On Good Friday we awoke rather tired from the activity of the previous 3 days. We therefore resolved to do nothing all day.
This didn’t happen of course, although we managed until well after lunch, when we headed off the local independant supermarket, Jempsons, to pick up a couple of bits and pieces. We also filled up the little car as their fuel is the cheapest we’ve seen for a long time.
On returning we decided to wander along the lane that we’re based on, Stoddards Lane, to see what we could see, including the sheep.. and a couple of inquisitive dogs.
We’ve decided that this is a perfectly acceptable lane to cycle along, and with the church as our destination it will be worthwhile.
Having driven round a little more we can now add to the many things we’re seeing regularly:- Sheep and lambs, thatched cottages, converted barns, narrow lanes and farms – lots and lots of farms! We’ve also seen a helicopter parked in somebody’s front garden (there are some amazing houses here..) – apparently this isn’t the only one, and the one that’s closer to us (Calv heard it take off the other day) may well belong to a certain world famous star – who’s quite old now! (Well, probably about 70 anyway…)
There are so many beautiful flowering blossom trees. My favourite is one that I spotted in Rye on our 1st day here.

On Saturday we set off early (well, early for us anyway) at about 11.15am having decided we were heading to Hastings. We parked up at the end of the Old Town, at Rock a Nore, and set off on our tour having finally managed to pay for the parking (very expensive…!) There would have been more spaces if only people could manage to park properly…..
Read about our day in Hastings here.
On returning from Hastings we searched, in vain, for the pub that we thought we’d seen at the end of our lane. My memory is obviously failing me! We were hoping to pop in for Sunday lunch on Easter Sunday. (I eventually found it on our way to Bodiam today, Sunday, nowhere near where I thought it was!!) It’s The Cross Inn at Cripps Corner and looks rather nice.
However, we decided to try the White Hart in nearby Newenden for our Easter Sunday lunch today. Another lovely little village with a beautiful church and pictures up in the pub showing what it used to look like before the A28 was built.
Also a lovely lunch and, if we’re staying for as long as we’re expecting (using this as our based for visiting East Sussex and Kent), we will definitely return. Very friendly and relaxed atmosphere, and just about 5-10 minutes down the road.
The 3rd station on the Kent & East Sussex Steam railway is situated here (the other 2 being Bodiam to the south and Tenterden to the north (we’re hoping to do this tomorrow, but are watching the weather closely – we might have to wait until next weekend..)
We then decided to stay out and visit Bodiam Castle (click here for my review). Having re-joined English Heritage on Thursday we now joined National Trust for the 1st time – quite expensive (a total of about £180 for the year for both), but when you think of how many attractions we can visit, then you can see how much we’ll save (I reckon we’d have spent that within a few weeks at an average of maybe £25 between us each visit).So we’re all set for the next few weeks before we head off to Ibiza for my niece’s wedding at the beginning of May 🙂