Battle of Hastings

I could make lots of jokes here relating to school but I'm actually going to mention the real Battle of Hastings (1066 and all that). Many people don't realise that the Battle of Hastings didn't happen in Hastings itself but in a town called (funnily enough) Battle, which is 10km North of Hastings. We've lived in Hastings for 7 months and have never visited this historic little town so we decided we better go see what's on our doorstep before we head off to more exotic locations.

Above: The ruins of Battle Abbey

I absolutely love all the ruins and little old villages that we come across and I think because we don't have anything like this in Australia it makes it even more special. On a train journey to Brighton, a mere hour away from Hastings takes you past two ruins of castles and even more exciting is that you get to see the Long Man of Wilmington carved into the hill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Man_of_Wilmington- yeah I know I am an art geek). I was blown away seeing it and I looked around the train to see if anyone was getting as excited as I was. All the commuters had their heads burrowed in books and magazines and didn't even look up- I guess they are so familiar with everything they take it all for granted

Above: The Battle of Hastings actually took place in THIS field. Pretty amazing when you think about it