Bombs over Kent

Armed with the Time Out guide to Kent & Sussex, we decided to be a bit more adventurous than usual and headed off to Dover Castle. However we got sidetracked, and on a gorgeous sunny day we stopped off at the Battle of Britain memorial and spared a thought for all those incredibly young pilots who lost their lives during the summer of 1940 out at sea and over the Kent countryside right where we stood.

This put us in the mood for the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, http://www.kbobm.org, in Hawkinge. No photos are allowed at the musuem which is a shame but I can tell you that it is stuffed to the gills with memorabilia, broken bits of engine and such overwhelming stories of bravery it made us very choked up. The museum has gathered together display boxes for each airman (donated by family and friends) with photos and any remnants from their crash in the Kent countryside. It sounds morbid but is actually very moving as you start to feel as though you know a tiny bit more about these couragous men and they surely desrve to have their stories told. The whole museum is put together by enthusiasts and volunteers and displayed in aircraft hangers actually used in the Battle. Emotional stuff.

Hastings Habit

Photograph by Eric de Maré, 1956

 March 2012

The imposing black fishermen’s huts at the Stade, in Hastings, have always been worth a visit. See this gorgeous photograph by Eric de Maré. The controversial new Jerwood Gallery creates another reason. Some local opposition revolves around its location but the ‘No to Jerwood’ posters won’t be bad for business. A large window on the first floor of the gallery looks out onto one such poster stuck on the side of a van. I love the bright orange sculpture by Benedict Carpenter in the courtyard as you walk in; a homage to all those fishermen still working from the beaches behind.

http://www.benedictcarpenter.co.uk/

The opening show is by Rose Wylie who is an inspiring 77 year old who paints like a 9 year old (hard to achieve) stuffed full of opinions about modern culture. I love the naivety of her work which contrasts with the sophisticated paintings of the recent past upstairs. The blue jug by William Scott is pure bliss. Read about her recent rise and worldwide acclaim and ponder that it may not be too late for us all.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/13/rose-wylie-painter

On to George Street, in Hastings Old Town, where the fabulous Butlers Emporium is a must visit. Rose, the owner has created an eclectic store, which is hard to leave without buying something. I came out with a small clutch bag by Salt. You’ll find chunky candles in solid green glass, jewellery and hand made tableware. My friend Gina stocks her Folk@home range here. Her tea towels and chopping boards are top of my list. The shop was once the old post office and was saved from becoming another bland conversion by Rose. The back of the shop has the exposed rock face of the hill behind. Wonderful!

71 George Street

The next stop is Hendy’s Home Store. Alastair Hendy is a chef, photographer, stylist and writer of many stylish cookbooks. Unusually, he was in the shop when I visited mid-week (his main base is still London) and he showed me pictures of his reverse renovation. He’s spent a long time stripping this shop back to create a step back in time feel. He is a perfectionist and it shows in the way everything is displayed. These aren’t precious objects; we’re talking brooms, scissors, glass bottles, jugs and cutlery. He’s soon to open his small restaurant at the back of the shop where he has a black beach hut, accessed by an alleyway at the side. At the weekends he’ll be creating tasty dishes from local Hastings fare. Try and get in early while the master is at the helm, there’s sure to be a waiting list.

36 High Street

If you don’t know Hastings, you may pass the institution that is Judges bakery. The owner, Jo Fairley, is a phenomenon. She started Green and Blacks chocolate, with husband Craig Sams, is a successful beauty journalist, has co-written the Beauty Bible books (featured in our magazine Expert Beauty) and is the most passionate promoter of all things organic. Stocked up with delicious bread, cakes and jars of Whole Earth peanut butter, I waddled off out of Hastings, happy in the knowledge that I'll be back very soon. 

51 High Street

Formation kite fling

Made a fantastic discovery on Camber beach on a cold sunny day recently……formation kite flying. We watched in amazement as a group of 4 men engaged in fancy footwork whilst manoevering their kites in perfect unison. Quite amazing and very skilled. We then found that there is a large worldwide scene of these people! How do they get their formation started? Imagine those tangled strings as they practise.
We're hoping for something on a huge scale, as seen on this you tube clip, on Camber beach (when the tide is out). Though these guys seem pretty static. Must all be in the wrist action! Watch in awe 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llszxa46myA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Six of our favourite shops in Rye

Just returned back home from a glorious 2 weeks at Beach Haven. Blessed by good weather we managed several days on the beach, returning back to the house for barbeques under a setting sun. The kids ran around the garden and shook off most of the sand on the trampoline straight after food!

Catching up with our good friends from Rye we learn that the town may have reached it’s tipping point. There are so many new shop openings that Rye is positively buzzing. We spent a couple of blissful days wandering the streets.

You must sample coffee and delicious gluten free cakes at the Truffle Cup. If you’re lucky you’ll catch our friend Gina on the Gaggia. She’s the discerning eye behind ‘Folk at Home’. We walked away having purchased several felted soaps and a ‘summer’ poster. I’m buying the chopping board next if she has any left. Her blog ‘folkathome@gmail.com’ is a lovely insight into a very creative mind always on the lookout for understated gorgeous products.

McCully and  Crane has quirky unusual antiques that we love. www.mccullycrane.com

We had a relaxed, delicious lunch at Apothecary where the children sat reading Asterix comic books which meant we could catch up on the newspapers. www.apothecaryrye.co.uk/

My wallet is going to suffer at Bird which stocks super chic clothes (not that I am but will die trying) that would be perfectly at home in edgy Shoreditch. www.boutiquebird.co.uk

A few trips to the very friendly butchers J Wickens, in Winchelsea, were necessary to stock up with meat for the BBQ. On a sunny evening there really is no better way to end the day than  a game of rounders in the garden whilst the burgers sizzle.

Derek Jarman

From Beach Haven turn left out of Links Way, head towards Lydd, then Dungeness and in 10 minutes (driving) you’ll find yourself in a place that is as bleak as it is beautiful. The eerie charm of the area hits you as soon as your eyes focus on the abandoned rusty bits of machinery dotted about on the shingle alongside collapsed fishermen’s sheds and boats parked on the beach. The distant hum of the nuclear power station adds to the strangeness.

About a minute after, on the right, you’ll find a neat little black clapperboard house with yellow windows. Prospect Cottage and its unique garden has been photographed so many times it is quite famous.  Primarily this is because it was the home of late film maker Derek Jarman. 

Whilst on a trip to taste ‘the best fish and chips in England’ at the Pilot in 1986, Jarman and Tilda Swinton spotted the cottage for sale for £750. He bought it and started to turn the shingle surrounding his home into a sculptural magpies nest. Every day Jarman would prowl the beach gathering rusty detritus that for him had a beauty of it’s own, or redundant utilitarian objects like tools and rubber gloves. A unique visually inspiring environment came into being where nature and the man made combined. 

However it is the planting that is his real achievement here. During summer months it I hard to imagine how he managed to grow such vibrant, colourful plants in Britain’s only official desert. Dungeness is actually home to 600 different plant species though you won’t find many of them in a garden centre. These are the outsiders of the plant world; sea kale, gorse, burnet roses and Blackthorn. Unlike nearby Romney, Dungeness residents are only permitted to grow indigenous plants and you’re not permitted to pick anything either.

To highlight the importance of Derek Jarman, Film London launched the Jarman Award four years ago for “artists working with the moving image and whose work resists conventional definition, encompassing innovation and excellence” . The winner will be announced in October.

http://filmlondon.org.uk/news/2011/may/the_jarman_award_2011_launches_1

http://www.dungeness-nnr.co.uk/

http://www.thepilot.uk.com/

Some lovely things about Camber beach

On a beautiful day whilst sitting on Camber beach it’s hard to think of a better place to be. It’s not surprising that the location is often used by advertising pretending to be the Hamptons, Long Island or even further afield.

Camber is right on the eastern edge of East Sussex but is the only sand dune system in the county and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) under the name ‘Dungeness, Romney and Rye Bay’. In the winter, 17 different species of bird make their home here. http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/sssi/index.cfm

This is a good local website if you love nature and want to know what’s going on.

http://www.wildrye.info

In the winter we deliver our Christmas trees to the beach car park so that they can be buried in the dunes. The trees are ‘planted’ on their sides in shallow trenches where gaps (caused by trampling from visitors) have been created in the dunes. The trees help trap wind-blown sand, allowing vegetation to grow and stabilise the sand. The great news is that the dunes are gradually getting bigger. This is particularly good news for Camber village which lies below the high tide level and would quickly be flooded.

Walking over the dunes from Beach Haven, using path no 6, you will catch sight on the right (though it’s currently sinking into the sand) of a second world war concrete pillbox (bunker). Which ties in nicely as I wanted to mention that Camber beach was used in the 1958 film Dunkirk starring John Mills to recreate Operation Dynamo. It was used again as the Normandy beaches during D-Day in the 1962 epic The Longest Day.

Oh and Carry On Follow That Camel was shot on location on the beach during the early months of 1967 when Camber Sands doubled as the Sahara Desert although filming had to be stopped several times because the dunes were covered in snow! Heard the one about the camel that wouldn’t walk on sand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9mRhqQSvo