Hastings Castle

It seems impossible that the ruins which cling to the cliff face in Hastings were once part of a much larger and grander castle. The ruins you see is all that is left of what was once the most important castle in early English history.

William the Conquerer ordered the castle to be built to honour the last Saxon king, Harold and I no doubt suspect as a thumb on the nose to all others as he set about building his empire.

Over half of the castle was destroyed after a series of storms hit the coast and the whole cliff fell away.

There are still dungeons ( very small and as Miss Lilly said, not very scary at all) and some of the walls intact - however, alot of it was buried after years of neglect.

Great views and a great video presentation here.  Probably the best potted history of the English Kings since 1066 I have seen ( apart from the Horrible Histories folk who do an awesome song)

Beachside at Hastings

The kids wouldn't believe me when I told them that the beaches in the UK were mainly stones and cobbles.. until they saw one for themselves.

This is Hastings, one of the most popular beachside destinations in the UK. An over abundance of B and Bs and shabby hotels line the streets nearest the coast line.  It must have been a thriving and beautiful Victorian destination, but sadly now, its run down and very down in the mouth.

Its pretty cold still, with the wind chill factor well below zero. I bought us all thick jackets which live in the car to be pulled out for our walks - such as today.

The photo above shows the very posh circular terrace hotels which were built in the Victorian days. Now many of them are boarded up - probably just for winter and the off season - but they look really sad and shabby now. 

Above them is the ruins of Hastings Castle - which I will blog about in another post - but try to imagine that it extended out to where the kids are standing... and that a freak storm washed away the cliff and decimated the castle and its walls.

Cockles, mussels alive alive o!

As we wandered around the harbour, we came across a few fish bars. These are tiny hole in the wall type affairs which sell just one or two specific things - such as rollmops, mussels, cockles, whelks, prawns, lobster tail, jellied eels etc.

We went to a bigger one which sells most things - all still in tiny styro cups and toothpicks to eat them with - nowhere to sit - you order, pay and walk away with it.

One thing I can't come at is jellied eels. I have tired them before - in Portsmouth when we lived there - they were a big thing to eat.. gag gag barf... gross..

I have promised the kids that next time we come down, I will buy some and we will all eat it.. I will try not to vomit - perhaps my tastes have changed.. so shouldn't be so negative...

I've never had whelks before - so of course........ had to try them.

They are a sea snail - for those of you who don't know what they are.. Morgan liked them, but Lilly gagged and refused to eat them. I thought they were pretty awesome.

I love rollmops!  Adrian and I used to eat them alot - espec as he went to Norway alot for business when we lived in the UK.  These were THE BEST I have ever eaten. Man , the herring was perfect, the pickle spicy and crunchy.. wow.. amazing.

Both kids enjoyed them and have asked since to have them again...