Camping Norman's Bay

Camping Norman's Bay.  Not quite Camping Manjastre, in the Cote d'Azur, with its blue sea, and glitzy lifestyle, but more south coast rural England. Definitely more subdued.

But where are we?  Good question.  We had difficulty finding the camping ground today, as we did last time we were here, when we collected Jackson and Isabel from Emma and Steve when they were camping here.  As then, we made a few trips around Pevensey, and Pevensey Bay, trying to find the correct road, only this time we were towing a caravan, which made navigating the narrow roads all that much trickier.

And for those people who do not know this area, Norman's Bay is between Hastings and Eastbourne, on the south coast of England.  A flat, and seemingly isolated area, the road past the camping ground does not appear on our satnav.  The houses here are probably not at the high end of the housing market, an insight gained from reading the 'for sale' notices in the real estate office.

However, here we are, for a few days away, to ensure that we do not forget how to tow a caravan, and to make sure everything works after we had it serviced last month. 

And the sun is shining.  Makes such a difference.

The caravan and car nestled cosily together on the small gravel hardstanding, in amongst the lush green grass, still hard enough to drive on.

 Norman's Bay Camping Ground nestled among a few outlying low hedges.  A very exposed spot on a cold and windy day.

 No sandhills here, just stones and more stones.  A view towards the town of Bexhill, and Hastings further behind it.

 A Martello tower.  They were built after the French Revolutionary Wars as coastal forts.  And there were plenty still standing on the south coast, some were made into historic monuments while others have been sold, and converted into very solid homes, with marvellous glassed in viewing areas at the top.

 I know I have a coat on, but in fact it was not really cold, just very windy.

 The sunset tonight was a fantastic show of yellow and orange, and made a great discussion point as we drank our evening apertifs, inside the caravan.  We are in England, after all.

Tomorrow we explore the local area plus a visit to Batemans, Rudyard Kiplings home.  Looking forward to it.