Pevensey Bay, East Sussex

Saturday morning began right rurally. It opened with the pelter of rain on our barn roof windows and The Archers on BBC iPlayer which we had missed the night before. Also, we had thought that, after breakfast, we would go in search of Down Barn Farm. DBF is no ordinary farm. DBF is where Cath lived when she was about age three. She remembered being wheeled by her mother in one of those over-sized prams, up the steep hill from the farm into Battle town centre. Unfortunately, DBF could not be found on maps, on search engines or in the living memories of our hosts. We drew a blank. Anyone know anything about Down Barn Farm, within walking distance of Battle, East Sussex?

Instead of DBF, we headed over to Bexhill-on-Sea (where incidentally google tells us there is a Down Barn Farm). The rain had ceased but there was still drizzle in the air. We took a walk along the Western Parade, stopping at every shelter, and occasionally I would nip out onto the shingle to try and make a composition from the groynes and groyne markers. As we headed back to the car, unimpressed, I urged Cath to allow ten minutes to explore two white domed constructions I later learned was the Collonade. Cath left me to figure out some nice composition only to return to say she wanted to stay longer, to take in what I later learned was the De La Warr Pavilion. Pottering about further still, I was quite taken by the eclectic mix of chimney stacks along Marina Court Avenue, so we had a wander around those parts of Bexhill to the east of the Pavilion and then returned to it.

First impressions of the De La War Pavilion revolve around the glazed, semi-circular bay facing the sea, accommodating the line of the staircase. It put me in mind of the model garage I had as a kid, where my matchbox cars were parked up when not knocking chunks out of the skirting board. Inside there's that staircase again and the expanse of window, the primary light source, spiralling up a further two floors amid a central column of lamps illuminating all floors. All unmistakably 1930s.

From Bexhill we moved on to Pevensey. I thought it important to visit. It was here that William of Normandy landed and then embarked on his invasion in 1066. We started at Pevensey Bay, a beach of pebble, groyne and little else. I was taken with the Aqua Bar and all it offered visually. Since coming to East Sussex I have struggled to pick a main photograph, but I knew the Aqua Bar, in colour, was the one for today.

Extras
Groyne Injury, Bexhill,
De La Warr Pavilion,
Knole Court and Beach Huts, Bexhill