Jewels of the sea

A trip to Beach Haven is not complete without sampling the delicious local fish on offer at Rye Bay Fish, just a couple of minutes from the house, over the bridge into Rye, 73 New Road, Rye. Phone in advance to check on supplies, 01797 222 377 

Beach Haven

Beach Haven certainly lives up to it's name after hot Summer days on Camber Sands. What could be more relaxing than returning to the half acre garden for a sizzling BBQ whilst watching the setting sun or maybe the kids (large and small) using up their last bit of energy on the trampoline, letting the sand drop out of their hair.

Cinema returns to medieval Rye

At last Rye has a cinema. Beautifully designed by architects Jonathan Dunn at the top of Lion Street in the heart of the medieval town. Earmarked for housing, a community group saved the Victorian school house from demolition. It's a stunning conversion with integrated cafe as you can see.

I think we could be happy here

This sweet Rob Ryan print, based on his regular trips to Rye, sits above the kingsize bed in Beach Haven. Here is his website http://robryanstudio.com

Mapp and Lucia

Friends would drop the names of Mapp and Lucia when discussing the antics of some of our more competitive associates so I thought I’d better find out more about these affectionate rivals, especially as many of their tales are set in Rye, where the author E.F Benson lived for many years.

A couple of upper middle class British women vying to be top dog in a small town and displaying extreme cultural snobbery might sound uneventful but Benson paints the lives of Mapp and Lucia with much warmth and vulnerability. The books are especially joyful if they remind you of people that you know! Any game players out there?

"Mallards", the home of Miss Mapp—and subsequently Lucia—was based on Lamb House in Rye. The house had previously been lived in by Henry James.

The E.F Benson Society organizes regular guided walks around Rye so if you are staying nearby at BeachHaven, why not enjoy a cultural trip ending at Lamb House.

Having fallen for these fabulous characters, we have recently discovered, to our excitement, that Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor are teaming up to play the social rivals Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Mrs Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas in a new BBC adaptation which will be filming in Rye this Summer.

http://bit.ly/1uX8vKG

Lobster à la Riseholme anyone?

She goes…with Eddie Izzard!

To continue the story of Bexhill’s role as the birthplace of British motor racing we travel closer to Beach Haven. 
Hastings and Rye became a hotbed of engineering genius and innovation during the 1950’s. Much of it spun around the creation of the Elva racing car.

                                                                 Frank shows off the prototype Courier

Frank G. Nichols, whose goal was to build a low cost sports/ racing car, founded Elva in 1955. The name, which derived from the French for ‘she goes’, perfectly suited the pretty little fast car. Initially the car was bought by enthusiasts in the US but a new factory had to be built at Hastings to satisfy demand for the ‘sports racer’ the Elva Courier, first built in 1958.

By the 60’s the Hastings factory was producing about 3 cars a week and had a staff of over sixty people. More than 400 Elva’s were made in Hastings until the early 60’s.

Unfortunately, the US distributor’s financial problems resulted in the voluntary liquidation of the company with cars in transit to and already on the dockside in New York.

A much smaller factory in Rye continued to produce sports cars with Frank Nichols at the helm but once production moved to Trojan in Croydon, he severed links with the car whose name was dropped once links with Formula 1’s McLaren were established.

                         Harry Westlake with Dan Gurney who won the 1967 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch

Harry Westlake, another engineering innovator was also based in Rye. He was a cylinder head specialist and was instrumental in the Formula 1 V12 Eagle racing car which won in 1967 with American driver Dan Gurney, the first driver to spray champagne on the winners podium. Weslake and Nichols worked together on the Elva.

Bexhill Museum commissioned a reconstruction of the Elva MKIII, which was aided by Alan Jenner who worked on the original in 1958.  This beautiful looking car is now on display at the Museum to celebrate a bit of local motoring genius.

                                                Eddie Izzard climbs inside the Elva at the opening ceremony.

For more information on the wonderful story of Elva go to www.elva.com

For details on Bexhill Museum, just over half an hour from Beach Haven,visit www.bexhillmuseum.co.uk

Bexhill on speed

The first automobile race on British soil happened in 1902 in Bexhill-on-Sea on De La Warr Parade. Thousands lined the streets to watch the distinguished names of the day race to speeds of 50 miles an hour at a time when the speed limit was 12 mph!

The huge success of the event encouraged Earl de La Warr to make Bexhill the motor racing capital of the country and to make plans to build a racing circuit which stretched beyond Eastbourne though this never came to fruition. 

Through this story I've uncovered more speedy engineering heroes even closer to Beach Haven, Camber. They certainly deserve their own post.

A trip to Bexhill Museum is a must in the meantime.

http://www.bexhillmuseum.co.uk