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Archives for April, 2022

Bodium Castle and Robertsbridge

April 26th, 2022

Despite growing up here I’ve never done much exploring of the “interior” of East Sussex. Normally I just go for a walk along the coast in one direction of the other. Well, time to change that: a new programme of exploration is launched! The first mission is north to Bodium Castle and then to Robertsbridge.

A wood just outside Hastings

This was my favourite part of the walk, an unexpectedly lush wood just a few minutes from Hastings hospital.

Bodium Castle

Bodium Castle is basically what you get when you ask a five year old to draw a generic castle. It made a brief film appearance as “Swamp Castle” in Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Robertsbridge high street

This was the most picturesque part of Robertsbridge, a small town on the Hastings-London train line. I’ve passed through it on the train loads of times but I don’t think this is the first time I’ve ventured into the town itself.

On the map I saw a “Robertsbridge Abbey” but what is left of the ruin is on private land and so a bit of a disappointment.

Goodbye Little Chicken

April 23rd, 2022

Sadly I’ve had to retire my “little chicken” that I’ve been feeding in the Alipay app for the last four years due to a lack of grain. I’ll just put a screenshot here to remember it:

It’s a game of sorts where you collect grain either by buying things with Alipay or “engaging” with the app in some other way, then you feed the grain to the chicken and after a six hour gestation period it will emit an egg. You can then donate your egg to a charitable cause… or something like that. You can also play games with the chicken or dress it up in different outfits, like the stylish purple ski attire mine has. It’s all rather fun. Unfortunately when you don’t feed the chicken for a while it will start to make a nuisance of itself by invading your contacts’ farms and stealing their grain, so I’ve had to put an end to it.

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Sidley

April 23rd, 2022

Unseasonably warm and sunny weather on the Easter bank holiday weekend so I decided to go for a walk in the opposite direction along the coast.

The sea was eerily calm, almost like a lake. You can see in the miniscule waves in the picture below.

The rebuilt (and bankrupt) Hastings pier

I got to Bexhill and on a whim decided to divert to Sidley, site of my former sixth form college.

All that remains of Bexhill Sixth Form college

Alas the college has since been demolished: all that hints at its former existence is a residential estate named “Scholar’s Walk” and these old railings. Demolition is a common fate of educational institutions attend by me.

Sidley, but it could be anywhere really

Sidley is pretty nondescript. It doesn’t seem to have changed much in the last 18 years (I think the Aldi is new). I wouldn’t recommend a visit.