A walk inspired by Duke William’s advance on Senlac prior to the Battle of Hastings, 1066.
For more information and where to buy visit:
www.1066haroldsway.co.uk/1066-williams-way
1066 William’s Way is now available at The Plough, Crowhurst.
A Little Medieval Imagination
Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards
A Daytripper’s Taste of Hastings and St Leonards
East Hill, All Saints Street, The Cinque Post Arms and The Royal Standard
Bracing East Hill announces the start of Hastings Country Park that stretches almost 4 miles – all the way to Fairlight along the Saxon Shore Way and even further to Winchelsea and Rye. It is a coastline of ancient woodland, heath and grassland, of dramatic cliffs and hidden coves ideal for landing smuggled brandy for the parson.
Another day, you might want to do that walk with a pub stops at the Smuggler (Cliff End), The New Inn (Winchelsea) and The Mermaid (Rye) with the bus back to Hastings. There are full walk instructions in History Walks 4 – ‘Hastings to Rye, Rye to Hastings’ available from the usual outlets and from History Walks.
But today it is a shorter walk, up and across East Hill, with the reward of picture postcard views of Hastings and St Leonards and the coastline all the way around to Eastbourne and Beachey Head. If you do not do steps, take the funicular railway to the top of East Hill. Opened in 1903 it is the steepest such railway in the country.
The open grassland on East Hill hides traces of archaeological activity spanning at least 4000 years and bounded by earthen ramparts. The earliest boundary walls may well belong to the 1st Millennium BC and are similar to a number of other promontory forts that date from the Iron Age. The raised area at the top of the hill is believed to be the site of a medieval graveyard, perhaps on top of an earlier Iron Age barrow, and to be there on a windy day sets your cheeks aglow.
Hastings Old Town is still a delightful mix of half-timbered houses, narrow streets and passageways and is home to the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe. Coastal erosion, sea damage and silting reduced the effectiveness of Hastings as a port. The ports of Rye and Winchelsea quickly outgrew Hastings until, the great storms of the late 14th century, when serious flooding, damaged most of Hastings along the Bourne.
Walking along All Saints Street you can see the evidence of the rebuilding in some of the oldest surviving houses in Hastings. They give the Old Town a medieval feel and much to talk about over a pint at The Cinque Port Arms or The Royal Standard.
A fitting end to a fine walk.
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Crinkle, Crankle!
1066 Harold’s Way Walk 4
Dartford to Istead Rise
Dartford is 1066 Harold’s Way gateway to the Downs and the Weald.
Crossing Watling Street, now Dartford’s High Street, we can say our goodbyes to London. Away from the River Darent, 1066 Harold’s Way climbs up to give a first taste of the North Downs and the beautiful views south over the Darent Valley and west along the line of the Downs towards Surrey. There is just the hint of a hidden population amidst the rolling hills and valleys, lush fields and rows of trees, as far as the eye can see.
The landscape changes as we pass under the A2 and then the M25 and the noise of the traffic gives way to the solitude of a church built from the rubble of a Roman villa 1000 years ago. It stood as Harold passed. This is old Saxon land that we are walking and Harold would have drawn support here, and on the rest of the march, for his important battle ahead.
For Harold and his army, there were only 12½ miles to march to Rochester but our quiet meanderings, away from speeding Motorway traffic, will add another 6 miles to the journey.
It is good to walk across grassland, by paddocks and fields of crops, through woods and country parks, past the occasional farm and into villages that were once prosperous but seem to have now lost their heart, with the closure of pub, post office and shop.
Despite the changes, their character still remains, from the quarry houses of Bean to the ‘crinkle crankle’ wall at Betsham.
Southfleet is different. It is old with a long history and equally important an old pub, ‘The Ship’, to savour 1066 Harold’s Way.
Southfleet is in stark contrast to the ‘new’ village of Istead Rise with its estates, shops and important bus links but it is without a pub to provide a toast at the end of the walk.
Watch ‘Memories of 1066 Harold’s Way on You Tube
Link: The Ship, Southfleet
1066 Harold’s Way is available from Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles as well as good book shops and by mail order from www.1066haroldsway.co.uk
For details of how to buy: Click Here
Walks, Talks and Books
from
History Walks, 1066 Harold’s Way and The Saxon Times
Perfidy Banned
Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards – Walk 4
A Daytripper’s Taste of Hastings
The Albion (formerly The Royal Albion)
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson “when a man is tired of George Street, he is tired of life; for there is in George Street all that life can afford.”
I do like the hustle and bustle of George Street, whether during the day or in the early evening, to take a coffee or sit with a pint and watch the world go by, funny as that world might be.
George Street is such a mix of pubs, eating places and coffee shops standing cheek by jowl to clothes shops, sweet shops, book shops and shops full of ‘collectibles’ that it is easy to while away the time.
There is almost too much temptation with Dragon, The Hastings Arms, Ye Olde Pump House and The Anchor but save yourself for The Albion, it offers something a little different and not a hint of ‘treachery’.
First licensed for drinks in 1730, The Albion – at the western end of George Street – is a fitting place to end the walk just a few minutes away from the start at Breed’s Place. With its subtly restored interior, this former William Younger’s house has retained the wood panelling and tartan panels of some Georgian drawing room.
There is a bar complete with boar’s head and a larger room with some tables set for eating around a wood burner. The Albion serve Tim Taylor’s Landlord, Harvey’s Best and a guest Dark Star Hop Head in a comfortable Arts and Craft setting and is a great place to end this pub walk.
But, if you do not want a beer, I would suggest Di Pola’s Gelateria, almost next door, for a couple of scoops of ice cream.
Watch the Walk on You Tube
Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards is available from Hastings Tourist Information, from The Bookkeeper, Kings Road, St Leonards and by mail order from www.1066haroldsway.co.uk
Discover and Explore Walks from History Walks
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The Curious Plough
Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards – Walk 4
A Daytripper’s Taste of Hastings – The Plough, West Hill
On West Hill, the grand terrace on Priory Road stands like a beacon but the next terrace has slightly less decoration and the next even less and so it goes on with rows of ordinary terrace houses, built at the back and hidden from the glorious views of their richer neighbours.
Continue up Priory Road, across Collier Road and The Plough, with its curious Dutch barn styled roof and white clapperboard facings stands on the left.
The Plough first opened as a beer house in 1835 before West Hill was developed in the 1870s. It stood in Mill Field with four windmills close by and even one in the Plough’s back garden, which may account for the barn style design. The last of the windmills was demolished in 1874.
The Plough is an intimate, cosy, warm and welcoming one roomed community pub. One corner suggests a front room and elsewhere exposed brickwork complements the wild retro lighting that creates a unique house, that is neither town nor country, in which to drink good beer – Harvey’s Best, Tim Taylor’s Landlord, a guest which was Jennings Cumberland and Old Rosie for the cider drinkers. Food is limited to filled cobs, crisps and nuts.
Watch the Walk on You Tube
Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards is available from Hastings Tourist Information, from The Bookkeeper, Kings Road, St Leonards and by mail order from www.1066haroldsway.co.uk
Discover and Explore Walks from History Walks
To see all the walks and for details of how to buy: Click Here
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Timeless West Hill
A Daytripper’s Taste of Hastings
The Plough, Hastings Castle, George Street and The Albion
Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards
With Hastings Castle still dominating the town, any book of Hastings walks should include a trip to visit a castle that is so steeped in the history of England.
It was the Norman Conquest in 1066 that thrust West Hill into the limelight and there is still enough left, after the ravages of nature, to fuel the imagination – helped by the excellent story boards, and the audio-visual programme, that cover the Conquest and the history of the castle.
There is a short climb up Victorian steps but to add to the fun, the West Hill Lift, with its original wooden coaches, will whisk you up to the top where, on a clear day, you may be able see the coast of France.
Closer are the old narrow streets and rooftops of Old Town, the fishing beach and views of the whole of Hastings and St Leonards and in the distance are the South Downs, Eastbourne and Beachy Head. The grassy West Hill is a delight and it is only a short walk to The Plough for a beer, before tackling the easier downhill part of the walk that finishes at The Albion.
Timeless Old Town, a walk of narrow streets, alleyways, steps this way and that, of Smuggler’s Caves and Foyle’s War – it is such a mix of back streets, cottages and tiny gardens of pots and troughs that it is almost a surprise that George Street appears below. There are pubs and bars galore along George Street and most warrant a pint or a note in that beer stained note book to return another day.
Discover and Explore Walks from History Walks. To see all the walks and for details of how to buy: Click Here
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Wild and Desolate
1066 Harold’s Way Walk 3: Lesnes Abbey to Dartford
This is a mixture of the wild and desolate and the urban and industrial, of old paths and new roads, old bridges and new bridges, meandering rivers and canals built in hope, Saxon Manors and concrete architecture. We pass the detritus of modern urban and industrial re-development and the solitude of a Church that figured in history during King John’s reign.
It is a walk that reflects the dreams of men and often their failure, from the monks of Lesnes Abbey who fought to hold back the Thames to the navigators and entrepreneurs of Dartford, building a ship canal that could not cope with the pressure of the tide.
Erith belies its history and its royal connections. Once it shaped England with a Council between King John and the Barons to avoid further civil war and a French invasion. Later, it was to build ‘the greatest ship ever known’, the ship that took Henry VIIIth to France, to ‘the Field of the Cloth of Gold’. Now it is a modern town with little of the past on show. Its closeness to the Thames has left it with factories and depots obscuring the river but Erith leads to the wilderness of the Cray Marshes with the QE2 Bridge soaring above the landscape. Even with power stations, breakers yards and flood defences there is still a beauty about this salt marsh.
The land has been farmed for centuries and at a curve in the River Darent, a path leads to Howbury Manor, less than half a mile away and mentioned in the Domesday Book. It would have stood at the time of Harold and with the Roman road only 1½ miles to the south – perhaps Harold dropped in for a ‘beer or a wine’ with the owner.
Follow the Darent to Dartford with its industrial heritage of paper production and engineering. Although the factories and paper mills have gone under the breakers ball there is now space for new dreams to be fulfilled and the herald of a new age for Dartford.
1066 Harold’s Way is a 100mile long distance walk from Westminster Abbey to Battle Abbey, East Sussex, inspired by King Harold II’s epic march to the Battle of Hastings 1066. The guidebook is available from good bookshops, Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles and by mail order from History Walks.
