July 4 -Hastings

Our hotel is located right across the main road from the beach and pier.  

The White Rock Hotel - Our Dover Home

Today we took a walk out to the pier for views up and down the coastline.  From a distance the beach looks like a typical sand beach in that it is the typical sandy color.  However, it is actually small pebbles – no sand.  Guess we’ll do no sand castle building.

We then walked along the beach side walk...

to the old section of town with narrow streets, 

interesting shop fronts and  

fun signs.

We had an awesome lunch at one of the restaurants...old Victorian front facade with modern interior.

We found the West End Lift that took us to the top of the high cliff to visit the ruins of the Hastings Castle.  It was the first castle build by William of Normandy after he conquered the Anglo-Saxons in 1066.  Half of the site is no longer there as over the centuries the cliffs have collapsed into the sea.  Or, in some cases in the 19^th century the cliff was blown away to make room for buildings at the base of the cliff.  

The views from the castle were great.

We wandered around the hilltop for a while and then found St. Clement’s cave, now an “adventure” park.  The cave was heavily used by smugglers in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries and the displays told the stories of the smugglers.  It actually was rather informative.  And it was cool in the caves which was a welcome relief from the heat.

The caves were also used as air raid shelters during WWII and could sleep over 600 people. 

We also learned the origins of the nursery rhyme Little Bo Peep.  Bo Peep was the “Preventive Men” charged with finding smugglers, the sheep were the smugglers, and the tail was the tubs of smuggled goods.  Learn something new (and often trivial) every day.