the high street, bought myself a pain-Au-chocolat and walked on the cobbled streets beside the Grange, finally heading back home.

Lewes High Street

The idea was to get in a little walk before the big drive up to the Midlands. Just before my trip to Sussex, there was a sudden demise in the family. So, we were on our way to Bramcote to attend the funeral. It was a four hour drive. We were quite lucky with the traffic on M25, which is sarcastically referred to as the London car park. On a bad day, we could have easily sat in the car, stuck for more than five hours. Mind you, it was half as annoying to me as it was to my English friends! Perk of being used to the Indian traffic - it definitely teaches you patience!

Just outside of Lewes

We arrived at the familiar house in Bramcote in due time. This time, it wasn’t a happy reunion. Nonetheless, I was greeted with the biggest hugs and smiles. I was put up in an extremely well kept room which exuded a 5-star hotel vibe! It was incredibly neat which made me super conscious about my muddy shoes! I later realised that my friend’s brother who was my host for those few nights was a hotel management pass out, probably that explains the obsessive cleanliness!

To a silent prayer...

We spent a few hours chit chatting in the Bramcote house garden and then helped ourselves to a big plate of beef casserole followed by a pineapple cake. We spoke about the logistics for the next day and then called it a night. Things were a bit grim given the situation but everybody kept their spirit up. As it was getting dark (Sun sets at about 9PM now in the summer!), it started raining. My first rain this summer!

Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 5 | Chanctonbury

Day 5 - Plummy Carats Ring & Three Wild Deer

The legs complained. Last four days had been quite an endurance test albeit it's only zone-2 for them. So, today we started with a belly exercise instead. We sat down with a big plate of cooked English breakfast in the Carats cafe at the Shoreham harbour and let the gut do its digestion work!

Carat's English Breakfast

The view was just perfect. We had a table right in the front facing the blue sea. Today the sea was calm. The starlings here were quite bold. They flew right inside the café, taking their pick from the leftovers. A couple at our next table tried feeding a slice of carrot to one of the birds. It twitched its snobbish beak and flew to the next table for some free chicken.

Sparkling Blue...

Walking seems quite a task when you have a tummy full of bacon and hash browns. But it was a beautiful day that demanded to be enjoyed. So, we took a closer look at the wind turbines at the harbour, pottered around the lock gate for a while and then headed to the Chanctonbury Ring. The history of this place goes back to the 1700s of which I mentioned in my book and won’t go into the details here again. But just that this hill is very unique and iconic with its clump of trees at the top planted in the 18th century.

Can you see the wind farm in the horizon?

Climbing up along the arrays of poppy and long grass, we had an incredible view of the Brighton wind farms on the seafront behind us and the neatly farmed, tiled lands on our either side. We stopped to moo at a cow which was gushing out excretory products from his back side with a tremendous force whilst putting on the most oblivious face!

The path lined up with Poppies

Suddenly a movement caught our eyes. We looked up and just in the next section of the valley, three deer appeared ! They were out in the field, free and perky. They checked out their surroundings with swift neck and head swings, their ears alert to catch any suspicious sounds. We watched them breathless as they wandered around in their most natural setting. They seemed to have a little meeting amongst themselves and decided to head towards the path. Then, they ran up to the path, paused, checked left, checked right and then ran at top speed into the next field for their further rendezvous.

From where we saw the deer!

We climbed up to the big mound with a crop of trees on the top. As we walked amongst the tall trees planted some hundreds of years back, I tried to create a spooky vibe but failed. I was sure there used to be a special tree here with gnarly roots but couldn't find it. Of course, I was laughed at and accused of being hallucinated. I shrugged it off and stretched my legs in the long grass. We stayed there eating juicy plums and doing absolutely nothing. What a luxury!

View from the Top

Next, we visited Bramber church and wished to say hello to Mr. Careless. Well, there was a particular headstone in the Bramber churchyard belonging to a person named - Careless. Now, I am not hallucinated as this was a very celebrated find of ours, years back. But sadly and very shockingly, that headstone was nowhere to be found now! Yep, we checked, quite a few times to be sure but Mr. Careless (or, Mr. Couldn't Careless as we used to refer) was gone! Very disappointed, we walked around the old stone walled motte and bailey castle of Bramber and appreciated the fact that those castle ruins still stood erect, unlike the headstone!

To call it a night, we had spicy and yummy veggie noodles for dinner and checked out lots of Jamie Brown dance moves! More to follow the next day. Get up now..!