Brighton isn't just The Royal Pavilion, The Lanes, and The Pier, just outside of Brighton, on the other side of The Downs, are all sorts of treasures, including The Long Man of Wilmington, a beautiful chalk carved image of a man with two long poles (below).
There is the lovely small town of Lewes (our county town) famous for its annual Nov 5th bonfire, there is Charleston Farmhouse (the country home of Bloomsbury), and Glorious Goodwood (motor and horse racing, etc).
All Brits want to believe that they live in the very best corner of the UK, but here we make no such claims. Even our Sussex made cheeses (as Belloc tells us) are simply called 'Cheese'.
For Horse lovers we have Brighton racecourse, and Hickstead the world-wide home of Jumping, etc. For other sports fans we have Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, Sussex County Cricket Club, and even a Greyhound racing arena in Hove.
Antiques aficionados will know of The Repair Shop which is filmed here, and we have the biggest Roman villa in Europe at Fishbourne.
There are castles galore, plenty of stately homes to visit, and some really spectacular landscapes.
And I mustn't forget all those wonderful little pubs hidden away in tiny villages. Try The Shepherd and Dog at Fulking. Perfect.
So, I can hear you asking, is there any down side to living in Sussex? Well, yes, I'm afraid there is! We have a pair of numpties who claim to be the Duke and Duchess of this lovely county of ours. They don't live here, they weren't born here, and, I'm not certain, but I don't think they've even visited here. They were simply given their titles as a gift, without any consultation of the genuine citizens of Sussex. Lady M and I are more worthy of the titles than they are, and even we aren't worthy of them!
As a Sussex-born individual, I can relate to all that you say about the country. When I lived there in the 1950s and 60s places like Hickstead were starting to get famous, but we already had Goodwood, Petworth House and one of the most beautiful cricket grounds at Arundel. There were still plenty of quiet villages away from the bustle of Brighton and other towns, and countryside aplenty, Ditchling Beacon, Chanctonbury Ring and much more. It may not have had the rugged beauty of the Lake District or Pennines, but was still a wonderful county.
ReplyDeleteThank you Will for mentioning so many great places that I failed to mention. It IS a wonderful county, but we tend to be a bit reluctant to say as much.
Deletethe world is small My neighbor's daughter has lived in Lewes for years, she is here visiting and we were just talking about life there.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely old town, with a lot of history. It's also a bit hilly which doesn't suit me too much. My wife was there yesterday.
DeleteYou live in an interesting area. Do/did you get out and visit any of these places? Except the pubs.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Sussexes.....I hope H decides to become a US citizen. Then maybe they'll give the title to someone worthy of it. Don't they support local charities...or something. She could donate her strawberry jam to the poor.
I don't get 'out and about' as much as I used to. My wife is more mobile than me, so she still galivants. Yes, some jam for the poor would be a wise move.
DeleteCould you please explain why the name of your home county ends with the suffix "-sex"? If Ty-Phoo put the "T" in Britain, who put the sex in Sussex?
ReplyDeleteI believe we are South Saxons. Maybe they were well known for their sexual prowess.
DeleteLewes (and Brighton for that matter) have memories for me that I'd rather not have. 'Nuff said. However I remember Lewes for an excellent restaurant where I met an ex (from Lewis of all places) and Brighton for a multi-storey car park in the centre which apart from being the most expensive I'd ever experienced wouldn't let me out to the annoyance of me and a large queue of drivers behind me.
ReplyDeleteI probably know that car park, it's renowned for being expensive. It's always full, and there's always a queue of cars hoping to get in!
DeletePS as for the D and D of S that might be the title that heralds the end of the Monarchy. But then they probably said that about the D and D of Windsor.
ReplyDeleteI think they'll be responsible for their own demise, but a family is a family and will always survive.
DeleteKind of puts a question mark on hereditary titles.
ReplyDeleteThese were given to them, not inherited. Even worse! He had plenty of titles anyway.
DeleteYou have a wide assortment of options living in Brighton. Nothing is out of reach which is ideal. I do love the top photo of open landscape with green open rolling hills.
ReplyDeleteThat is what's called 'The Downs'; a huge expanse of rolling hills with a few Sheep. It's a real treasure, I don't go up there enough, even though it's just five minutes drive away.
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