Once the rain slackened,
we headed for the tearooms to consider what to do next. Fraser
had the most enormous piece of coffee and walnut cake we have
ever seen, while Claudia settled briefly. Claudi's Grand Adventure
- our trip to England with a 7 week old
baby -
Part 2 - roaming the South coast
Leaving Dover, we set off to explore selected parts of the South Coast of England. We headed first for Pevensey Castle, an English Heritage site that Fraser was keen to visit. Claudia was very unsettled and grizzly (possibly from all that smiling?!), so Fraser and Justine had a quick look around while I sat in the car feeding Claudia. I was to get quite good at this over the next few weeks.
Once the rain slackened,
we headed for the tearooms to consider what to do next. Fraser
had the most enormous piece of coffee and walnut cake we have
ever seen, while Claudia settled briefly.
A stroke of luck visiting the tourist information centre. They had all sorts of brochures, which we eagerly checked out, including one about "Winnie the Pooh country". Readers of Claudia's early history will know that I am fairly passionate in my devotion to Pooh, so this immediately became an unmissable spot.
It was as this TIC that we learned a new term - "to do a BABA" (pronounced "baa baa" as in baa baa black sheep). BABA stands for Book a Bed Ahead and allows you to reserve beds even from TICs that do not usually deal with B&Bs in that area.
Back in the car, we headed for the night's accommodation - "The Paddocks" at Chuck Hatch, just outside Hartfield and very close indeed to Pooh Corner. The Paddocks is run by a retired couple, who care for their twin grandchildren several days a week and also offer 3 rooms for B&B. They are lovely people, who made us feel very welcome, and adored Claudia on sight (who wouldn't). She even smiled for them. We really enjoyed this stay, it was easily the nicest of the B&Bs we stayed at, and hope that they will still be operating next time we take Claudia to the UK. (Fraser says she has to pay for the next trip, so it may be a long wait.).
After a delicious and very filling breakfast, and arranging for another night at "The Paddocks", we headed off to Brighton. We all enjoyed visiting The Pavilion, a palace built by George III in his days as Prince Regent. The guide book compared the architect's original plans with photos of the rooms - we were stunned by how alike they were. A highlight was the enormous kitchen - in days of cramped, dark servants' quarters, this would have been an absolute delight for "Prinny's" chefs and their assistants.
Leaving "The Paddocks" the next day was a wrench, but we headed off on the Pooh trail. First stop was Pooh Corner, a shop devoted totally to Pooh, in the village of Hartfield (about a mile and a half up the road from Chuck Hatch). The VISA card got quite an outing, and we were delighted to learn that they run an international mail-order catalogue that I of course subscribed to!
From Hartfield, we headed for
Poohsticks Bridge - a drive to a carpark then a walk through
quintessentially English countryside (we saw holly and horses ...
all that was missing was lashings of ginger beer!) to the bridge
where Christopher Milne and family played Poohsticks. Later, Pooh
and Piglet would do the same.
The Pooh
Corner Official Rules for Poohsticks tell you to collect
sticks along the way, so we kept a lookout for Likely Looking
Poohsticks. I had more trouble than the others, as it was hard to
bend over with Claudi in the sling, but we had a good selection
by the time we arrived. It is, of course, Important to have a
Good Selection of Poohsticks because you need to be able to
distinguish Your Poohsticks from Someone Else's.
Our Milne Moments over, we headed for Chichester. The nearby Fishbourne Roman Palace is the largest known Roman structure north of the Alps, and must have covered an enormous area.
The palace was constructed between AD75-100, and it is believed to have been the residence of a Romanised native king, Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus. The mosaic floors that have been revealed are superb, and well-displayed as well. Outside, the Roman garden is also of interest.
After a series of alterations, which included the installation of a hypocaust heating system, the palace was destroyed by fire in the late third century. It was not re-discovered until 1960, when a workman cutting a trench for a watermain discovered some ancient-looking building rubble. Today, you can see the watermain cutting across the mosaics in one section.
The next day, we headed for Portsmouth and the Historic Dockyard. The complex of ships was very impressive, although we limited ourselves to visiting the Mary Rose exhibition and viewing its (her?) hull. The Mary Rose was Henry VIII's favourite warship, and sank in the Solent in 1545 with up to 700 men on board. Although there were many eye-witness accounts of the sinking, her wreck was not located until quite recently (1970s?), and was raised on 11 October 1982 after an extensive "dig" in which well over a thousand artifacts were recovered. These are preserved in the Mary Rose exhibition, and range from personal possessions such as coins and dice, to cannons and other weapons.
The hull is now kept in a purpose-built dock. It is constantly sprayed with a fixative, with the ultimate aim of being able to display it for closer view. From memory, this process is expected to take at least another 15-20 years.
On another level, although the food at the Historic Dockyard was less than appealing (perhaps we just chose the wrong eatery), the baby facilities were extensive. They even supplied baby wipes and disposable nappies! This was one of the few places we visited that also offered a baby feeding area, with comfortable chairs for parents and a highchair for older babies. The council-run baby care room in the carpark was even better, with AVENT brand bottle warmers supplied, as well as equipment for sale.
Leaving Portsmouth, we
headed for Bristol, detouring to drive through the village of
Lacock, where the BBC's superb series of Jane Austen's Pride
and Prejudice was filmed. Justine and I explored the village
and the National Trust Shop, while Fraser and Claudia took care
of a very enthusiastic nappy.
The local residents' cars look incongruous beside the superb half-timbered houses, and it is easy to see why this region has been used in so many films and TV series. To find more film and TV locations, the British Tourist Authority has a map of TV and film spots around the UK.
We continued our drive with a quick visit to Castle Coombe, a village straight out of the Cotswolds, which Claudia's pediatrician Dr Carolane had recommended we visit. If anything, this village is even more lovely and unspoiled than Lacock.
Heading back to the motorway, we continued on to Bristol, fighting our way through a Very Large Roundabout and some slightly vague directions to find our friends' house, which we would use as a base for exploring the local area.
Previous - Part 1 - getting to Dover ... Next - Part 3 - Bristol and Beyond.
Copyright © Melissa Rogerson 1999,2000.